Building a life story: providing records and support to former residents of children's homes
Jenny Glare, Jenny Malone and Suellen Murray
Centre for Applied Social Research, RMIT University
Contact Email:   suellen.murrayems.rmit.edu.au

Childhood institutionalisation has affected a significant number of Australians with around 500,000 children institutionalised nationally over the twentieth century. Growing up in care, however, is not just a part of childhood; it can have ongoing impact across a person’s life. People who grew up in orphanages may not know who their parents, siblings and other relatives are or what happened to them and why they came into care. Access to records can be a very important way that they construct the story of their lives contributing to their self-identity and also finding out practical information such as their age and medical history. Our paper draws on interviews with former residents of homes aged between 40 and 70 years and uses the recommendations of the third of the Federal Government reports concerned with the institutionalisation of Australian children - Forgotten Australians - as the starting point to examine the work of a sample of Australian agencies who hold these records or assist former residents to access their records. In particular, we are interested in the way that these agencies provide these services and how former residents are supported in receiving their records. Our work has social policy implications for good practice and the resourcing of agencies working in this area.

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