Under parliamentary policies that persisted throughout much of the 20th century, Australia’s aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were forcibly taken from their family homes and placed in institutions and foster families by church missionaries and government agencies. In many cases, these very young children were denied any contact with their mothers, fathers, and siblings and were effectively cut off from their roots, their language and their heritage. From the age of around fourteen, many would go to work in white households, the goal being to create a racially assimilated “White Australia.” Only in recent years have the immeasurable scars of these crimes begun to be addressed by the Australian public and its government, both of whom are now working towards a point of healing.