The new stolen generation of North Coast NSW, a Department failure

Shine Lawyers will host a series of community information sessions in Coffs Harbour, Kempsey, and Grafton from July 3rd to July 5th, 2024. These sessions come in response to a plea for help for First Nations families from Grafton local, Michelle (Shelle) Cowan, who has passionately advocated for support for her community. Michelle, an Aboriginal Specialist and Trauma Counsellor based in Grafton, has witnessed the discrimination and subsequent challenges faced by her community. “When I was training to be a counsellor, I was told that when a woman goes to hospital to have a baby, she must answer a lot of questions. These questions are to gauge the risk of safety for the woman and child. One of the questions is "do you identify as Aboriginal?" If you answer yes to this question, you automatically get a strike against you, and this becomes a red flag on your record.”

Michelle has heard and witnessed horrific accounts of wrongful removal impacting First Nations families, including a young First Nations woman who fell pregnant but did not attend doctors and had no pre-natal care. “She went into labour at home and an ambulance was called. She was terrified and ended up having the baby in the ambulance whilst still fully clothed. The ambulance officers did not realise until they arrived at hospital.” “This little tiny baby girl was put into the nursery and the mother was not allowed to see her, feed her or go near her. She was removed almost immediately by FACs. There was no good reason given, except they felt she could not protect her child.” “A child taken from their family creates a massive trauma disruption that can never be repaired,” she said. The firm is currently investigating claims of forced child removal of First Nations families across the country. Michelle says, “everyone deserves to be well informed and educated in their rights.” “Without this knowledge, the trauma cycle continues.” Shine Lawyers Special Counsel, Caitlin Wilson, who is spearheading the child removal class action investigations will be on-site to discuss legal options with community members. “The sessions are open to First Nations families who have been investigated by the Department, or who have had (or were) children who were removed by the Department and placed into the foster care system, rather than within their families or First Nations communities, where they belonged.”. “We have three stops across three days in Coffs Harbour, Grafton and Kempsey to provide obligation-free community consultations to give people a chance to talk to us and ask questions in person,” she said. For a number of months, Shine Lawyers has been investigating allegations of discrimination by the Department and speaking to families that have been wronged by this conduct, in preparation for the filing of a class action in the Federal Court. “Our investigations reveal that the Department has continuously, and either knowingly or negligently, failed to safeguard the rights of Aboriginal children, and that there is systemic racial discrimination within the Department, that has resulted in the unnecessary and unlawful separation of children from their families.” “The Department is aware of the ever-increasing over-representation of Aboriginal children in the out of home care system, yet it continues to fail to implement key strategies, independent recommendations and reforms designed to improve outcomes for Aboriginal children and their families.” “The proposed class action seeks to address these injustices and determine whether states such as New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria, and Western Australia have violated human rights,” Wilson said. "The continued and increasing overrepresentation of First Nations children in the foster care system is deeply concerning.” “We are here to challenge this status quo, to advocate for justice, and to put an end to the cycle of intergenerational trauma and child removals that have been inflicted upon First Nations families across Australia."

Shine Lawyers invites all First Nations people who believe they have been impacted by foster care placement, abuse, or discrimination due to their race or descent to attend our community sessions as we strive for justice and accountability from the relevant Departments.