Supplementary memorandum by the Catholic
Child Welfare Council
CHILD MIGRANTS (CM
107 B)
EVIDENCE
THURSDAY 11 JUNE 1998Q 214
It is noted that all three former child migrant witnesses were,
in fact from Nazareth Houses (England, Scotland and Wales), and
all went to Christian Brother institutions in Western Australia.
It is a concern that these are not representative as they were
all Catholic and all male. The sister of two former child migrants
who gave evidence also talked of them being Catholic and, therefore
not representative. Catholics, if one takes the Child Migrant
Trust figure of 10,000 children sent to Australia, represent only
11 per cent of the total sent.Q 228 (Canon Fisher) We can
find no evidence to support a theory of conspiracy either within
the sending or receiving institutions, or within the CCWC, or
between governments. There were different levels of individual
encouragement and enthusiasm for the migration scheme. It is not
possible from the records available to draw a conclusion of an
organised conspiracy.Q 232 (Canon Fisher) The Catholic
Child Welfare Council appears to have raised the issue of reports
because Southwark Catholic Children's Society expressed concerns
at the time. Reports on children were then requested from the
Australian Orders (via the Federal Catholic Immigration Committee).Q
236 The Children Act 1948 was not implemented until the early
nineteen fifties, and even then it may not have been seen as affecting
children sent into the permanent care of another country. To this
date there have been no guidelines.Q 260 The Catholic Child
Welfare Council has had a developed database since 1994, containing
details of all known former child migrants sent to Australia through
Catholic agencies and institutions. CCWC has also been instrumental
in setting up the Sending Agencies Group were discussion has taken
place regarding the need for an international database. The Sending
Agencies Group only started meeting after the visit of the Select
Committee from Western Australia, and there has, therefore, been
insufficient time to work out the practical detail and, more importantly,
what function that database should have.Q 291 The question
of a request for financial assistance from the Department of Health
may be misleading, and the exact date of the meeting would need
to be verified. The meeting with the Department of Health, involving
the sending agencies, was not a specific application by the agencies
for financial assistance, but a discussion as to how the Department
could best provide help to former migrants. The agencies unanimously
held that the majority of former migrants would wish to return
to their sending agencies and that funding was, therefore, need22ed
within the sending agencies. They were also unanimous in supporting
the suggestion of choice.Q 296 It has to be noted that
individual Catholic sending agencies have been incurring substantial
costs in meeting the needs of former migrants. It is not possible
at this moment to quantify this except to say that it involves
a considerable commitment to the provision of services.18 June
1998
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