Child Migrants Trust Inc

Approximately 7,000 children aged between 315 were deported from the UK to Australia (without their families) from 1912 to 1970, as part of Australia s immigration policy and Commonwealth Child Migration Schemes. Most of them endured harsh institutional regimes as children and lived for decades without family or identity, devastated by the impact of separation from their home country. The Child Migrants Trust is an independent social work agency established in 1987 to help former child migrants reclaim their family and personal identity. CMT receives funding from the Australian and UK governments and provides a range of services across both nations from offices in Melbourne and Perth. CMT social work activities fall into two main workstreams. The first is restoration of family & identity through retrieval of historical documents, specialist research to locate missing family members and supported reunions with close family members overseas. CMT also helps resolve complex citizenship issues. The second major area of work relates to issues of historical institutional abuse, including counselling to address trauma and help to apply to government redress schemes or to seek justice through the civil courts. The human cost of child migration was profound; we estimate more than 90% experienced physical or sexual abuse in Australian institutions. Most never received adequate personal documentation. As a result, many have lived their adult lives without proof of identity or information about family. In addition, many children were deceived by those responsible for their care and wrongly told that they were 'war orphans' which prevented many from searching for their families as adults, often until it was too late. To encourage former child migrants to reclaim their identity and restore family relationships, CMT manages the UK Government's Family Restoration Fund, which meets the main costs of international travel and coordinates resources to support CMT s vital family reunion work. To enable recovery from historic institutional abuse, CMT helps former child migrants apply to the Australian government's National Redress Scheme which was established in 2018. We also assist with referrals to lawyers who can help former child migrants to bring matters of historical child abuse before the civil courts and seek financial redress. CMT also promotes greater public awareness of the impact of child migration schemes.