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I’ve longed to belong to a family ...

Some children lived all their childhood in the homes. Others only spent some of their childhood there.

However, when children reached the age at which the state was no longer responsible for them, they were obliged to leave the home. It may have been the only one they knew.

What was it like for those socialised differently from the majority of the community to make a life ‘outside’?

Photograph of a small blue suitcase with reinforced corners, metal locks and a worn black handle. The lid is partially open. - click to view larger image

Exhibition graphic panel that reads: 'When leaving the orphanage very scared I was not worthy as a person ... and everything was my fault' attributed to 'Christine Waite, 2011'. - click to view larger image

Exhibition graphic panel that reads: 'I didn't know what to wear', attributed to 'Judith Leonard, 2010'. - click to view larger image

Exhibition graphic panel that reads: 'That I had been kidnapped and dragged into a page from Dickens a century before and popped back out of it with the sixties in full swing', attributed to 'Rachael Romero, 2011'. - click to view larger image

A white card with a colour printed image of the Virgin Mary standing behind a young child who wears a white robe and holds wheat in each extended hand. - click to view larger image

Exhibition graphic panel that reads: 'You'd missed learning - how to do Christmas, how to budget, how to do a birthday party, how to clean a house', attributed to 'Jenny Bosanquet, 2010'. - click to view larger image

Exhibition graphic panel of black text on a white background reads 'Mother’s Day I had to shut the door and turn the music up loud so I wouldn’t hear my neighbours with their mums being happy. All events that people share with their families,' attributed to 'Diane Tronc, 2012'. - click to view larger image

Exhibition graphic panel that reads: 'The concept of family for me? It's like a foreign country you've never been to. You might as well say China' attributed to 'Kerry Lowdon, Bentleigh Children's Home, Bentleigh, Victoria, 1980s, 'The Age', 4 July 2004'. - click to view larger image

Exhibition graphic panel that reads: 'My mother, passed on five months or six months prior to my finding out that she had been alive all these years ... Why was I told that she was dead? Why was I told that she had been killed during the war? All I have left is this photograph and a death certificate' attributed to 'Submission, Community Affairs References Committee, 2001, Methodist Children's Home, Cheltenham, Victoria, 1950s'. - click to view larger image

Exhibition graphic panel of black handwriting on beige background reads 'The boy from Ballarat Orphanage navigated the streets of London wide-eyed and knew how Magellan felt when he reached the Pacific', attribued to 'Frank Golding, Ballarat Orphanage, Ballarat, Victoria, 1950s'. A photograph on the right shows a small red diamond printed with a large black 'E' at the centre and 'PARLIAMENT SQUARE' at the top. It hangs from a piece of red wool and gold safety pin. - click to view larger image

Exhibition graphic panel that reads: 'After I went back to live at home, one day I heard singing. There were people standing singing round a cake that had candles stuck in it. I didn't know what was going on', attributed to 'Ryszard Szablicki, 2010'. - click to view larger image

A colour photo of a handwritten letter that reads 'Blairgowrie, 12.3.34. My Dear Nancy, I wish you the very best of good wishes, in the big world you are entering. You have been a good girl, & have tried hard to do everything well. May the teaching you have had with me, follow with you. Always try to do your best, be truthful & upright. God bless you Nancy. 'He will never leave you, nor forsake you' Much love. From yr affect Matron M. D. Penman'. - click to view larger image

Exhibition graphic panel that reads: 'Society continually tells victims to ‘get over it’ or ‘it’s in the past’. I can assure you that the treatment of those of us who survive will not be ‘in the past’ as long as one of us draws breath, for we suffer the consequences every second of our existence.' attributed to 'Ray Flett, 'Orphans of the Living', by Joanna Penglase, 2005'. - click to view larger image

Exhibition graphic panel that reads: 'I learned to read and write when I was nearly 50 ... After I could read and write I spent years finding my brothers', attributed to 'Valda Hogan, 2004'. - click to view larger image

Two sheets of white notepaper, side by side, covered with handwriting in blue pen. 'Rex, Canberra Rex Hotel, 150 Northbourne Avenue Braddon ACT' is printed at the top of the left sheet. Inscriptions on the left read: 'Novermber 2009 / was a very / HAPPY Time / foR me / VALDA ANN / (Newman) / Now is / Hogan. (iN very) BAd Care) / So much WHaT THE SO / (caLL) nuns and (so) CALL Good / old (ST) John OF (God) Let us DOWN / foR years Has Little KiDS. I was / PUT iN Hospital bec OF THem ALL / (So THaT) WHY I Send you ALL / (THiS) TO SHow you ALL / it (HAS) TAKeing SO Long fOR THis / (ALL) TO come (OUT) Bec OF / John H Jeffk. + [G] Newman + me / so calL [CE] PelL to / Keep it OuT oF OuR / Courts FOR (years). and THis / is WHY. Was Newman, VALDA Hogan)'. The reverse side partially reads 'I am give you THe / (times) I was / iN and OuT / of THe DDDD / (Homes) RuN By / Some very / BAd Nu[m]s / FOR years'. The right reads: 'TO COME'. - click to view larger image

Exhibition graphic panel that reads: 'Somebody must know something about me', attributed to 'Mary Mason, 'Telegraph', UK, 25 February 2010'. - click to view larger image

Photocopy of an A4 page on Victorian Department of Human Services letterhead. Advises the recipient of a decision to release her wardship records in part. A table shows a total of 352 pages of records were found, with 295 for full release, 27 for part release and 30 fully exempted. - click to view larger image

Exhibition graphic panel that reads: 'I never knew I was allergic to penicillin till I got my file', attributed to 'Jenny Bosanquet, 2011'. - click to view larger image

Photocopy of a lined page listing dates and names of various institutions from 1963 to 1980. 'DISCHARGED' is also printed on the page. - click to view larger image

Polaroid photograph showing a group of boys in school uniform, standing in two rows, with another two boys kneeling at the front. The boys' faces have been blurred. Six of the 12 have blue rings drawn around their faces. Typed text below reads 'Boys from St John of God Home, Camberwell, Victoria, 1957. 'Courtesy Wayne Chamley' is typed at the side. - click to view larger image

Exhibition graphic panel that reads: 'I had been told my mother dumped me into an orphanage in UK yet she wrote me a letter every month and the Brothers hid them in a shoe box, under the instructions of the child welfare department', attributed to 'Anthony R, Clontarf Boys Town, Waterford, Western Australia, 1950'. - click to view larger image

Exhibition graphic panel that reads: 'This painting comes from 1971 ... I felt suicidal … I thought if I stood in the middle of the road, they would run me over ... but the cars drove around me ... The main figure ... shows the way that I felt emotionally flayed for years but it is not just a symbol. It’s how I really felt', attributed to 'Mim Willson-Dekker, 2011'. - click to view larger image

Photograph of a painting showing a central skeleton with its left arm raised and with hand resting on the skull. Some muscles and tissues and the eyes are visible. Various scenes are depicted around the skeleton. - click to view larger image

Exhibition graphic panel that reads: 'I’ve longed to belong to a family and that’s the reason behind all this [reunion]; we were all like one big family and were all like sisters', attributed to 'Shirley Steans Beaumont, 'The Age', 10 April 2006'. - click to view larger image

Exhibition graphic panel that reads: 'I knew my grandfather Wati Kunmara as a child. I met him again just by chance when I went to Yalata in 1973 as part of the National Population Inquiry — by sheer accident he was there. He gave me this club — pununka chuku chuku', attributed to 'Gordon Briscoe, 2011'. - click to view larger image

Photograph of a wooden club, mounted on a wall in a perspex display case. - click to view larger image

Exhibition graphic panel that reads: 'This is the first time I had seen my brother Anthony in 40 years. When I found him he said ‘Don’t ever lose me’. This was in March 2003. Anthony died in 2011 without receiving justice for the crimes that were committed against him', attributed to 'Leonie Sheedy OAM, 2011'. - click to view larger image

Colour photograph showing a man and woman sitting at a dining table. - click to view larger image

Exhibition graphic panel that reads: 'Oh Scotland! Why did ye forsake me? Why send me from your shores? ... At last the journey’s over. My family I did greet. I’ll now return to my adopted land. To live my life in peace.', attributed to 'William Nelson, 2000'. - click to view larger image

Colour photograph of a man standing in a garden outside a house. He wears traditional Scottish dress of a tartan kilt, sporran and tailored jacket. - click to view larger image

Exhibition graphic panel that reads: 'To talk about the Stolen Generations is important because people ... thought that it was in the ‘best interest of the child’. Well that wasn’t in the best interest of myself, I know that', attributed to 'Mary Terszak, 2009'. - click to view larger image

Colour photograph showing a woman holding a book in both hands. The book cover shows a photo of the woman as a young girl. - click to view larger image

Photograph of a timber frame with four badges mounted on a soft background. An Aboriginal flag in the shape of Australia is at left, the top badge is cirucular and yellow and printed with the words 'Justice and Redress for ALL Australian Care Leavers'. A blue printed rectangular badge below reads 'FORGOTTEN / 500,000 / ABUSED & NEGLECTED / AUSTRALIANS'. A circular gold badge at right is embossed with a wattle emblem. - click to view larger image

Exhibition graphic panel that reads: 'A dream catcher ... catches bad dreams and lets good dreams pass through it onot the sleeper ... the weaving of the web is a very uplifting and spiritual journey for the maker. The web represents the web of life, and the maker can add specific items to suit the person for whom it is made ... I am able to weave the web with great skill being that I'm a Blackfoot Indian descendant', attributed to 'Josepehine Littlehawk, 2011'. - click to view larger image

Photograph of a ciruclar dream catcher hanging in front of a dark background. Feathers hang from the bottom and sides of the main circle. A small skull sits at the top and a weblike pattern fills the centre of the circle. - click to view larger image

Exhibition graphic panel that reads: 'I got so frustrated with everyone just talking ... all the ‘Sorrys’ ... This is something I can do, while they’re talking, to reach out and help our people, Forgotten Australians living in squalor' attributed to 'Sue Treweek, 2011'. - click to view larger image

Colour photograph of a woman in a sky blue coverall, wearing blue gloves, safety glasses, and with a gas mask resting on her head. - click to view larger image

Exhibition graphic panel that reads: 'This is me on my invention — the first machine developed which can clean synthetic grass. I’m a tough businessman and I think it comes from my upbringing in the Home. It was a hellhole, but I wouldn’t let them break my spirit' attributed to 'Allan Allaway, 2011'. - click to view larger image

Colour photograph showing a side view of a man sitting on a four-wheeled motorised blue cart. The man steers the cart on a bright blue and green synthetic field surface. - click to view larger image

Exhibition graphic panel that reads: 'I am passionate about getting the message out there because people don't know ... I launched my recording ‘In Memory of Forgotten Australians’, dedicated to my mother who was placed in an orphanage as a small child, and my little sister, Annissa, who died in care at the age of three', attributed to 'Leanne Hawkins, 2011'. - click to view larger image

A woman with long flowing red hair is holding a microphone while looking directly at the camera. - click to view larger image

Exhibition graphic panel that reads: 'The reports into the three cohorts of institutionalised and in-care Indigenous Australians, non-Indigenous Australians, and child migrants all exhibit the long-term effects of harming children; if you hurt a child, a harmed adult will often result ... How many ... MPs have read them; how many senior bureaucrats?', attributed to 'Andrew Murray’s address to the Annual General Meeting of Barnados Australia, 25 November 2010'. - click to view larger image

Colour photograph showing a man wearing a suit, leaning on a desk to address a parliamentary chamber. - click to view larger image

Exhibition graphic of black handwritten text on a beige background reads: 'This is Spring in my garden. I love my garden. It is a source of great pleasure and an outlet for creativity. I have always trusted the seasons, perhaps more so than people. Seasons are reliable, a sense of the constant in a chaotic world for me. My world is not so chaotic now-days', attributed to 'Janice Konstantindis, 2011'. - click to view larger image

Further reading

Read Mary Terszak's story on the From Little Things Big Things Grow website

Life in Bloom ‘Smilebox’ 06:08

This Life in Bloom ‘Smilebox’ was created by Janice Konstantinidis in spring 2011, about her garden in California, America. Janice spent almost 4 years in the 1960s at Mount St Canice in Hobart, Tasmania, where the Sisters of the Good Shepherd ran a laundry. View transcript

Inside: Life in Children’s Homes and Institutions 01 Jan 2018

A severed life

This poem recalls Rachael Romero’s experiences at the Convent of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, Plympton, South Australia, in the 1960s.

Rachael Romero

00:00 / 2:34

Apology and unfinished business

Historical overview

About the exhibition

Personal stories

Listen Audio on demand

Defining Moments

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