Child migrants
Child migration began as an experiment in social engineering designed to re-locate underprivileged children from over-crowded and impoverished living conditions in Britain to the colonies where they could be of use as labourers and domestic servants.

Background

Under the Empire Settlement Act of 1922 and 1937, the British Government assisted private organisations to help people who wanted to settle in �His Majesty�s Overseas Dominions.� Although not specifically aimed at assisting child migrants, this legislation allowed non-government organisations to send child migrants to various parts of the British Empire.



The scheme intensified after the war when child migrants were sent under the Children�s Act 1948. Although non-government organisations had direct charge of most of the children at the recruitment stage, during their passage, or after their arrival in the receiving countries, they received encouragement and financial backing from British governments and governments in receiving countries.



About 150 000 children with an average age of eight years and nine months emigrated from the United Kingdom, the majority to Canada, until the scheme ended in 1967.[4] A key motivation for child migration was to maintain the racial unity of the Empire and populate the Dominions of Canada, Rhodesia, New Zealand and Australia, with �good white stock�.


The exact number of child migrants to Australia is not known, but estimates suggest that from 1947 to 1967, between 7000 and 10 000 children were sent to Australia.[5] A feature of the scheme was the care of children in residential institutions rather than by foster care or adoption. Most were placed in the care of Barnardos, the Fairbridge Society, the Church of England and the Christian Brothers.[6]



The House of Commons Health Committee concluded that �children were placed in large, often isolated, institutions and were often subjected to harsh, sometimes intentionally brutal, regimes of work and discipline, unmodified by any real nurturing or encouragement. The institutions were inadequately supervised, monitored and inspected�.[7]

She had written many letters to the department asking about me, but she never had a reply.

Some were orphans, others from broken homes. Still more, among them Bayliff, Lee and their siblings Sidney and Graham, were sent by parents who believed the official propaganda that Australia offered their children a carefree future.

Yet many were abused by the Fairbridge Society, Dr Barnardo's and the Christian Brothers, institutions entrusted with their care.

Years after he had escaped, Bayliff was sent a cheque for the eight years of work he had done on the farm. It was for just over a dollar. He never cashed it