Forde Inquiry
Encyclopedia
The Forde Inquiry is the informal title of a lengthy report
presented to the government of Queensland
, Australia
in May 1999. The formal title of this document is "The Report of the Commission of Inquiry into Abuse of Children in Queensland Institutions". The commission of inquiry consisted of Jane Thomason, Hans Heilperm and Leneen Forde, the latter serving as chairperson. As Ms. Forde was the former Governor of Queensland, her actions and deliberations on behalf of this commission carried great weight with the present Queensland Government.
During the period from August 1998 through May 1999, the commission conducted intensive inquiries into the current and past administration of various orphanage
s, reformatories
, and detention centres for wayward children maintained in Queensland. A sizeable number of witness
es were deposed under oath to testify before the commission. Most of these deponents had spent part of their childhood or adolescence
in one or more of Queensland's youth institutions. Some of these witnesses chose to be identified by name in the final Inquiry, but many requested anonymity. The commission solicited testimony from Indigenous
(aboriginal) individuals as well as from those of European descent. As most of the deponents were testifying in regard to events which they had experienced or witnessed during their childhood or adolescence, in some cases they were testifying about events that had occurred as much as fifty years prior to the inquiry.
Some of the commission's findings remained sealed after publication of the report, as these referred to matters that were still under litigation or criminal prosecution as of May 1999.
The full report is a public document, available free of charge to anyone who requests it from the Queensland Government. Its findings are detailed and explicit, but here is a brief summation (chapter numbers and page numbers refer to the published text of the Inquiry's report):
The Inquiry Commission issued 42 separate recommendations for changes in government policy, in addition to implementing funding and staff to ensure that these changes were made. Two years after the original Inquiry, the Queensland Government issued a progress report, Queensland Government response to recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry into Abuse of Children in Queensland Institutions. By an unfortunate chance, this report was issued on Sept. 11, 2001 — the day of the September 11 attacks — and so (in the conflict of news coverage on that day) the report's findings initially received less attention than had been hoped. Follow-up reports have verified that substantial progress has been made towards righting decades of incompetence, cruelty and malfeasance.
After the commission turned in its report, several youth institutions were decommissioned and closed, and several administrators were prosecuted for crimes against their young charges. Due to the decades that had elapsed since the time of the worst offences, many of the guilty parties had died in the interim.
Missing Pieces: Information to assist former residents of children's institutions to access records
July 2001
ISBN 0-7242-8339-0
Queensland Families: Future Directions
June 2002
ISBN 0-7345-1034-9
Forgotten Australians: A report on Australians who experienced institutional or out-of-home care as children
August 2004
ISBN 0-642-71239-5
Report
A report is a textual work made with the specific intention of relaying information or recounting certain events in a widely presentable form....
presented to the government of Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in May 1999. The formal title of this document is "The Report of the Commission of Inquiry into Abuse of Children in Queensland Institutions". The commission of inquiry consisted of Jane Thomason, Hans Heilperm and Leneen Forde, the latter serving as chairperson. As Ms. Forde was the former Governor of Queensland, her actions and deliberations on behalf of this commission carried great weight with the present Queensland Government.
During the period from August 1998 through May 1999, the commission conducted intensive inquiries into the current and past administration of various orphanage
Orphanage
An orphanage is a residential institution devoted to the care of orphans – children whose parents are deceased or otherwise unable or unwilling to care for them...
s, reformatories
Reformatory
Reformatory is a term that has had varied meanings within the penal system, depending on the jurisdiction and the era. It may refer to a youth detention center, or an adult correctional facility. The term is still in popular use for adult facilities throughout the United States, although most...
, and detention centres for wayward children maintained in Queensland. A sizeable number of witness
Witness
A witness is someone who has firsthand knowledge about an event, or in the criminal justice systems usually a crime, through his or her senses and can help certify important considerations about the crime or event. A witness who has seen the event first hand is known as an eyewitness...
es were deposed under oath to testify before the commission. Most of these deponents had spent part of their childhood or adolescence
Adolescence
Adolescence is a transitional stage of physical and mental human development generally occurring between puberty and legal adulthood , but largely characterized as beginning and ending with the teenage stage...
in one or more of Queensland's youth institutions. Some of these witnesses chose to be identified by name in the final Inquiry, but many requested anonymity. The commission solicited testimony from Indigenous
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
(aboriginal) individuals as well as from those of European descent. As most of the deponents were testifying in regard to events which they had experienced or witnessed during their childhood or adolescence, in some cases they were testifying about events that had occurred as much as fifty years prior to the inquiry.
Some of the commission's findings remained sealed after publication of the report, as these referred to matters that were still under litigation or criminal prosecution as of May 1999.
The full report is a public document, available free of charge to anyone who requests it from the Queensland Government. Its findings are detailed and explicit, but here is a brief summation (chapter numbers and page numbers refer to the published text of the Inquiry's report):
- Many of the children in Australian orphanages were not orphans, but were in fact "child migrants" who were expatriated from postwar Britain to serve the double purpose of easing food shortages in Britain and building up a population base of young white citizens in Australia. Some of these were children whose parents simply did not want them; others were children who had been separated from their parents during World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
due to evacuation or bombings. Although the "child migrant" scheme was originally implemented to ease postwar conditions, the British government continued expatriating children to Australia until 1966. - Many boys were placed in criminal institutions (reformatories, detention centres and work farms) not because they had committed any crime, but merely because they had turned 14 and were therefore too old to remain in orphanages.
- Girls who became sexually active in their teen years were routinely placed in reformatories on the grounds that they were in "moral danger"; allegedly they were no longer in danger when they were locked into reformatories. (pp ii,v; Chapter 3, p39; Chapter 7, pp121-122, 154-158, Chapter 12, p279)
- Children and adolescents were routinely used for slave labour, and were subjected to physical and sexual abuse by the warders and matrons of the institutions in which they were housed. Many of these institutions were administered by one or another ChristianChristianA Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
church — Anglican, BaptistBaptistBaptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
, CatholicCatholicThe word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
, Methodist or Protestant — so the authority figures administering the abuse were frequently priests and occasionally nuns. - Most of the children were given no schooling, no instruction in useful trades, and no opportunities for recreation. Although some of the orphanages possessed playgrounds and toys, these were maintained only as display for visitors and inspectors.
- Suicide was rampant among the youthful inmates, to the extent that several of these institutions were designed and built in a manner that eliminated "hanging points"; i.e., points which could support a noose containing the weight of a child bent on suicideSuicideSuicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
. (p xxviii; Chapter 7, pp166-167; Chapter 9, p197-198) - Children were routinely given severe punishment for extremely minor infractions. One example cited in the report was the sanctioned policy of inflicting physical torture upon left-handed children, in order "to get the Devil out of them" (Chapter 5, pages 71 & 78), the Devil being presumed to be left-handed.
The Inquiry Commission issued 42 separate recommendations for changes in government policy, in addition to implementing funding and staff to ensure that these changes were made. Two years after the original Inquiry, the Queensland Government issued a progress report, Queensland Government response to recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry into Abuse of Children in Queensland Institutions. By an unfortunate chance, this report was issued on Sept. 11, 2001 — the day of the September 11 attacks — and so (in the conflict of news coverage on that day) the report's findings initially received less attention than had been hoped. Follow-up reports have verified that substantial progress has been made towards righting decades of incompetence, cruelty and malfeasance.
After the commission turned in its report, several youth institutions were decommissioned and closed, and several administrators were prosecuted for crimes against their young charges. Due to the decades that had elapsed since the time of the worst offences, many of the guilty parties had died in the interim.
Sources
- The Queensland Government's official website, with definition and summary of the Forde Inquiry
- List of Queensland Government publications relating to the Forde Inquiry, including addenda and updates published after the Inquiry
- The complete text of the Forde Inquiry's report available as a free download.
Further reading
(All of the following are official publications of the Queensland Government, and are available free of charge upon request.)Missing Pieces: Information to assist former residents of children's institutions to access records
July 2001
ISBN 0-7242-8339-0
Queensland Families: Future Directions
June 2002
ISBN 0-7345-1034-9
Forgotten Australians: A report on Australians who experienced institutional or out-of-home care as children
August 2004
ISBN 0-642-71239-5