A new report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), commissioned by the Healing Foundation, shows that Indigenous Australians who were forcibly removed under assimilation policies—known as Stolen Generations survivors—face significantly higher physical and health challenges than other Indigenous and non‑Indigenous populations.
The report draws on 2022‑23 survey data of survivors now over 50 and their descendants. It estimates that about 200,000 people, or 45% of Indigenous Australians, have a relative who was removed between 1910 and 1970, when a policy of forced removal was adopted by all Australian governments until the 1970s.
Survivors were 2.7 times more likely to have severe or profound disability and 1.7 times more likely to have been admitted to hospital in the past year, even after adjusting for age, sex and remoteness. Compared with non‑Indigenous Australians, they were six times more likely to have kidney disease, 4.8 times more likely to have a severe or profound disability, and 3.9 times more likely to report high psychological distress.
The report also found greater socioeconomic hardship among survivors, such as a lower ability to pay unexpected emergency costs and more days unable to afford essential needs. Nearly twice as many survivors reported high psychological distress and 1.6 times the likelihood of mental or behavioural health conditions, with descendants 1.3 times more likely to report distress or a diagnosed mental health condition.
Dr Martin Edvardsson, acting head of First Nations health at AIHW, said Australia lacks comprehensive data on the needs of Stolen Generation survivors and their families, and that understanding those needs will become increasingly difficult as survivors age and become less represented in household surveys.
