Whilst in New South Wales, I visited Wattle Place, to find out more about the services this Center offers to Forgotten Australians, former child migrants and members of the Stolen Generations.
Opened in 2011 as part of Relationships Australia, Wattle Place provides essential services to adults (aged 26 and over), who were placed in children’s homes, foster care, or similar institutions in Australia. Wattle Place also extends its support to individuals impacted by forced adoption and to those who experienced childhood sexual abuse while under institutional ‘care’.
Wattle Place provides a comprehensive range of services tailored to the unique needs of its client group. These include: counselling; access to records and family tracing; caseworker support; signposting and social activities and groups. The Center also provides help and guidance to individuals navigating the complex process of seeking justice and reparations via the National Redress Scheme.
In more recent years, Wattle Place has recognised the growing need to support 'care' leavers as they approach later stages of life. Understandably, many 'care' leavers hold deep-seated fears and mistrust of aged care facilities, viewing them as a potential return to ‘re-institutionalisation’. This aversion is rooted in past traumatic experiences of abuse and neglect within institutions and there is consequently a marked preference to receive care at home. 'Care' leavers need to be both supported in overcoming barriers to accessing aged care services and empowered to make informed choices about their future care.
Wattle Place also provides specialised support to individuals affected by the forced adoption practices, prevalent in Australia from the 1950's through the 1970's. During this period, societal stigma around single motherhood resulted in the forced removal of babies from unmarried mothers, often without their informed consent. Wattle Place offers assistance not only to mothers, but also to the adoptees, fathers and extended family members impacted by forced adoption.
At the heart of Wattle Place’s work are five foundational principles:
Safety
Trustworthiness
Choice
Collaboration
Empowerment
The Center strives to create a warm, friendly environment where individuals feel a genuine sense of belonging and connection. This community-oriented approach fosters familiarity and safety.
Wattle Place’s overarching goals include:
Supporting individuals to develop greater confidence in facing unique challenges stemming from their past.
Equipping people with the skills to manage the ongoing effects of trauma in daily life.
Ultimately, enabling a greater sense of control, safety and enjoyment in life.
The work of Wattle Place goes beyond individual healing. It contributes to a broader mission to embed recognition of Australia’s institutional history into the national psyche. In the words of it's members:
"We want everyone to know the history, because ending the secrecy ends the shame."
(Wattle Place: The secret everyone should know about, 2019)
(With thanks to Wattle Place)