THE healthcare arm of the Catholic Church last Monday issued an apology to the victims of forced adoption practices from the 1950s to 1970s and offer those affected counselling and a pathway for complaints.
The apology was made through a Senate committee, which is inquiring into the past practices of hospitals and social workers employed by government, churches and charities, who forcibly removed babies from unwed and teenage mothers and adopted them out.
The adoptions often occurred against the wishes of the mothers, who sometimes signed consent forms under duress or the influence of sedatives and other medication. In some cases no birth records are available.
"We acknowledge the pain of separation and loss felt then and now for the mothers, fathers, children, families and others involved in the practices of the time," Catholic Health Australia says in its apology.
"For the pain and suffering that arises from practices of the past, we are genuinely sorry. These practices of the past are no longer tolerated, nor allowed by today's law, and are deeply regrettable."
Catholic hospitals and welfare agencies were among several church, charity and state government institutions that engaged in what were sometimes illegal practices in removing babies from young mothers for adoption.
The NSW parliament inquired into the practice in 2000 and last year the West Australian government issued an apology to victims.
The Catholic Church's apology and acknowledgement of the harm caused by the practices follows the federal government's apology to the Stolen Generations of indigenous Australians, and Canberra's 2009 apology to child migrants and other children who had been abused in church, charity and government-run institutions.
Catholic Healthcare chief executive Martin Laverty says his agency wants the federal government to set up a framework that will allow the victims of forced adoption to get access to personal medical or social work records and help contact lost family members.
"What is required is an acknowledgment of what happened, an apology and a system to respond the the individual circumstances of people who are still hurting," Mr Laverty said.
The framework would not be costly to government but political will would be needed to bring all the agencies involved together and co-ordinate the sharing of information, he said.
The Senate inquiry has received more than 300 submissions and many of them record how women were pressured, deceived or threatened into signing adoption forms. Some accounts were as recent as 1987.
The committee has been asked to report on whether there is a potential role for the commonwealth in developing a national framework to assist states and territories deal with the consequences of forced adoption on mothers and their children.
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