Adoption and Forgotten Australians

Family history for adopted people, Forgotten Australians and child migrants

Subject Librarian

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Carmen Quick
Contact:
Senior Librarian, Family History

Contact me via our online reference service citing my name and title of the guide

Family history guides

Welcome

Welcome to State Library Victoria's guide to Adoption and Forgotten Australians. This guide is a list of current and historical resources for researching the family history of adopted persons, Forgotten Australians and child migrants.

'Forgotten Australians' is a term the Australian Senate has used to describe children who were brought up in orphanages, children's homes, institutions or foster care in Australia during the 1920-1970 time period. For the purpose of this guide, resources for earlier and later periods are also listed.

This guide focuses primarily on Victoria but also includes a selection of resources for other Australian states, New Zealand, United Kingdom and Ireland. Use the tabs across the top of the page to learn more about what information can be found.
For information on locating living family members, please view the Library's Researching your Victorian ancestors guide.

[Melbourne Orphanage, Brighton, Vic.], H2001.20/7