<P> The Stolen Generations ( also known as Stolen Children ) were the children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian Federal and State government agencies and church missions , under acts of their respective parliaments . The removals of those referred to as `` half - caste '' children were conducted in the period between approximately 1905 and 1969 , although in some places mixed - race children were still being taken into the 1970s . Documentary evidence , such as newspaper articles and reports to parliamentary committees , suggest a range of rationales . Apparent motivations included the belief that the Aboriginal people would die out , given their catastrophic population decline after white contact , the belief that they were heathens and were better off in non-indigenous households , and the belief that full - blooded Aboriginal people resented miscegenation and the mixed - race children fathered and abandoned by white men . </P>
who took part in removing the stolen generation
Australian Federal and State government agencies church missions