Thursday, 15 May 2025

South-Eastern Metropolitan Region

Rachel PAYNE (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:36): My constituent is a proud mother and grandmother from Dandenong. She was 18 when her first child was born in 1967. Before she could hold her newborn the baby was taken for adoption without her consent. For decades my constituent has been fighting for justice alongside an estimated 250,000 Australians impacted by forced separation and closed adoption. At its height, from the 1950s through to the early 1980s, these mothers endured abhorrent treatment. Recommendation 24 of the inquiry into responses to historical forced adoption in Victoria called for changes to the Wrongs Act 1958 to give these mothers greater access to justice. Despite the Victorian government’s commitment to exploring the reform, nothing has changed, so my constituent asks: when will the government implement recommendation 24?