Historically, Aboriginal children and babies were systematically and forcibly removed from their families by goverments and church groups in order to assimilate them into mainstream society. This was part of official government policy for many decades, purportedly for the welfare of the children. The policies greatly damaged families and individuals.

The problem never went away. Recent studies have shown that today, Aboriginal children are 10 times more likely to be removed from their families than non-indigenous children.