Orphans of the Living

It is a little-known fact that in Australia, around 500,000 children grew up in 'care' in the 20 years following World War II. These children have effectively been written out of historical reports, until today. In this gripping story, Joanna Penglase begins to unravel the stories of how and why these most vulnerable innocents were treated as criminals and put into 'care' that was the equivalent to imprisonment. Penglase presents in a direct, accessible and engaging style, not only the profound personal costs of growing up in 'care', but the broader social and economic costs of these past policies and how changes have occurred in the ways children and childhood are viewed. She also looks at the outcomes of the Senate Inquiry report (August 2004) titled Forgotten Australians.