WA Stolen Generations Redress Scheme: Questions and Answers

• The WA Government is delivering a Stolen Generations Redress Scheme to acknowledge the harm experienced by Stolen Generations survivors, which for many people involved separation from family, community, Country, and culture.

• The Scheme offers a payment of $85,000 to living Stolen Generations members who were removed as children from their families in Western Australia before 1 July 1972. A payment may also be offered in respect of a person who passed away on or after 27 May 2025, the day the Scheme was announced.

• The Scheme also offers a personal acknowledgement. This is an opportunity for Stolen Generations survivors to share their story and receive an acknowledgement of their experience from a WA Government representative. 

You can apply if: 

• you are an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person;

• you were removed from your family when you were under 18 years old; you were removed in Western Australia before 1 July 1972; and

• are a living person. 

You can also apply on behalf of a family member who passed away on or after 27 May 2025, the date the Scheme was announced. The person who applies is not necessarily the person who will receive the payment. 

• To apply for the Scheme, you need to fill out an Application Form. You can get a paper form from one of the Scheme Support Services or contact us to have one sent out. You can also download the form from the Stolen Generations Redress Scheme page.

• You can type your answers into the form on a computer but will need to print to sign it. Or you can print the form blank and fill it out with a pen. 

• If you don't have a printer, that's okay – give us a call and we can get you in touch with a Scheme Support Service.

• This form is quite long, and it might take some time to fill out. It asks some big questions about things like what might happen if you pass away.

• Please make and keep a copy of your Application Form for your records. If you can’t make a copy, let us know and we will send you a copy.

• You can email the form to
  WASG@dpc.wa.gov.au, or send in the mail to:

   REPLY PAID 

   Stolen Generations Redress Scheme 

   Dept of the Premier & Cabinet 

   Reply Paid 84912 

  WEST PERTH WA 6872 

• If you can’t answer all the questions in the form, that’s okay – just complete as much as you can.

• There are Scheme Support Services to help you apply. They can provide both practical and emotional support.

• There might be times when it’s not easy to talk or think about the Scheme and your application. There is 24/7 help available if you need it:
  • 13YARN - 13 9276
  • Lifeline - 13 11 14
  • Beyond Blue - 1300 224 636
  • Suicide Call Back Service - 1300 659 467.

• You can make an application by yourself, or you can ask someone to help you. 

• If you need help with your application, Scheme Support Services can help with things like:
  • getting an application form
  • filling out forms
  • ID requirements.

• You can contact these support services for assistance or advice:
  • Yokai – Healing Our Spirit - (08) 6288 8123
  • Kimberley Stolen Generations Aboriginal Corporation - 1800 830 338
  • Yorgum Healing Services Aboriginal Corporation - 1800 469 371.

• There may be other Scheme Support Services that become available later – you can contact the Department or visit the website to check the latest information.

• You can also ask a friend, family member, or someone else you trust.

• If you would like someone to talk to us on your behalf you need to appoint a Nominee.  

• A Nominee should be a person or organisation you trust and who respects your privacy. They can be a friend, family member, support worker, or organisation who will be there to help you through the process.

• To appoint a Nominee, please fill out the Supported Applicant Form, which will be available on the website. The Nominee needs to sign the Supported Applicant Form too. 

• We want to keep your information safe. Confirming your identity is one way your privacy and information is safe.  

• We will ask you to provide two forms of ID when you apply. 

• Some types of ID are:
  • Birth Certificate
  • Driver’s Licence (front and back)
  • Medicare Card
  • Centrelink Health Care Card
  • Centrelink Seniors Health Card
  • Centrelink Pensioner Concession Card
  • Passport
  • Change of Name Certificate
  • Marriage Certificate. 

• More detailed information on ID requirements is provided in the form. 

• If you’re having trouble supplying documents, that’s okay. Please call us on 08 6552 5050 or email 
  WASG@dpc.wa.gov.au.

• Please do not send us your original ID documents.

• You can call 6552 5050 if you have any questions about who can apply for the Scheme or the application process.

• You may be able to apply, even if you’re not sure that your story meets the requirements for redress.  

Once we have received your Application Form we will:

• contact you to let you know we have received it

• tell you about what’s next and how long it will take; and 

• talk about any other information or documents we may need. 

No. It is important to know:   

• You do not need to pay to apply to this Scheme 

• You do not need to pay a support service to help you apply 

• No one should ask you for money or a part of your any payment. 

• We want to be as quick as possible. Once you’ve sent in your Application Form, we will aim to process it in 3-4 months. If it ends up taking longer than we thought it would, we will get in touch. 

• Free financial counselling will be available to assist people who receive a payment. 

• You can only apply on behalf of a family member if they passed away on or after 27 May 2025. This was the date the Scheme was announced.

• Please contact us if you would like to make an application on behalf of someone who passed away, and we will need to send you the right form.

• The person who applies is not necessarily the person who will receive payment – the money will be paid into the person’s estate, and there are laws about what happens next, including where the person did not have a will.

• If you have any questions, you can call us on 08 6552 5050, send an email to
  WASG@dpc.wa.gov.au to get in touch. 

• Some people might contact you and try to talk you into applying for the Scheme and say you have to give them some of your money later. 

• Be careful if:   

• you get surprise calls, texts, or emails about applying; or   

• someone pressures you to sign papers or sign up with a law firm.

• You should keep yourself safe:

• Don’t share your personal details with people you don’t know.

• Speak with your family or someone you trust.

• If you think you have been approached by a scammer, please let us know. We want to help keep everyone safe.

• You don’t need to provide any documents or papers about your removal, but you can if you want. 

• If you give us permission by signing the form, we will work with Aboriginal History WA, which is part of the Department of Creative Industries, Tourism, and Sport, to do a check for your records.

• It is important to know, you don’t need to contact Aboriginal History WA about your application, or trying to find any records. We can do that part for you.

• If you have supporting records you would like to include with your Application Form, this will help us work on your application. Please do not send your original records.  

• Supporting documents could be:
  • official records such as government records, police records, church or mission records, or welfare body records.
  • documentary sources such as photographs, magazine articles, newspaper articles, oral histories, manuscripts, or books.
  • contextual records such as protection reports.  

• Applicants who meet the requirements will receive a payment of $85,000.

• Filling out an Application Form doesn’t mean you will get the payment. Applicants will have to meet the requirements and confirm their identity, to receive a payment.

• Applicants will be told be about the decision once their application has been processed. 

• The Department has been working with Commonwealth and State government agencies to reduce, as much as possible, the impact on your tax liability or entitlement to benefits.

• There are complex rules about these things, especially for tax, aged care, and what happens if you give some of your payment to another person. If you have any questions or worries, you can contact one of the free financial counselling services in the first instance.  

• You can get more information about financial counselling services from the Department or one of the Scheme Support Services. 

• If you receive a payment, we recommend you tell Centrelink, or the Department of Veterans Affairs, or the Department of Heath, Disability and Ageing (as relevant to your circumstances) and let them know that the payment is made under the Scheme as a lump-sum redress payment. 

• The Department of the Premier and Cabinet is leading the Scheme.

• Other agencies are also working on the Scheme. For example, Aboriginal History WA, which is part of the Department of Creative Industries, Tourism, and Sport, will be doing checks of records. 

• The Department is collaborating with Aboriginal organisations to ensure the Scheme helps people in ways that are safe and respect culture.  

• You can get free support to help you to manage your money, including:
  • setting up a bank account.
  • putting aside money for funerals.
  • thinking about how to stop people humbugging you.

• You can get more information on this from the Department or one of the Scheme Support Services. 

• The Scheme is mainly to provide payments and Personal Acknowledgements to living members of the Stolen Generations, in recognition of their experience of removal. 

• The WA Government understands the Stolen Generations policies also led to harm and hurt for their families and communities across generations, and is working with Stolen Generations organisations on how to address this at different levels. 

• The focus of this Scheme is to recognise harm and trauma that people experienced under historical government laws and policies. 

• In 1972 the Native Welfare Act 1963 was repealed and replaced with the current legislation, the Aboriginal Affairs Planning Authority Act 1972.  

• No. The Stolen Wages Class Action was brought against the WA Government on behalf of Aboriginal people in WA who worked for little or no wages between 1936 and 1972. It did not relate to Stolen Generations or child removal.

• If someone gets money under the Stolen Wages Class Action settlement, they can still get money and a Personal Acknowledgment under the WA Stolen Generations Redress Scheme too, if they meet the criteria.

• The WA Stolen Generations Redress Scheme is also different from the National Redress Scheme (the full name is
  National Redress Scheme National Redress Scheme for people who have experienced institutional child sexual abuse).

• Any payments you may receive from the for National Redress Scheme institutional child sexual abuse, or the Stolen Wages Class Action, will not impact payments for this Scheme.