‘Unfolding Lives’ Back into the light
A memorial with special significance for West Australian Care Leavers is the ‘Unfolding Lives’ sculpture, which was unveiled in December 2010 outside the old Museum in the Northbridge Cultural Centre. The memorial, known to many care leavers as the ‘Chatterbox’, was placed in storage four years ago, during redevelopment of the new Boola Bardip Museum. In mid-2020, Mark Farmer, a WA care leaver and advocate, began lobbying for reinstatement of the memorial, prompting a series of consultations by the WA Government on this issue. The consultation process is being handled by the Office of the WA Commissioner for Victims of Crime, which is seeking input from WA care leavers and other stakeholders. About 35 people attended a meeting at Tuart Place on 29th March 2021, including members of the Stolen Generations; former child migrants; and the Forgotten Australians - non-Indigenous Australian-born care leavers. The Welcome to Country was provided by Noongar Elder Dorothy (Dot) Bagshaw, a former resident of Carrolup Marribank Mission. Among those present were WA Commissioner for Victims of Crime Kati Kraszlan and colleagues Charlotte Hastings and Natalie Burgis; Matthew Wilding, Director of Corporate Information, WA Department of Communities; FACT Inc Board members Cevrina Reed, Dale Lynch, Ann McVeigh and Lyn McLaughlin; Derek Smith, Vice President of
Old Fairbridgians Association WA; as well as representatives and ex-residents of a wide range of former children’s Homes in WA. Commissioner Kati Kraszlan began her presentation by apologising for the lack of information provided to care leavers about the removal of the Chatterbox memorial four years ago, and acknowledging the distress this had caused. Kati disclosed that the memorial had been damaged as it was removed from the plinth, and that funding has been made available for its restoration. A lively discussion ensued with plenty of ideas about locations for the memorial and its signage. After relaying this feedback to Government, Kati will come back for further consultation and discussion of options. Thank you to student social worker Meagan Court for taking notes at this meeting. Copies are available from Tuart Place on request.
Flashback to the 2010 unveiling of ‘Unfolding Lives’....
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