Mothers forced to give up their babies for adoption continue push for compensation in Tasmania
In short:
A group of Tasmanian mothers who had their babies forcibly removed are continuing their push for compensation.
Forced adoption of the children of unwed mothers occurred in Australia up until the 1980s.
What's next?
The Tasmanian government says it has met with those affected by the traumatic practice and "will continue to work with the community".
In 1969, when she was 18 years old, Robyn Cohen gave birth to a baby girl at the Royal Hobart Hospital.
"I was in labour for 21 hours, I didn't have pain relief, and I screamed a lot," Ms Cohen said.
"Nobody heard me. Nobody helped me."
As soon as Ms Cohen's baby was born, she wasn't allowed to see her.
She said she wasn't even allowed to know if she had a boy or a girl.
"I was nothing and no one in the hospital," Ms Cohen said.
Ms Cohen is one of the estimated thousands of unmarried mothers who were impacted by the practice of forced adoption in Australia between the 1950s to 1980s.
She said she'd been attending therapy for the past 20 years to process her loss.
"During therapy, I wanted to find something. I wanted to find memories of what did she look like? Did she look like me? Did she have curly hair? Was she awake? Was she asleep?
"I discovered through therapy that there were no memories to have."
Advocating for redress, 12 years on
In October 2012, then-Tasmanian premier Lara Giddings formally apologised for the pain and suffering caused by past forced adoption policies.
In the same year, a Senate inquiry into forced adoption practices recommended that apologies should "be accompanied by concrete actions that offer appropriate redress for past mistakes".
Twelve years on, women affected by the practice in Tasmania are continuing their push for compensation.
A group of almost 20 survivors, with pro bono legal representation, want the process of seeking compensation to be trauma-informed.
The group wants the government to commit to not using the statute of limitations — which means that cases must be brought within six years — to stop the mothers from receiving compensation.
Angela Sdrinis Legal solicitor Annabelle Ward said if the government was to use the limitation defence, it would be a "cruel blow to these women who have already suffered for many, many years".
She said while "no amount of money" would ever undo the harm suffered, compensation would provide recognition of what those affected by forced adoption practices went through.
"What we're seeking … is to motivate the government to offer some compensation to these women for the abuse they suffered," Ms Ward said.
"The apology that they received 12 years ago isn't really worth much unless it's accompanied by some kind of compensation."
The group is also represented by Greg Barns SC and former war crimes prosecutor Regina Weiss.
Support from fellow survivors helping healing process
More than 50 years after giving birth to her daughter, the trauma of having her baby taken away is still very real for Ms Cohen.
"I have finally accepted that there are no memories of my baby to find, and that helps somewhat to understand that," she said.
"But PTSD doesn't go away. It's always there, and there's always some trigger which will come up and it rears its head again."
She said the support provided by her fellow survivors had been key to her healing.
"We lived in secrecy for so long," Ms Cohen said.
"Finally, we have a voice, and I'm so proud of some of the women that I've met who've now found their voice and have come out."
Finding her voice has also been a powerful experience for Jo-Anne Vellar, who had her baby in 1973 at 15 years old.
She said being able to speak up, and finding a community of people who could understand her experience, had been significant.
"You know, having people realise that you didn't give your baby away, [and that] you don't have to put up with people saying, 'how could you do that?'" Ms Vellar said.
"We didn't give our child away. It was taken."
When asked if the Tasmanian government would commit to providing compensation to victim-survivors, government minister Felix Ellis said he recognised the trauma and hurt caused by past policies.
"The premier has met with people that were affected by those past policies and we're listening closely to the needs of those people as that trauma continues to linger," Mr Ellis said.
"We'll continue to work with the community around that."