Forced adoption survivors head to Canberra with strong message for federal government 10 years after apology

Abraham Maddison believes little has been done to support people who were adopted out under forced adoption practices since the apology by Julia Gillard.(ABC News: Stephen Opie)

A decade on from a historic apology to thousands of Australians affected by the forced adoption era, survivors have headed back to Canberra to push for the support they say they were promised, but never received.

Key points:

Julia Gillard made the apology 10 years ago today

A host of support services were pledged and delivered at the time

But survivors say little has changed and "saying sorry is not enough"

Many say precious little has been done to help them overcome the significant challenges they face, despite pledges by former Labor leader, Julia Gillard, in March 2013, and a raft of recommendations from a senate inquiry.

At events in Canberra to mark the 10th anniversary of the apology, people who were adopted out as children will call on the current Labor government to do more to support them, saying "sorry is not enough anymore".

Fall-out continues for survivors

There were about 150,000 adoptions from the 1950s to the early 1980s, when unmarried women were routinely shamed and coerced into surrendering their babies.

Then prime minister Julia Gillard delivers an apology in 2013 to victims of forced adoptions.(AAP: Alan Porritt)

The fall-out continues today, with some adoptees only now, in their middle age, finding out they were adopted and others angry they remain tied up in secretive legislation that controls their lives.

Abraham Maddison detailed his journey in a memoir that was launched in Adelaide on the weekend.

In the book, Mr Maddison, who was named Derek Pedley by his adoptive parents, tells of the mental torment and addiction that ruled his life for decades after he discovered he was adopted.

"I grew up believing I was Derek John Pedley until the age of 15 when I found my adoption court order in my parents' bedroom," he said.

"Everything I believed was destroyed in that moment.

"My identity for 15 years was wiped away."

Abe Maddison alongside a picture of the National Apology for Forced Adoptions.(Supplied: Abe Maddison)

'She was given zero options to keep me'

Mr Maddison went looking for his biological mother in his early 20s on the advice of psychologists after he started to develop serious issues with depression and alcohol abuse.

The two were reunited but then became estranged as often happens with adoption reunions.

Abe Maddison was in his 20s when he first met his mother, Joye.

It wasn't until after she had died and he was sent a letter she had written to him in hospital and under pressure to give him up to authorities, that he fully realised the circumstances.

"It makes my blood boil even to speak about it," he said.

"She was 18, she was on her own, she was vulnerable, she had no support.

"She was given zero options to keep me."

Labor challenged to deliver promises

Fellow adoptees will present his book, "Crazy Bastard" to the current Minister for Social Services, Amanda Rishworth at an event in Canberra today, marking the 10th anniversary of the national apology.

An inscription in the book challenges the Labor party to deliver on the promises from 2013.

There were high hopes among both mothers and adopted people when Ms Gillard promised $10 million to go towards specialist support services, counselling and record tracing.

" … the time for neglect is over, and the work of healing can begin," Ms Gillard said.

A message in Abraham Maddison's book calls on the current Labor government to do more to support people affected by forced adoption.(ABC News: Stephen Opie)

But Mr Maddison is among those who believe, after a change of federal government within months of the apology, the ball was subsequently dropped when a key working group set up to progress recommendations from the senate inquiry was dissolved.

"There are now many thousands of middle-aged adopted people out there like me, or having to confront the painful realities of adoption trauma for the first time, and the resources simply aren't there to support them," Mr Maddison said.

The senate inquiry made 20 recommendations including that the Commonwealth lead discussions with the states and territories about funding financial reparation schemes, but survivors say many of those recommendations have fallen by the wayside.

Living with a 'fake identity'

Although Western Australia has recently launched an inquiry into forced adoption, Victoria is the only state so far to agree to redress payments for mothers forced to give up their babies.

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Adoptees say other recommendations which would have made it easier for them to reclaim their true identities have also been left undone.

Under the forced adoption era, adopted people were given birth certificates with their adoptive parents' names listed.

Many, including Mr Maddison, have since applied for their original birth certificates but then find that they can't be used for official purposes.

"I'm still living with the fake identity assigned to me by the government," Mr Maddison said.

"The birth certificate that I consider to be a fake one – that's the one I need to get through everyday life.

"But the birth certificate I consider to be real – Abraham Maddison – I can't use that for anything, that's for decorative purposes. There's a stamp on there that says it's not for official use."

Other adoptees tell of the battle to get hold of crucial hospital and adoption records which other Australians take for granted, despite a senate recommendation calling for records to be more easily accessible.

Cancer concerns over anti-lactation drug

Anne Haylock, who was adopted out after being born in a Perth hospital in 1965, will join her biological mother, Kathy, and other survivors in Canberra to mark the anniversary.

She has been trying for years through Freedom of Information requests to get her full adoption and hospital records so she can find out the truth of what happened.

Anne Haylock and her birth mother Kathy will join other survivors at the gathering in Canberra.(Supplied: Anne Haylock)

Not least, she would like to know if her mother was given an anti-lactation drug, that was in common use at the time but has since been connected to gynaecological cancers.

"We haven't been able to get the records to see if she was given that or not," Ms Haylock said.

One of the few documents that Anne Haylock has been able to get hold of is this birth entry from 1965, saying that she was born Tanya Mahoney and was deemed "suitable for adoption".(Supplied)

"That impacts possibly on me, if she was given that during labour.

"You need to have specific cancer screening if you have had any exposure to that."

Anne Haylock says her identity was taken from her when she was forcibly removed from her mother in 1965.

Minister announces further support

The federal government currently spends $1.8 million a year on Forced Adoption Support Services across the country, which includes a national helpline.

The Minister for Social Services, Amanda Rishworth, today pledged a further $700,000 for "trauma-informed support services".

"We want to see current supports strengthened and that's why we'll be providing additional funding for training for aged care, allied health and forced adoption support service providers," the minister said.

"This will mean people affected by adoption can access appropriate care, tailored for their needs, whatever stage of life they are at.

Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth today announced some additional support measures for adoption survivors.(ABC News: Ian Cutmore)

"And for some people, the pain is still ahead of them. There are adults today who only now, in midlife, are finding out that they were separated from their parents.

"The anniversary of the apology is also important to say that we haven't forgotten the terrible practices that many mothers and children were subjected to."

Asked if the government would be implementing a national framework to address the consequences of forced adoption, which was the first recommendation from the senate inquiry, Ms Rishworth replied: "At the moment, we will be working with my state and territory colleagues about what the next steps might be going forward, that will be informed by survivors, victim survivors but I want to work with my state and territory colleagues to work on what other things we can do in this space."

'Integrated birth certificates' questioned

State and territory governments also allocate funding to organisations to help family members trace relatives and reconnect.

In addition, several states have amended laws to allow for what's called "integrated birth certificates" which include the names of both adoptive parents and biological parents, although the adoptee community appears to be divided on whether these have merit.

The group, Adoptee Rights Australia, believes integrated birth certificates are a token gesture and amount to a new fake birth certificate.

“A birth certificate should be as best as possible an accurate and trustworthy document," said the group's Peter Capomolla Moore in a statement.

"It should be a snapshot at the time of birth. There is no need to continue the lie of fabricating birth certificates."

Mr Capomolla Moore said there has been little progress on other reforms since the apology.

His life was turned upside down when he found out at 59 via a DNA test that he was adopted.

Peter Capomolla Moore as a boy, growing up with his adoptive family. (Supplied)

Sadly, his biological father had already passed away by that time.

One of the senate recommendations was for adoptees to be able to add their biological fathers' names to their original birth certificates.

But Mr Capomolla Moore says he has tried five times but keeps being refused for obscure reasons.

He too is travelling to Canberra for the anniversary and hopes to raise the issue with the minister.

"Here's the problem, they promised us that we could do this," he said.

"It's my identity for a start and it's my father's right to be on my birth certificate."

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