It passed by without much fanfare, but Australia’s National Apology for Forced Adoptions, celebrated its two-year anniversary yesterday (21st March).

This Apology has become an important event for Australians, which was established in 2013 after their former Primer Minister Julia Gillard made her now famous and moving speech apologising for the forced adoption practices in the country. Following this apology in 2013, the Forced Adoptions History Project came into being. This online project is designed to increase awareness and understanding of experiences of individuals affected by forced adoption practices and to identify and share experiences of forced adoption.

The website holds lots of useful information including research, access to support and the effects of forced adoption on all affected by the practice.

Forced adoption is a declining practice around the world, and has drawn a great deal of criticism both for its impact on children and its shedding of parental consent. The UK is one of only two remaining countries in the EU which still uses forced adoption as a means of removing children from parents deemed to be unable to care for them.