A WIMMERA Aboriginal woman’s life was changed forever after she was removed for her mother as a child, but now she is determined to help others.
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Friday is National Sorry Day, which commemorates the mistreatment of the country's Indigenous population.
Trudy, who asked not to be identified by her real name, said the day was acknowledgement of what happened her.
Trudy and her siblings were taken from their mother in the 1970s.
Trudy said her mother was also removed from Dimboola when she was young and moved from mission to mission.
“The same thing happened to my older sister and I – we were made wards of the state and moved from group home to group home,” she said.
“We have an older brother who was taken interstate and a younger brother that we tried to protect.”
Trudy said her younger brother had a father to fight for him, but she and her older siblings didn’t.
Trudy and her sister were sent to different group homes.
Trudy moved between homes in Melbourne, Ballarat and Geelong.
“I kept running from group homes and ended up living on the streets,” she said.
“I went from case manager to case manager. I fell pregnant when I was in care at 16 and from then I was no longer a ward of the state.”
Trudy said because of their childhood, her sister now had mental health issues and her older brother was in and out of prison.
“I tried to break the cycle,” she said.
“As soon as I had my daughter, I started work in welfare so I could understand the laws and use them to my advantage.
“I wanted to fight the system – I didn’t want to be a statistic.
“I feared the same thing would happen to my daughter.”
Trudy said it was vital for people to know about the stolen generation.
“I want people to know that there are Aboriginal people out there who have gone through this and are working to try to help others,” she said.
Trudy said her and her siblings found love in each other.
“We learnt to love each other as brothers and sisters,” she said.
“I understand mum’s journey, but like many other stolen generation people of that era, they think their story is taboo – they don’t talk about it.
“She has isolated herself and only uses Aboriginal services.
“If she was able to keep her family, we would have all had a very different upbringing.”
