CID is working with Hunter Circles, Action for People with Disability and researchers from University of Technology Sydney to learn the history of institutions and advocate for actions by the NSW Government. We want the Government to

• Remember and talk about the lives of people who lived in institutions.
• Say sorry to people who lived in institutions.
• Make sure that we use institutional sites in a respectful way for the people who lived there.

We think people with intellectual disability should be supported to live fully included lives in the community.

Australians need to record and acknowledge the history of institutions and the neglect and abuse that occurred there. We need to know what happened in institutions and share stories about the resilience and community of the people with disability who lived in them.

We must also learn from the past and make sure it does not happen again. Today, group homes often continue institutional practices of control, neglect and abuse.

Until the 1980s, there was very little supported accommodation for people with intellectual disability. The only option was large institutions run by the NSW Government and private organisations. Many thousands of people lived in the institutions. Parents often felt they had no choice but to accept a place in an institution for their family member.

Institutions usually provided very basic, controlled and unstimulating environments. There was a lot of abuse.

Starting with the Richmond Report in 1983, institutions have gradually closed. People living in institutions moved into group homes and other supported accommodation in the community.

Learn more from this video: Moving Forward from Institutions.