Orphans of the Living

Orphans of the Living: Growing Up in Care in Twentieth-Century Australia

Joanna Penglase, co-founder of CLAN, is the author of the only book that tells our history as Care Leavers, “Orphans of the Living: Growing Up in ‘Care’ in Twentieth-Century Australia”.

Half a million children grew up in Care in twentieth-century Australia, and most often these children lived with daily brutal physical and emotional abuse in the sterile environment of an institution.

Drawing on interviews, submissions to the Senate Inquiry into Children in Institutional Care, and her own experience, Joanna describes, for the first time, the experience from the perspective of the survivors. With tenderness, compassion and intellect, Joanna begins to unravel the seemingly inexplicable: how and why did this happen. She looks not only at the profound personal costs to these children, but the huge social and economic costs of these past policies.

To purchase a copy, contact our CLAN office. We have limited copies available for $25 + $10 postage.