Between 1912 and 1968, thousands of children were sent to Australia from the United Kingdom and Malta under a child migration scheme. These children were usually placed in institutions and many of the children were falsely told they were orphans.

In recent years, growing recognition of the plight of former child migrants led to the establishment of travel funds to facilitate travel to their country of birth and reunions with family.

Between 2000-2006, ISS Australia administered the UK Government’s Child Migrant Support Fund and the Australian Government’s Australian Travel Fund.

As a result of this work, over 1000 former child migrants were assisted with financial, practical and emotional support to reunite with surviving family members or visit family gravesites.

Most of the former child migrants reported the reunions were life changing, giving them a sense of belonging and of closure with the past.

The Australian Travel Fund is now closed. If you were previously approved for travel under the Fund and had special circumstances that prevented you from travelling before August 2005, please contact ISS Australia on 1300 657 843 or at iss@iss.org.au

More information on this project can be found in the Journey of Discovery Report.