National Assistance (Assessment of Resources) Regulations 1992 - Child Migrant Trust amendments: equality impact assessment

Stage 2: Data and evidence gathering, involvement and consultation

Include here the results of your evidence gathering (including framing exercise), including qualitative and quantitative data and the source of that information, whether national statistics, surveys or consultations with relevant equality groups.

Characteristic^[10]

Age

Evidence gathered and Strength/quality of evidence

No information is available on the age of the applicants to the Child Migrant Trust.

In Scotland:

Edinburgh Local Authority migrated a boy to Canada who was boarded-out by the Edinburgh Public Assistance Committee under the 1924 Poor Law Emergency Provisions (Scotland) Act. As a juvenile it was not clear what, if any consent had been given to migrate. Many people who testified to the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry did not recall being asked consent as children or young people, or having had the reality of the distance or migration explained to them.

Later, the 1948 Children's Act came in meaning that the Secretary of State had to review potential child migration cases from Scotland, either consenting or denying the proposed migration. This gave some level of accountability for many children before any migration and ensured that government funding was used correctly in supporting the child's welfare in migrating. An example being the consent given to reunite two younger Scottish siblings with their older sibling already in Australia, but only with reassurances that the three children would be kept together.

A report covering the period June 1947 to March 1948 recorded a decrease in applications, including of child migrants from Scotland. Apparently the Secretary of State for Scotland was only prepared to approve the migration of children in local authority care under Section 17 of the Children Act if they were over 10 years old, and if under 10 only if they had a personal guardian or relative in Australia. It was also reported that numbers were falling because parents were not giving consent. Although one migration agency was able to assess that the average age of a child migrant was 9.4 years, it is known that some children were only two years old who migrated.

In Scotland, poor and seemingly irreversible selection decisions were still made by some organisations, with reference to impairments not being picked up at medical inspections. Quarriers even set aside the professional judgement of psychologists that they employed who had judged some of those children put forward to be unsuitable.

In England and Wales:

Barnardo's reasons for undertaking child migration were apparently a mixture of the practical and the idealistic: it eased overcrowding, was a cheaper way of maintaining children and helped populate the Empire. Migration was said to confer "unspeakable blessings" on the children themselves. It also enabled Barnardo's to operate its "ever open door" policy for destitute British children, because there was effectively a "back door" for some of them to leave the country. Between 1947 and 1964, the number of children migrated was between 0.16% and 0.74% of those being cared for by Barnardo's in its UK homes.

From 1947 to 1965 the Fairbridge Society sent 997 children to Australia, around a third of the total number migrated there over that period. It sent 329 children to Canada from 1935 to 1948 and 276 to Rhodesia from 1946 to 1956. The Fairbridge Society's sole purpose was child migration. Its rationale throughout was that children from British slums would be better off and healthier in the rural areas of the Empire, that migration would enhance

the Empire's white stock.

The Children's Society was founded in 1881 as a charity to help destitute and orphaned children. Post war, it provided children for migration, to give them a better life, through organisations like Fairbridge. The Children's Society preferred to seek orphans because of the difficulty in securing consent from parents.

The Children's Society migrated:

a. 2,250 children to Canada from 1883-1915;

b. 876 children to Canada from 1920-1939;

c. 4 children to New Zealand and 1 child to South Africa from 1925-1930;

d. 29 children to Australia from 1925-1938 (via the Fairbridge Society); and

e. 136 children to Australia and 17 children to Southern Rhodesia, post-War, mainly from 1948-1950.

The Children's Society latterly offered support to former child migrants alleging sexual abuse where appropriate, in relation to the evidence presented; but its public apology, although welcome, was overdue by many years and it has not paid compensation.

The National Children's Home, now called Action for Children (AfC), was founded in 1869 to provide shelter and care for homeless children in London.

The National Children's Home migrated around 3,500 children to Canada from 1873-1931,488 and 37 to Australia from 1937-1939.489 Post-War, the National Children's Home migrated 90 children to Australia from 1950-1951 (and two children later joined their siblings). The organisation's rationale for migration was that Australia was felt to be a land of better opportunities and weather for children; it was envisaged that the central importance of religion would be emphasised; and that a stable family-like environment would be provided.

The Royal Overseas League (the League) was founded in 1910. It is a non-profit private members' club for men and women dedicated to propagating social and cultural links throughout the

Commonwealth and promoting interest in the Empire. It has branches in London, Edinburgh, in the UK and overseas.

Child migrants were sent to New Zealand, Canada and Australia from the 1930s. In 1955, the League claimed to be responsible in the post-War period for sending 804 child migrants overseas: 194 to Australia, not including 18 to Dhurringile in Victoria; 530522 to New Zealand, and a scattering of others to other destinations, to support the Empire.

The IICSA noted that it was "remarkable" that no records were maintained by the League, and that there is no institutional memory of what happened to any records. This hampered not only the IICSA, but the ability of former child migrants to learn about their past.

Although allegations were made by at least two children migrated through the League, the IICSA concluded that if in fact the League had no knowledge of any sexual abuse issues, this may well have been due to the lack of a monitoring system for child migrants and the lack of information recorded about them.

It is not clear that parental or child consent was actually obtained by the League for migrating the children abroad. However, there are doubts as to whether the Home Office's consent was obtained in relation to all children migrated.

Cornwall County Council migrated between 33 and 58 children to Australia from 1940-1972, a higher figure than the average number of children migrated by other councils. The IICSA heard that the migrated children were chosen as the Cornwall County Council felt that they were "mentally and physically fit for life in a farm school, and… [they] showed a real interest in country life"

The IICSA heard testimony from three individuals who had been migrated by Cornwall County Council and who alleged sexual abuse either before they were migrated or once they arrived overseas.

The Salvation Army UK is an international charitable organisation affiliated with Protestant Christianity. One of its focuses has been charitable works aimed at alleviating poverty around the world.

It appears that the majority of the unaccompanied children that the Salvation Army migrated were aged 15/16 and so were properly classified as 'juvenile' migrants. Sources indicating that the Salvation Army migrated 91 children to Australia from 1950-60, but the documentation refers to 71. The post-War Salvation Army migration to Canada is said to have been solely of older children. It is understood that children would only have been sent overseas with the consent of a parent.

The Australian Royal Commission's report into the three Salvation Army homes (including Riverview) made findings of very serious incidents of sexual abuse over an extended period of time. It also noted a culture of violence, an inadequate inspection regime, a culture of discouraging disclosure of abuse and evidence of the Salvation Army moving offending officers between different children's homes, sometimes to protect its own external reputation, and potentially due to the religious devotional culture within the Army.

The Church of England Advisory Council on Empire Settlement (CEACES) was a part of the Church of England devoted to managing the Church of England's participation in the child migration programmes. It had a logistical and information providing role in the child migration programmes, coordinating the migration of children to affiliated institutions in Australia.

From 1947-1965, the CEACES was responsible for migrating 408 children to Australia. The organisation saw migration both as a means to benefit the children and an opportunity to strengthen the church's presence in Australia.

Although a few allegations were made of sexual abuse, the IICSA has seen no evidence that CEACES was informed of allegations or evidence, during the migration period, of the sexual abuse of child migrants.

A 1953 memorandum indicates that after children had been referred to the CEACES they were subjected to a reasonably thorough interviewing and screening process, which included interviews of their

parents. From 1958, the CEACES' policy was that where a child had a living parent, that child would only be accepted for migration if the parent had also been accepted for migration and would follow the child.

The Sisters of Nazareth is a Catholic order of nuns founded in the nineteenth century in France. It operates through an international network of "Nazareth Houses", which provide lodgings to the nuns and care services to the local community.

Historically, the organisation provided care to children and the elderly.

The Sisters of Nazareth migrated 145 children to Canada, largely to individual stations, family homes and farms, from 1881-1930. There was also some migration to Australia from 1928. Post-War, from 1945-1963, 63.1% of the 958 children migrated by the Catholic Church were said to have been 'nominally in the care of the Sisters of Nazareth organisation'. The Sisters of Nazareth did not migrate children after 1956.

The IICSA heard allegations of sexual abuse from eight witnesses who had been migrated by the Sisters of Nazareth. In addition, the organisation has been informed of several allegations, although there is not clear evidence that the organisation knew of the allegations at the time.

The IICSA heard from experts that parental consent was obtained in a particularly low proportion of the children migrated by the Sisters of Nazareth. The selection appears to have been based on the needs of the receiving institution, rather than that of the children e.g. "twenty girls are required at once for Nazareth House".

The Sisters of Nazareth began to receive reports alleging sexual abuse from former child migrants in the early 2000s, and several more have come to their attention during their engagement with the IICSA.

Father Hudson's was established in 1902 as the Birmingham Diocesan Rescue Society for the protection of homeless and friendless Catholic children.

Father Hudson's migrated 132 children to Australia from 1947-1956. Its child migration was co-ordinated by a subcommittee of the Catholic Child Welfare Council. Most children came from Birmingham.

The IICSA heard allegations of sexual abuse from two witnesses who had been migrated by Father Hudson's. In addition, Father Hudson's has been informed of several allegations. Father Hudson's review of files in 2016, revealed no evidence that the organisation was aware during the migration period of allegations or evidence of sexual abuse of child migrants. The IICSA did not see any evidence to contradict this.

Consent was provided for each of the 132 children migrated: in 56 cases by a parent, in 70 cases

by the Administrator, and in six cases by another organisation. Although at least one parent disputed that they were told that their child was being migrated.

Father Hudson's was informed that a child migrant who had died in 1997 had been sexually abused by the Christian Brothers.

Pre-war, other Catholic Church organisations migrated over 10,000 children to Canada, and 115 to Australia. It then migrated an estimate of 958 children to Australia with 946 under the auspices of the Australian Catholic Immigration Committee from 1945‑1956.

The Catholic agencies' rationales for involvement in the programmes included the best interests of the child, the provision of better living conditions for them, the safeguarding of their religious faith, the growth of the Catholic faith within Australia itself, financial considerations and the social imperial motivation of populating the Empire with white British stock. Documents from that period refer to the appeal of migration being "the saving of children from undesirable parents" and securing the "rescue" of children.

The Australian Royal Commission, in its Case Study into one of the receiving institutions, St Joseph's Neerkol, recorded that the previous 'Forde' IICSA had observed that child sexual abuse at the orphanage was perpetrated by a range of persons, including workers, visitors and priests. The Commission heard from 12 former residents, who detailed serious emotional, physical and sexual abuse at the orphanage.

Additional accounts of sexual abuse that the IICSA received included 38 allegations of sexual abuse in Christian Brothers institutions, four at St Joseph's, Neerkol, and one at St Vincent's, Goodwood.

Records from the migration era show that a child migrant alleged sexual abuse on the ship on the journey to Australia. The Catholic chaplain accompanying the children became aware of the incident but it is not clear whether he communicated the incident to the Catholic authorities in England. However, the migrant explained how the nuns accompanying the children were aware of the incident and had told her not to tell anyone about it.

Brother Conlon (affiliated to the Christian Brothers) conducted direct recruitment visits on behalf of the Australian church authorities. There is evidence that Brother Conlon knew of some of the allegations of sexual abuse by the Christian Brothers.

The Australian Royal Commission in its Christian Brothers Case Study has found that although the relevant Provincial Council was aware of allegations of sexual abuse against Christian Brothers in each of the decades from the 1920s onwards and certainly in the 1940s and 1950s, generally the response to allegations of sexual abuse was kept within the Christian Brothers Order itself; rather than them notifying external agencies.

There did not appear to be any formal selection procedures as applied by the Catholic agencies. Some insight can be gained from Father Murphy's reply to a questionnaire sent by the WGPW, in 1949, which noted that children were usually selected:

a. due to an approach by the parents;

b. for the purpose of removing the child from danger; or

c. on the basis of the wishes of the individual child.

Children could be migrated between the age of two and 15, but in practice no child under seven had been migrated.

The Health Select Committee in 1998 found that it could only find evidence of consent by parents in 19% of cases of children migrated. This increased to around 20% by the time of the Australian Senate IICSA in 2001. It was noted that of the 41 children migrated, parental consent was obtained in 30 cases and Directors' consent in the remaining 11. For those children who were migrated, the IICSA saw no evidence that consideration was given to fostering or adoption, despite a suggestion to this effect in a Catholic recruitment brochure.

It would appear that many allegations of physical and sexual abuse were made from the late 1980s, with Catholic institutions setting up support services for survivors, leading to an apology to survivors. Support services focused on access to records, family reunification and origins work, together with counselling and practical assistance with travel and

Accommodation; "the support and reparations offered by Catholic institutions in England and Wales were provided to all former child migrants regardless of whether they had suffered sexual abuse. Former child migrants sought to access services and information in England and Wales in relation to access to records, family reunification and origins work. Where reports of sexual abuse were made, they typically emerged during this process or as background information. Sexual abuse formed but one part, albeit a significant part, of a broader picture of other forms of abuse and a profound sense of loss and a lack of identity".

In Scotland, on 31 March 2021, there were 40,632 registered places in adult care homes, of which there were an estimated 29,317 long stay residents in care homes for older people (65 and over).

Source

Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry – Child Abuse and Scottish Children sent Overseas through Child Migration Schemes

January 2020

IICSA Child Sex Abuse - Child Migration

Programmes

Investigation Report

March 2018

Care home Census for Adults in Scotland Statistics for 2011 to 2021

Data gaps identified and action taken

No specific data on age are available, however, related data is available that assumptions can be made from.

Characteristic

Disability

Evidence gathered and Strength/quality of evidence

No information is available on the number of disabled people likely to be affected by the amendment.

Certain groups of children were excluded from migration as countries would not accept disabled or black children, for example. One of the earlier motives of the schemes had been to maintain the racial unity of Britain's Empire.

The urgent need to recruit may have impacted on the levels of consent gathered before the children were chosen for migration. In one case a young girl whose mother had died, and who had spent over three years in hospital, wearing callipers, had her callipers removed for her migrant examination and sent abroad as not being disabled. It is not clear how many disabled children may have been migrated, with their impairments and health conditions hidden and unsupported for the harsh life ahead.

The IICSA heard evidence that children were subjected to brutal conditions. They were physically beaten and deprived of medical care and a proper education. They were often not given enough food to eat and endured a regime where cruel punishments were the norm.

In Scotland between 2017-20, the poverty rate after housing costs for people in households with a disabled person was 23% (500,000 people each year). This compares with 17% (540,000 people) in a household without disabled household members.

Source

Child Migrant Trust

Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry – Child Abuse and Scottish Children sent Overseas through Child Migration Schemes

January 2020

IICSA Child Sex Abuse - Child Migration

Programmes

Investigation Report

March 2018

Poverty and Income Inequality in Scotland 2017-20

Data gaps identified and action taken

No specific data on being disabled are available, however, related data is available that assumptions can be made from.

Characteristic

Sex

Evidence gathered and Strength/quality of evidence

No information is available on the number of people from each sex likely to be affected by the amendment.

An investigation revealed that in the 1920s the suicide rate among male juvenile migrants brought into Australia was more than ten times higher

than among the same age group among Australian males. This suggests a toxic environment and culture that impacted on the mental health of young males.

Choices of children migrated often related to the receiving institutions with a Catholic institution receiving government funding to extend their building in Australia if they recruited 100 girls to their institution. As the number of girls was not high enough for the Catholic institution to meet its quota active recruitment prioritised girls from the UK. This urgent need to recruit may have impacted on the levels of consent gathered before the girls were chosen for migration. In one case a young girl whose mother had died, and who had spent over three years in hospital, wearing callipers, had her callipers removed for her migrant examination and sent abroad as not being disabled.

From the surviving records from various organisations that recruited and migrated children overseas it would appear that many more boys were migrated than girls as the bigger need was for farm labour, with only some girls needed to work as domestic servants in private homes.

The Inquiry heard that there were concerns about some receiving institutions in Australia at the time of migration, including a concern about an apparent laxity in the operation of the Pinjarra hostel for returning Fairbridge boys and girls, the culture of sexual behaviour there, and the fact that when Fairbridge girls under 16 became pregnant they were expelled. There was a high pregnancy rate among ex-Fairbridge girls. One Duty Master was convicted of "immoral relations" with Fairbridge boys.

A memorandum was submitted to the Home Office by Mr Dallas Paterson (a former Principal of Pinjarra), in which he was extremely critical of the

migration schemes and stressed the need for the sending organisations to retain a sense of responsibility for the child migrants. In an appendix to the memorandum, Mr Paterson referred to a Western Australia Committee member whose "philandering conduct towards girls in his wife's employ" was notorious. He also noted "by far the most serious case" of a 14 year old girl who had been subjected to the "most seriously immoral"

behaviour, over a long time, by the son-in-law of the Western Australia Committee Chairman.

In late 1945/early 1946 the Fairbridge NSW Council informed Fairbridge UK that "one of the Fairbridge girls had made very serious allegations against the Company Secretary, of sexual misbehaviour towards her, which were brought to the notice of the Child Welfare Department by a local parson who had heard of the alleged incidents". It appears that the police were involved, but that the Child Welfare Department report later exonerated the Company Secretary, expressed high regard for Fairbridge and thought that the allegations "can only be put down to the sexual stirrings of a hysterical adolescent mind".

The Child Welfare Department's Mr Heffernen spent three days at the school investigating the allegations and in a report dated 5 March 1948, concluded that none of the charges were substantiated. The "other matters" included a concern about improper use of a vessel of urine. Mr Heffernen found the replies of a child who had been questioned not convincing and noted that "The same lad was questioned regarding alleged sex misbehaviour in the bake house. In regard this he says 'we just suspected it'. When asked why he did not report the matter to the Company Secretary he said 'I couldn't very well because I couldn't prove anything".

Other allegations against the Company Secretary included that he had made a boy's eyes bleed by assaulting him and had beaten boys with a hockey stick. Although these incidents amounted to physical and not sexual abuse, we consider they are relevant to the overall conditions at Molong, especially because they were carried out by the person in charge.

This correspondence provides some evidence of a recognition that for an adult to "interfere" with a vulnerable young girl was unacceptable and was something which an institution with a caring responsibility for that child should be concerned about.

The Inquiry highlighted a letter from Nigel Fisher MP to Fairbridge UK dated 21 July 1958, indicating that he did not think it sensible to push for a proposed adjournment debate on child migration because he had been told of a "really rather bad case of sodomy between a teacher and boys at one of the Barnardo's Schools in Australia".

Barnardo's apparently appreciated the risk of sexual abuse to child migrants, given the steps they implemented in respect of the placement of girls in Canada after the conviction of Mr Owen in 1889, and the evidence that they stopped migration of girls between 13 and 17 post-War because of problems of isolation and "vulnerability" experienced by pre-War female child migrants in that age group.

In the National Children's Homes' record it shows that 'Child C' disclosed, while in a group session, that she had been raped at the age of five by an eight year old boy living in the same home. She responded by offering an individual conversation. The former child migrant said that she did not want any further action and wanted to remain anonymous. 'Child D' alleged, again in a group setting, that he was sexually abused by a 14 year old boy when he was around the same age. He also said that he did not want any further action and wanted to remain anonymous.

In its investigation into the Catholic institutions, the Australian Royal Commission heard evidence of many boys being sexually, physically and emotionally abused. Eleven men gave oral evidence at the hearings, during which they made allegations of sexual abuse against sixteen Christian Brothers. The Commission found that that in each decade from 1919 to the 1960s, there were allegations of child sexual abuse against Brothers, about which the Provincial Council knew; and that in each decade from the 1930s to the 1950s, allegations were raised against Brothers against whom there had been previous allegations. It concluded that the leadership of the Christian Brothers from 1947-1968 had failed to manage the institutions so as to prevent child sexual abuse.

In another report it was suggested that awareness of sexual abuse among staff at these residential institutions extended to the operation of 'sex rings' in three of these Western Australian residential institutions, in which Brothers collaborated with one another in their activities, assisted and covered for each other, and may have shared the same boys.

With the Marist Brothers, another religious order, it was found that an older child migrant wishing to return home to the UK had "interfered with" some of the younger boys in the college and was dismissed. He then went to Clontarf and Bindoon, and was again found to be interfering with younger boys.

Source

Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry – Child Abuse and Scottish Children sent Overseas through Child Migration Schemes

January 2020

IICSA Child Sex Abuse - Child Migration

Programmes

Investigation Report

March 2018

Data gaps identified and action taken

No specific data on being disabled are available, however, related data is available that assumptions can be made from.

Characteristic

Pregnancy and Maternity

Evidence gathered and Strength/quality of evidence

No information is available on the pregnancy or maternity of people likely to be affected by the amendment.

The Inquiry heard that there were concerns about some receiving institutions in Australia at the time of migration, including a concern about an apparent laxity in the operation of the Pinjarra hostel for returning Fairbridge boys and girls, the culture of sexual behaviour there, and the fact that when Fairbridge girls under 16 became pregnant they were expelled. There was a high pregnancy rate among ex-Fairbridge girls.

Source

IICSA Child Sex Abuse - Child Migration

Programmes

Investigation Report

March 2018

Data gaps identified and action taken

No specific data on the pregnancy and maternity status of applicants is available.

Characteristic

Gender Reassignment

Evidence gathered and Strength/quality of evidence

No information is available on the gender reassignment status of people likely to be affected by the amendment.

Data gaps identified and action taken

No specific data on the gender reassignment status of applicants is available.

Characteristic

Sexual Orientation

Evidence gathered and Strength/quality of evidence

No information is available on the sexual orientation of people likely to be affected by the amendment.

Data gaps identified and action taken

No specific data on the sexual orientation of applicants is available.

Characteristic

Race

Evidence gathered and Strength/quality of evidence

No information is available on the race of people likely to be affected by the amendment.

A 1949 Home Office memorandum on selecting child migrants from the UK made clear that choosing based on race, creed or colour was to be avoided to prevent any discrimination. However, it also made clear that if a child might suffer racial prejudice in the receiving country then discrimination could take place to protect the child. Receiving countries like Australia had a whites only policy which meant that, in effect, no minority ethnic children would be accepted.

Politicians in Australia were especially keen to populate their under-populated territory with more 'white British stock'. This was a mission also endorsed by the white minority colonial regime in Southern Rhodesia, and more modestly in New Zealand.

The UK Government's passed the Empire Settlement Act of 1922 and related financial arrangements. This legislation was principally passed to ease a post-war unemployment problem by subsidising the emigration of adults and of families and at the same time to satisfy a demand by

'white' settler societies in the overseas Empire for more 'white' immigrants from the motherland. It was renewed in 1937 and 1952 and subsequently as the

Commonwealth Settlement Act in 1957, 1962 and 1967. It only expired in 1972. The Acts, applicable of course in Scotland, also supported child and juvenile migration programmes, and allowed the UK Government to subsidise the equipping, shipping and resettling of child migrants and the cost of their maintenance overseas until they reached the age of 16.

Certain groups of children were excluded from migration as countries would not accept disabled or black children, for example. One of the earlier motives of the schemes had been to maintain the racial unity of Britain's Empire.

The Inquiry was concerned to find that children were often selected on the basis of populating other countries with 'white British stock', or to help strengthen the presence of faith based institutions overseas. The welfare of the children should have been paramount, but was frequently secondary.

Her Majesty's Government's rationale for participating in and approving the child migration programmes was a combination of reasons related to the welfare of the children and a desire to populate the white British Empire.

The Fairbridge Society's sole purpose was child

migration. Its rationale throughout was that children from British slums would be better off and healthier in the rural areas of the Empire, that migration would enhance the Empire's white stock, and in the case of Southern Rhodesia, the ruling white elite in the country.

The Catholic agencies' rationales for involvement in the programmes included the best interests of the child, the provision of better living conditions for them, the safeguarding of their religious faith, the growth of the Catholic faith within Australia itself, financial considerations and the social imperial motivation of populating the Empire with white British stock.

Source

Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry – Child Abuse and Scottish Children sent Overseas through Child Migration Schemes

January 2020

Child Migrant Trust

IICSA Child Sex Abuse - Child Migration

Programmes

Investigation Report

March 2018

Data gaps identified and action taken

No specific data on the race of applicants is available, however, related data is available that assumptions can be made from.

Characteristic

Religion or Belief

Evidence gathered and Strength/quality of evidence

No information is available on the religion or belief of people likely to be affected by the amendment.

The IICSA was concerned to find that children were often selected on the basis of populating other countries with 'white British stock', or to help strengthen the presence of faith based institutions overseas.

The organisations that migrated the children were:

Barnardo's

The Fairbridge Society

The Children's Society

The National Children's Home

The Royal Overseas League

Cornwall County Council

The Salvation Army

The Church of England Advisory Council for Empire Settlement

The Sisters of Nazareth

Father Hudson's

The Catholic Church

The National Children's Home's rationale for migration was that Australia was felt to be a land of better opportunities and weather for children; it was envisaged that the central importance of religion would be emphasised; and that a stable family-like environment would be provided.

The Salvation Army UK is an international charitable organisation affiliated with Protestant Christianity.

The Sisters of Nazareth is a Catholic order of nuns founded in the nineteenth century in France. It operates through an international network of "Nazareth Houses", which provide lodgings to the nuns and care services to the local community.

Father Hudson's was established in 1902 as the Birmingham Diocesan Rescue Society for the protection of homeless and friendless Catholic children.

Pre-war, other Catholic Church organisations migrated over 10,000 children to Canada, and 115 to Australia. It then migrated an estimate of 958 children to Australia with 946 under the auspices of the Australian Catholic Immigration Committee from 1945‑1956.

The Catholic agencies' rationales for involvement in the programmes included the best interests of the child, the provision of better living conditions for them, the safeguarding of their religious faith, the growth of the Catholic faith within Australia itself, financial considerations and the social imperial motivation of populating the Empire with white British stock.

Source

IICSA Child Sex Abuse - Child Migration

Programmes

Investigation Report

March 2018

Data gaps identified and action taken

No specific data on the religion or beliefs of applicants is available, however, related data is available that assumptions can be made from.

Characteristic

Marriage and Civil Partnership

(the Scottish Government does not require assessment against this protected characteristic unless the policy or practice relates to work, for example HR policies and practices - refer to Definitions of Protected Characteristics document for details)

Evidence gathered and Strength/quality of evidence

This Protected Characteristic is not relevant to this assessment.

Data gaps identified and action taken

This Protected Characteristic is not relevant to this assessment.