Films/Videos The Unloved 2009 A film that gives a child's eye view of the U.K.'s government-run care system for orphans and children in danger. Directed by Samantha Morton, who was in the care system as a child. It is about an 11 year-old girl, Lucy (Windsor) growing up in a children's home in the UK, and shown through her perspective. It is the directorial debut of Golden Globe Award-winning and two-time Academy Award-nominated actress Samantha Morton. The story is semi-autobiographical, Morton wrote and produced the film in collaboration with screenwriter Tony Grisoni. External Website

Authors D Greece Simplifies Citizenship Restoration ➝ Denmark says sorry to children of failed experiment ➝ Sister Kate's site to become home to Perth's first Aboriginal aged care facility ➝ Indian orphans weave award-winning movie magic ➝ Back to Top

Films/Videos StephiRaye 2018 StephiRaye has her own YouTube channel and a series of videos - about being in foster care, advice for young people in the system, and guidance for going to college/university. External Website

News - broadcast, print, internet, magazine articles Kinchela Aboriginal Boys Home survivors mark 100 years as push continues for museum ABC News 2014 2024 marks 100 years since the Kinchela Aboriginal Boys Home was opened on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales. There were an estimated 600 boys, aged between 6 to 17, who were removed from their families by the NSW state and incarcerated at Kinchela between 1924 and 1970, ostensibly for ‘training’. There are few survivors today, only 49, but they are calling for the site to become a museum to ensure this infamous institution of the Stolen Generation isn’t forgotten. Image from here https://www.findandconnect.gov.au/entity/kinchela-training-home-for-aboriginal-boys/ External Website

Autobiography/Memoir Hear Me Liz Hubbuck 2025 Groomed and abused twice as a child - both times by men in power, one a serving Metropolitan Police officer, who should have been caring for and looking after her - Liz could easily have crumbled. Instead, she spoke out and saw both of her attackers jailed for their horrific crimes. As Liz says, she has a 100% success rate of putting child sex offenders behind bars. But Hear Me is more than one woman's story. it is about spreading awareness of child abuse, neglect, poverty and living in care and how that can impact one's whole life External Website

Children's Fiction Saffy's Angel Hilary McKay 2003 The four Casson children, whose mother, Eve, is a fine-arts painter, have all been given the names of paint colors. Cadmium (Caddy), is the eldest; then Saffron (Saffy); Indigo, the only boy; and Rose, the youngest. When Saffy discovers quite by accident that she has been adopted, she is deeply upset, though the others assure her that it makes no difference at all. Saffy is the daughter of Eve's twin sister, who lived in Siena, Italy, and died in a car crash. Grandad brought Saffy, as a very small child, back from Siena. External Website

Behind the Scenes Sean Geoghegan Sean Geoghegan is of mixed Irish and Scots parentage. His mother was a 16 year old runaway. Due to family breakdown, Sean was placed in voluntary care in 1964. He is the eldest of four brothers. He was placed in a large village style children’s home in the countryside and experienced a brutal institutional life until 1970 when community care was introduced. Sean Geoghegan describes himself as a 'Trailblazer' in the rights movement for children in care. Developed & Advised NAYPIC 1979-86. Writer & Film/TV maker. Lecturer & Mentor. Media Assessor. External Website

Television Shows Good Witch (Season 1-7) 2015 Good Witch is an American and Canadian fantasy comedy-drama television series. It stars Catherine Bell as Cassandra "Cassie" Nightingale whose parents died when she was a child and who grows up in the US foster care system. Cassie became accustomed to travelling and moving as she was passed through foster homes. She ran away and continued travelling the world and learning about many different cultures, all the while honing her special gifts. Widowed Cassandra “Cassie” Nightingale (Catherine Bell) is a good-hearted enchantress who lives in the quaint small-town community of Middleton. She lives with her young-teenage daughter Grace (Bailee Madison), who shares the same special intuition and gifts as her mother. Their lives get even more interesting when curmudgeonly and divorced doctor Sam Radford (James Denton) and his troublesome son Nick (Rhys Matthew Bond) move in next door to Grey House from New York. They are immediately spellbound by the mother-daughter duo next door, but Sam and Cassie quickly find they don’t see eye to eye. Season 3 episode 7 It emerges that Carrie didn’t get to make her “family birthday wish”.. in the family book when she turns 16/18 because she was in foster care. A wonderful positive person, who brings such joy and guidance and love to so many. Season 4 episode 5 The father of Cassie's cousin, Abigail who was also in foster, turns up after walking out 22 years before. Season 5 episode 3 Cassie's foster brother comes for Cassie's wedding...he’s in charge of a billionaires fleet of ships. (They also speak about how foster kids move around a lot) External Website

Authors J Beau Jack ➝ Douglas Jardine ➝ Josh Jenkins ➝ Back to Top

Fiction by Care Experienced authors Shattered Paths Daniel Rolph 2025 Shattered Paths (2025) by Daniel Rolph is the 1st in a trilogy of novels about the UK ‘care’ system. Daniel Rolph grew up in the UK ‘care’ system. He went into the system at age 2, was adopted for 11 years, then went back into the care system at age 13. He has drawn from his own difficult time to tell the stories of 3 children navigating foster care in the UK – Oliver, Emma, and Jack, with Shattered Paths focusing on Jack’s story. External Website

Films/Videos A Family Affair 2015 Tom’ s father, Rob, and his older brother, Rene, were suddenly and inexplicably put into an orphanage when Rob was about 3 years of age. Just as suddenly, 2 years later they were removed and returned to live with their single mother, Marianne Hertz, a well-known model in the Netherlands at the time. In the documentary, Tom recalls how traumatic it was for him to be dumped into the orphanage. His mother visited regularly, and these times he loved; when he was with her all seemed well with the world. But each time she left, he felt abandoned all over again. External Website

Authors S East West Street ➝ Welcome to My Country: A Therapist's Memoir of Madness ➝ Back to Top

Radio & Podcast JRR Tolkien Short History of (JRR Tolkien) 2023 JRR Tolkien (1892-1973) was orphaned at the age of 10 and a catholic priest became his guardian, https://www.careexperienceandculture.com/master/j.-r.-r.-tolkien Tolkien’s childhood and the influence of his mother before she died—she home schooled him for a time—in encouraging his reading and imagination is one of the topics explored in this podcast. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._R._R._Tolkien Tolkien’s wartime experience, marriage to Edith and his children acting as his first audience for his now beloved stories are others. External Website

Television Shows Critical Incident 2024 Critical Incident (2024) is an Australian drama series featuring a teenager living in a group home. Dalia Tun (Zoe Boe) is mistaken for a suspect who injured a police officer at an out-of-control house party. Senior Constable Zil Ahmed (Akskay Khanna) pursues Dalia and an innocent bystander is badly injured during the pursuit. An investigation is launched and Zili becomes fixated on Dalia, organising for police to harass her. Dalia subsequently becomes involved in criminal activities. External Website

Biography of Care Experienced People J. S. Bach: A Life in Music Peter Williams 2007 Renowned German composer, Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), was in kinship care for 5 years as a child. Sebastian was born in Thuringia into a large family with a long lineage of musical talent. He was the last of 8 children to Johann Ambrosius Bach (1645-1695) and Maria Elisabeth Lämmerhirt(1644-1694). On the death of Maria Elisabeth, Ambrosius still had 3 children to care for, including Sebastian. He therefore remarried quickly, but died only 3 months later. 10 year old Sebastian, and his older brother, 13 year old Jacob, were sent to live with their older brother Johann Christoph Bach. A distinguished scholar and performer, Williams re-examines Bach's life as an orphan and family man, as an extraordinarily gifted composer and player and as an ambitious artist who never suffered fools gladly. External Website

Autobiography/Memoir The Necessity of Poverty John Bird 2012 The Necessity of Poverty by John Bird is a non-fiction social critique and memoir-inflected political book that combines personal experience with social and political critique. Drawing on his own experiences of homelessness and care, Bird argues that traditional charity and welfare systems often manage or sustain poverty rather than address its root causes, calling instead for structural change. Bird was homeless from age five and raised in an orphanage until ten, he later worked as a butcher’s boy, stole to supplement his income, and spent periods in prison during his teens and twenties, where he learned to read, write, and the basics of printing. External Website

Television Shows The Asunta Case 2024 The Asunta Case (2024) is a Spanish crime drama series inspired by true events. After the adoptive parents of 12-year-old Asunta (Iris Wu) report her missing, her corpse is found on the side of the road near her parents’ country house. The police investigation led to both parents being charged with the murder of their daughter. https://www.netflix.com/au/title/81632782 External Website

Fiction featuring Care Experience Wanting Richard Flanagan 2008 The multi-award winning Wanting (2008) by Australian writer Richard Flanagan revolves around the story of John Franklin as Governor of Tasmania (then Van Diemen's Land) (1837-1843) adopting an orphaned Aboriginal Australian girl, Mathinna (b 1835 on Flinders Island). When Franklin is recalled to London, Mathinna is abandoned to the St John's Orphan School in Hobart. Flanagan was inspired to write about Mathina because he had seen a portrait of her storage and was curious about this intelligent and gifted girl who was "utterly destroyed by the intention of seeking to make her white" https://www.ourtasmania.com.au/people-mathinna.html External Website

Poets David O'Brien David O'Brien Australian poet, David O'Brien (b. 1957), spent his childhood in orphanages. David and his three siblings were abandoned by their parents in the late 1950s and made Wards of the (South Australia) State. David grew up in a Catholic orphanage with his brother, later attending a Catholic boarding school. The boys were separated from their two sisters.David has had a varied career, including working as a model. He's been living in the Blue Mountains, NSW, for more than 20 years. Two years ago he set up the Blackheath Community OpShop. Encouraging men to live in a more peaceful way - with other humans and with the earth - is the theme running through his 2014 book, A Hunbler Mankind. External Website

Children's Fiction Alone On A Wide Wide Sea Michael Morpurgo 2007 Alone on a Wide, Wide Sea is a children’s novel by Michael Morpurgo, first published in 2006. Inspired by the real history of English orphans sent to Australia after the Second World War, it follows 6 year old Arthur Hobhouse, who is separated from his sister and shipped to Australia, losing his family, his country, and everything familiar. The novel explores his endurance of mistreatment, neglect, and forced labour in the Australian outback, highlighting themes of displacement, institutional abuse, and survival. Its title comes from a line in Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. External Website