Forgotten Australians in the library: resources relating to Care Leavers in Australian libraries*

Abstract

Abstract Find & Connect (www.findandconnect.gov.au), funded by the Australian government, is a national website documenting the records relating to the history of child welfare in Australia and providing information for people who lived in orphanages about how to access these vital records about their childhood. This article provides an overview of the range of library resources documented in the Find & Connect web resource. Libraries have material in their custody that has the potential to improve the identity, health and well-being of Care Leavers, and this article seeks to raise awareness about the significance of records to Care Leavers so that libraries can improve service delivery to this community.