The Minns Labor Government will ensure the experiences and stories of Stolen Generation Survivors will be shared and acknowledged with the construction of a 'Keeping Place' at Keller House in North Parramatta (Burramattagal).
Keeping Places are memorials or museums which honour the experiences of Stolen Generation Survivors, support healing and enable truth telling through education.
Keller House and Parramatta Girls Home are significant places for Stolen Generations Survivors. Hundreds of Aboriginal girls, including members of the Stolen Generations, lived on-site throughout much of the 20th Century, in sub-standard conditions without opportunities to practice culture, including language.
Aboriginal Affairs NSW and Create NSW are partnering with Stolen Generations Survivors to honour their wishes for the establishment of the Keller House Keeping Place. The creation of Keeping Places is a key recommendation of the 2016 Unfinished Business Report, which outlined the need for truth telling and reparations for Stolen Generations Survivors.
Alongside Keller House the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Treaty David Harris is working in partnership with survivors and land owners to establishment of Keeping Places at, Children of Bomaderry Children's Home, Kinchela Aboriginal Boys Home and Cootamundra Aboriginal Girls Home.
Keller House is part of the North Parramatta National Heritage Listed cultural precinct which includes the former Parramatta Female Factory and Parramatta Lunatic Asylum.
Following development approval in late 2025, construction has commenced on the Keller House Keeping Place and is scheduled for completion in coming months.
The project is honouring the Survivors' wishes and respecting the cultural heritage of the site. It will include the development of:
- A museum and information centre for visitors and school groups
- A ceremonial gathering space, reflection point, yarning circle, fire pit and children's nature play area to create a powerful space for truth-telling, healing, and cultural strength
- First Nations public art, selected through an open EOI process, that honours Survivors' stories integrated within the new structures and landscape elements, creating a powerful space for truth-telling, healing, and cultural strength
- Office and private meeting rooms for Survivors, their families and the Stolen Generations Council of NSW/ACT.
Many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were forcibly removed from their families across Australia from 1910 through to the 1970s. Children were placed into
Aboriginal children's homes, such as Keller House and other government and non-government homes.
The Keeping Places project is one part of the NSW Government's wider work to deliver on the recommendations of the 2016 Unfinished Business Report.
This includes improving the access of Survivors and their families to government held records about Aboriginal people and the Missing Children project, which is investigating and searching for the remains of missing children on the sites of former Aboriginal Children's Homes in NSW.
Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Treaty David Harris said:
"I acknowledge the resilience and strength of Stolen Generations Survivors and their families who continue to lead the way on this project in partnership with the NSW Government.
"It is critical for all of us to recognise and honour the voices of Stolen Generations Survivors in the places where their voices were once silenced. The establishment of Keeping Places such as Keller House will ensure the Survivors' stories are never forgotten."
Keller House Survivor Aunt Dr Matilda House-Williams:
"I don't know if I'll ever move on... but my culture was never taken away from me. I remember all the culture that I had, it helped me to survive to this day."
