Victims break the silence

MT RIVERVIEW resident Steve Quinn laid a wreath at the NSW Forgotten Australians Remembrance Day last month in honour of fathers who did not return from war and those separated from their children because of war trauma and injuries.

 The Sydney event honoured the 200,000 Australians abused and neglected as children in church, charity and state-run institutions.

 For Mr Quinn, it meant a lot.

 ``There are many people who never got over what happened to them at institutions and the apology will go a long way to diminish some of that trauma,'' he said.

 Mr Quinn said survivors would not be able to draw closer to complete closure until a scheme was implemented to assist them with such expenses as treatment for trauma suffered.

 ``I have had to get very expensive treatment over the years for depression,'' he said. ``I am fortunate that I have a job where I can afford to pay for it but a lot of people don't.''

 Mr Quinn and his brother were in and out of institutions for nearly 10 years, spending time in the Red Cross Children's Home at Cronulla and, later, the Church of England boys' home at Carlingford, where there was a ``culture of violence''.

 ``It was in the years when they were experimenting with fluoride. It was some sort of dental research and as a part of that process, we were subjected to regular medical and psychological assessment.''

 Mr Quinn was only six when he and his brother were first separated from their parents after family breakdown and his mother's admission into hospital for cancer treatment.