The Find and Connect Services are an Australian Government initiative to support Forgotten Australians and Former Child Migrants who spent time in Australian orphanages, foster homes and institutions.

AHA was engaged to evaluate the Find and Connect Services. The overall intent of the evaluation was to gather information about how effective the Find and Connect Services had been in improving outcomes for Forgotten Australians and Former Child Migrants.

As a part of the evaluation, AHA undertook consultation with a wide range of people and organisations, including:

• Forgotten Australians and Former Child Migrants (including those who had used Find and Connect Services as well as those who had not used these services)
• Find and Connect funded organisations
• Peak bodies and advocacy groups
• Departmental representatives from the Support and Connections team
• State and territory government representatives.

Our mixed-method approach included a national survey, telephone and face-to face consultations, and focus groups. Nine service providers were consulted at three different time points to obtain a longitudinal perspective on developments within the services. These consultations were synthesised to generate both formative and summative findings for the Department.

The final report is available on the Department’s website.