Prisoner Of The State

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Unlawfully arrested, illegally detained, a punishment to last a lifetime!

Lily Arthur’s book is both moving and enlightening; it is personal and written from the heart – ‘no punches pulled’.

On 13th of February 2008, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd offered a formal Apology on behalf of the nation to Australia’s Indigenous Peoples, particularly the Stolen Generations, on behalf of the nation at Australian Parliament House.

It wasn’t until 21 March 2013, that the then Prime Minister Julia Gillard made the historic apology on behalf of the Australian Government to people affected by forced adoption or removal policies and practices.

Author, Lily Arthur, herself a victim of these policies, in her important book “Prisoner of the State” not only relates her own tragic story but also the struggle, mothers affected by these policies endured to secure this momentous apology.

At sixteen, young defenseless Lily became a prisoner of the state of Queensland for the crime of being unmarried and pregnant. Her son was born and whisked away, during her incarceration, immediately after his birth; he was never held by his mother.

Her decades long journey to find her son is mirrored by an estimated 150,000 women, who also had their babies taken away at birth and adopted out to married couples in Australia; their only crime was that they were unmarried. It is estimated that 250,000 Australians were affected by policies and practices of forced adoption, with most adoptions occurring between 1950 and 1975.

Readers who are unaware of this practice, will find Lily Arthur’s book is both moving and enlightening; it is personal and written from the heart – ‘no punches pulled’. It will leave them wishing to find out more about this blot on Australia’s history. Its importance to the understanding of forced adoptions cannot be underestimated; no wonder it is being re-printed!

Reviewed By Nan van Dissel June 12, 2025