A VICTORIAN man is set to sue the State Government in a stolen generation claim that threatens to open the legal floodgates.

Just a day after the Rudd Government's cashless apology, Neville Austin, a 44-year-old from the northern Melbourne suburb Reservoir, is launching the first stolen generation claim against the State of Victoria.

The suit could trigger mass action by Aborigines around Australia and comes amid fresh calls for a state-based compensation fund.

Mr Austin says he was removed from his mother as a five-month-old after he was admitted to the Royal Children's Hospital with a chest infection.

It is believed his solicitors have briefed seasoned barrister Jack Rush, QC, who last year helped extract a $4 billion payout from James Hardie Industries for sufferers of asbestos-related disease.

Litigation "under way"

Kristen Hilton, executive director of Public Interest Clearing House, which has been handling stolen generation claims, would not comment on Mr Austin's case but indicated litigation was under way.

"We see 'sorry', the gesture, as one part of the reparation process," she said.

"It acknowledges a wrong has been done and that wrong requires a remedy. We are investigating what remedy."

A writ has been drawn up but is yet to be filed with the courts.

It does not nominate a sum but stolen generation claimants in other jurisdictions have sought between $350,000 and $525,000.

"You're not different"

Mr Austin, who told his story during the 2000 National Sorry Day celebrations, claims he was removed from his parents in 1964.

He says he spent the next 18 years in foster homes or orphanages where he was ostracised because of his skin colour.

He said people would say to him: "You're not different - drink more milk, scrub harder in the bath".

"I didn't even know what an Aboriginal was until I was 17," he said at the time.

Mr Austin says he has letters from his mother begging for his return. She died nine years after his 1982 release from state care.

In a public letter, he wrote: "Being Aboriginal was the sole reason I was taken away from a mother and family who loved me. It was all done in the name of assimilation, with the ultimate goal of ridding this country of its indigenous people."

Mr Austin's case is similar to Victorian Bruce Trevorrow's. He won $775,000 when a South Australian court ruled his removal caused long-term depression. Mr Austin would not comment.

100 more interested in compensation

His cousin Lyn, who heads Stolen Generations Victoria, has said up to 100 Victorian Aborigines were interested in similar claims.

Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency chief executive Muriel Bamblett said a state compensation fund would address concerns that urban Aborigines' plight was being overlooked.

"There is a real concern in Victoria we are not viewed as Aboriginal or part of the stolen generation process," she said. "A fund would generate a lot of goodwill."

Stolen Generations Alliance spokeswoman Karen Mundine said state-based compensation remained an option: "It's up to the states to decide."

Position remains

Aboriginal Affairs minister Richard Wynne said the Victorian Parliament had already apologised to the stolen generations.

"No compensation has flowed from this," spokesman Ben Ruse said.

"We support the national apology but our position on compensation has not changed."

WA will set up a fund for those abused in state care, including stolen generations members.

Queensland and NSW have rejected the idea; Tasmania has set aside $5 million for surviving stolen generations members and the children of those who have died.

Source: http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23216951-2,00.html

dude,your sigs Whack! its too big,please fix.

They sure didnt muck around... Makes you wonder if Rudd even had a chance to finish his speech before they were on the phone to their lawyers.

as soon as the speech was started, most would have been on the phone to their lawyers. The reason being is because the speech itself validated the fact that all these kids were stolen - whether this is going to be used by the fakes is another question. Like I could go there and say i my dad was a stolen generation blah blah and make up some fib