Archie Roach, Australian songman and voice of the stolen generations, dies aged 66

Archie Roach, the Indigenous Australian songwriter whose celebrated song Took the Children Away brought national attention to the story of the stolen generations, has died aged 66.

Roach died at Warrnambool Base hospital after a long illness, surrounded by his family and loved ones.

On Saturday night tributes began pouring in for the songman on social media.

Roach was born in the central Victorian town of Mooroopna on 8 January 1956, the youngest of seven siblings. His mother was Nellie Austin, a Gunditjmara woman from south-west Victoria, and his father was Archie Roach Sr, a Bundjalung man from the north coast of New South Wales.

Roach and Hunter became inseparable and had two sons together. But their lives over the next 15 years were blighted by alcoholism and homelessness as they drifted between Victoria and South Australia. Roach suffered from severe epilepsy and survived one suicide attempt. Soon after, Hunter briefly left him. This proved the catalyst for Roach to turn his life around.

The album went gold, with Roach winning Arias for best new talent and best Indigenous release. Took the Children Away won an International Human Rights Achievement award in 1992. On 13 February 2008 he performed the song in Federation Square, Melbourne, after the then-prime minister, Kevin Rudd, delivered a national apology to the stolen generations.

In October 2020 he launched the Archie Roach Stolen Generation Educational Resources, a free package of educational support materials developed by First Nations curriculum writers to teach young Australians about Indigenous Australia, cultural identity and the stolen generations. A re-recorded version of Charcoal Lane was released on 13 November 2020.