Ten years ago, the Australian government apologised to a stolen generation of indigenous people. As children, they'd been victims of national policies that saw them systematically removed from their families.

But today, more indigenous children are being removed than ever before, leading some to ask... is this a new stolen generation?

In this episode of 101 East, a mother reveals the devastating impact of having her four children taken from her. The youngest was 15 months old. "They take your young from you and you have so many taken, you are not whole," says Helen Eason. "Even when they come home as much as they're all there, all the pieces can never ever be put back together."

After a long legal battle, Helen's family was reunited just over a year ago, but she says the scars remain. Meanwhile, a 16-year-old girl tells 101 East how she has grown up in a cycle of abuse, first at home and then in residential care.

In the past decade, the number of indigenous children being removed from their families has almost doubled. They're almost 10 times more likely to be placed in out-of-home care than non-indigenous children.

With the debate over how best to care for children at risk creating bitter divisions in Australia, 101 East investigates the crisis facing indigenous families and the child protection system in charge of removing children.

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