This program of assimilation was most prevalent in the 1940s and 1950s and the children affected known as the "stolen generations". It is hard to put a number on exactly how many children were "stolen", although in April 2000 Prime Minister John Howard claimed only 10% of children were part of this assimilation program. However, this figure is more than likely inaccurate. There is a lot to suggest that the assimilation program has much to answer for many of the Aborigines current problems such as poor education and high crime rates. The thing about assimilation is that it affected all aborigines. Aboriginal way of life is much about family and it is almost certain that if an Aboriginal child was not assimilated, someone in his or her family was. Those who went through assimilation are almost certainly grown up now yet may still have no idea of their Aboriginal families whereabouts or fate. For many Aborigines this must be deeply emotionally scarring and would certainly have some bearing on modern Aboriginal problems. Many Aborigines that were part of the stolen generation are now actively seeking compensation from the Australian government. It was not until 1969 that officials lost the right to remove Aboriginal children from their families, but the effects of how the assimilation program changed Aboriginal society are still prominent in politics and in terms of compensation.
Aboriginal people began to be recognized a lot more as part of Australian society in the last fifty years. Public feeling led to the government changing ideas and by the end of the 1960s Aborigines had the right to vote, no longer leaving them as second-class citizens. The right to vote brings with it many other rights as a citizen that were important in the development of Aboriginal role in modern Australia. However, to many Aborigines the right to vote was not of that great importance and many did not use this right at all, although as time went on the Aboriginal vote became far better represented.