20th Anniversary Collection: Vickie Roach's turbulent life in and out of strife

Vickie's police record began when she was just 2 years old, and followed her throughout her life. But as an adult she pushed back, challenging a federal law for the rights of prisoners.

When Vickie was given a police record as a toddler, it enabled authorities to place her into the custody of a family she didn't know.

She grew up in western Sydney, under the strict religious rule of her adoptive mother, with whom she clashed time and again.

Vickie left school at 13., and in the same year she met her birth mother for the first time and discovered she was Aboriginal.

Decades of trouble followed, including numerous prison terms.

But Vickie has also known periods of stability, like winning back her son after a long-running custody dispute.

In 2007, Vickie was awarded her master's degree while serving her final prison sentence at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre in Victoria.

She was also the plaintiff in a ground-breaking legal challenge to the High Court, which returned to prisoners serving less than three years' the right to vote.

Vickie now works as an advocate for the rights of women in prison.

Content warning: this episode contains mentions of violence, suicide and drug use.

Further information

First broadcast in May, 2019.

Vickie was joint winner of the 2017 Tim McCoy Human Rights Award

Adoption resources and support

Find and Connect - support for former residents of children's homes, orphanages and institutions;

Benevolent Society Australia - post-adoption support;

For forced adoption support you can visit the Government support services website or contact the Forced Adoption Support Service in your state or territory on 1800 21 03 13.

For immediate support, you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 46 36.

You can read all about the Conversations origin story on the ABC News website.

This episode of Conversations explores the Stolen Generations, DOCS, child protection, forced adoption, family separation, cultural identity, justice system, Aboriginal incarceration rate, deaths in custody, mental health, origin stories, family dynamics, motherhood, Yuin.

To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.