Allan Mansell was removed from his parents at around the age of eight years. As a child, Mansell was moved around to various institutions, group homes and foster care arrangements. Mansell worked in Parks and Wildlife for thirteen years, and attended University to study Visual Arts. Both of Mansell's parents were born on Cape Barron Island.
Mansell's story was recorded by the National Library of Australia for the Bringing Them Home oral history project and appeared in the associated publication Many Voices: Reflections on experiences of Indigenous child separation edited by Doreen Mellor and Anna Haebich (2002).
