Ryan Kelly was removed from his family by the police when he was two years old, but returned to his parents. However, when his mother fell ill, he and his brother were taken again and sent to live at Roelands Mission until the age of eleven, although their mother wanted her sons returned. Kelly and his brother were sent to other institutions where Ryan frequently rebelled and was punished. He later returned home to his mother but she died soon afterwards.
Kelly'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).
