Hundreds of Aboriginal children likely buried in unmarked graves at three WA missions

The Benedictine monastic town of New Norcia. A Guardian Australia investigation has found hundreds of Aboriginal children are likely buried in unmarked graves at three former WA missions. Photograph: Blake Sharp-Wiggins/The Guardian

As many as 400 Aboriginal children and babies are likely to have been buried in unmarked graves at three former Western Australian missions, the vast majority of them interred after dying when five or under, a Guardian Australia investigation can reveal.

Spanning decades, more than 740 First Nations people, the majority of them very young, were most likely buried with no record at just three church and government-run missions in the state: Moore River, Carrolup and New Norcia.