Rabbit-Proof Fence

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details of classification and consumer advice lines for Rabbit-Proof Fence
• a review of Rabbit-Proof Fence completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 26 May 2025.

Overall comments and recommendations

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• themes
• use of violence
• material that may scare or disturb children
• product placement
• sexual references
• nudity and sexual activity
• use of substances
• coarse language
• the movie’s message

A synopsis of the story

A.O. Neville (Kenneth Branagh), Chief Protector of the Aboriginal community, believes he is doing the right thing by removing ‘half-caste’ children from their Aboriginal mothers and placing them in detention centres where they learn to speak English, pray and do domestic duties or manual labour. His intention is to eliminate the ‘mixed race’ by “breeding the Aboriginal out of future generations”. Meanwhile, Molly (Everlyn Sampi), Gracie (Tianna Sansbury) and Daisy (Laura Monoghan), three young ‘half-caste’ girls, live happily with their mob out near Jigalong. The girls have the love of their family and people, a deep understanding of their culture and heritage, and tremendous skills that will prove invaluable in the weeks ahead. Violently removed from their mothers’ arms, the girls are taken to the Moore River Native Settlement over 1,000 kilometres away. Missing home, Molly is especially unhappy with how they are forced to live and she and the younger two girls escape the camp, determined to find their way back. The girls must rely on their wits, on the kindness of strangers and on themselves as they journey along the rabbit-proof fence, outwitting the relentless Tracker (David Gulpilil) tasked to return them to the camp, and avoiding the police and everyone else who may turn them in.

Children separated from parents; Children alone in the desert; The Stolen Generation; Abuse; Survival; Betrayal; Discrimination; Racism; Prejudice; Government sponsored racial and cultural annihilation.

There is some violence in this movie, including:

• A car chases down the three young girls, with their mothers, and the man forcibly takes the girls and puts them in the car.
• The girls are kept locked in a cage, like animals, while being transported by train.
• If anyone leaves the camp or disobeys, they are taken into a house and beaten.
• The workers in the camp threaten the girls if they do not obey them.
• A man violently hits a tabletop with a stick and shouts at Daisy to eat her food.
• When a girl runs away, the 'Tracker' brings her back, and when she comes back to the camp you can hear her being beaten for leaving. She is later seen crying in a locked shed with her hair having been chopped off.
• Daisy is shown with large cuts all over her legs.
• Gracie is found at the train station. She is chased and grabbed by two men who put her in a car and take her away.
• A man is facing-off with two aboriginal women, he has a gun and they have a spear. He runs away before anything happens.

Material that may scare or disturb children

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:

• Molly, Gracie and Daisy are alone, trying to get home. They have multiple encounters where they have to run and hide from the people trying to recapture them. These scenes are accompanied by a strong sense of peril, especially from a sinister-looking Tracker, that may be upsetting for many children.
• Molly, Gracie and Daisy often have to steal food or convince strangers to give them food. At one point, Molly and Daisy collapse after walking through a barren stretch of desert. They are clearly exhausted and haven’t had anything to eat or drink for a while. It looks like they are dead and some children may find this frightening. The girls later awake and discover the fence that will help lead them home.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes and scary visual images, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged five to eight, including the following:

• Molly, Gracie and Daisy are alone in the desert for much of the movie, often showing signs of being hungry, scared and tired.
• A man comes to take Molly, Gracie and Daisy. The girls and their mothers run, trying to escape but he chases them in his car and eventually catches up to them, roughly dragging the girls into the car. He threatens their mothers and rips the children from their arms as they scream, cry and beg him to leave their daughters alone. The girls are crying and fighting and clearly terrified. The mothers bang their hands on the car and chase after it as the man drives away. They eventually collapse in the dirt, sobbing as their daughters look back from the window. It is a very intense and emotional scene and could be very distressing for many children.
• Gracie is taken by two men, including one Aboriginal man. She is forced into a car and driven away. Molly and Daisy are devastated and crying as they hide while she is captured and taken away. Viewers later learn that the girls never saw her again.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged eight to thirteen, including the following:

• Molly, Gracie and Daisy are placed in an ‘integration’ camp. Multiple adults are physically abusive to the children in the camp: threatening them, dragging them, hitting them and cutting off their hair.

• Molly, Daisy and Gracie often encounter strangers and they are unsure if they will be turned-in or harmed.

Product placement

• None noted.

Sexual references

There are some sexual references in this movie, including:

• Molly’s mother says to a man that if Mr Devil wants a half-caste kid, he should make his own.

Nudity and sexual activity

There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:

• The girls are in an outdoor shower and a women is showering them to make sure they are clean.
• A man comes to visit an aboriginal woman who is sheltering the girls. They are laying in her bed when he comes into the room one night and begins taking off his pants. When he sees them laying in the bed he collects his pants and shoes and walks out. The girls are about to run off when the woman who is helping them begs them not to go. She is crying when she says to them: “If you go he will come back.” It goes without saying that the man has established a sexual relationship that the woman is unhappy about.
• Aboriginal women are sitting in a circle, singing. A few have their bare breasts exposed.

Use of substances

• None noted.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

• Racist words are used throughout the movie, such as “Blacks” and “half-castes”.

In a nutshell

Rabbit-Proof Fence is a true story based on the book by Molly’s daughter, Doris Pilkington Garimara. It is a haunting drama that allows viewers a glimpse of a dark time in Australian history and provides a powerful example of the resilience of the human spirit. Due to the themes, this is not a family film but rather one that is best suited to audiences over the age of twelve.

The main messages from this movie are that the bonds of family and the ties that connect you to your culture and land are not something that can easily be broken or changed. They live inside of you, no matter where you go or how far away you are and they will, one way or another, lead you home.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

• Determination
• Courage
• Ingenuity
• Compassion
• Fortitude
• Resilience.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:

• The unfair treatment that Aboriginal people faced and what happened to them in this time.
• Treating all people kindly and not discriminating against different groups.
• The unjustness of the Aborigines Act and allowing one race to dominate another, giving one group absolute control over every detail of the lives of another group.
• Believing that certain people are better based on the colour of their skin.
• Taking First Nations children from their parents and placing them in an institution dedicated to “breeding out the Aboriginal” and gradually eliminating an “unwanted” race.