To mark Reconciliation Week PIAC will be sharing three videos we recently produced that explore significant issues on the journey to reconciliation.
The first was produced for National Sorry Day on 26 May. On this day we acknowledge and remember the experiences of members of the Stolen Generations, who were forcibly removed from their families as a result of government policies and practices, backed up by acts of parliament, from the 1800s until the 1970s.
Almost every Aboriginal family has been directly or indirectly affected by these policies. The consequences are well known and complex: children who were removed suffered severe trauma as a result of losing links to community and family, often received poor education, poor health care, and many suffered abuse. The impact has reverberated through later generations, impacting on children, grandchildren and whole communities, and causing on-going pain and cyclical disadvantage.
While Tasmania and South Australia have instituted compensation schemes to attempt to make reparations, there is still no scheme in NSW, despite decades of deliberation. A committee of the NSW Legislative Council is currently conducting an inquiry into reparations for the Stolen Generations you can read our submission here.
To highlight the broad impact that the forced removal of Aboriginal children continues to have, PIAC spoke to Aboriginal people, young and old, and recorded their response to the words ‘Stolen Generation’.
We thank the Kinchela Boys Home Aboriginal Corporation and WEAVE youth services for their help. We are especially grateful to the people who agreed to share their stories with us.