February 13 marks the anniversary of the National Apology to the Stolen Generations. It was a significant milestone for healing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, who suffered as a result of past government policies of forced child removal and assimilation. It is important that, as a nation, we commemorate and acknowledge the wrongs of the past, while reflecting on the work that still needs to be done to address the impacts of unresolved trauma.
Stolen Generations survivors are some of Australia’s most vulnerable people and many have kept their stories and experiences secret for many years, even decades.
Through hearing the resilient stories of Stolen Generations survivors there is now a willingness for Australians to join in on the healing journey. To be part of solutions into the future. This is the spirit of the anniversary.
Shannan Dodson (Yawuru), Healing Foundation CEO
“I think that what is needed is particularly for all Australians to educate themselves about the Stolen Generations and the impact that it still has today…. because we can never forget that this has happened in our country.”
“We still don’t see compensation for all survivors. We still don’t see prioritisation from institutions for access to records for these survivors. It’s their stories, it’s their histories and there’s still many that don’t know those histories or those stories. We’re still seeing that aged care services are at risk of retraumatising Stolen Generations survivors, and we just cannot risk that. And we cannot risk the loss of these Stolen Generations organisations that provide that support, not only to survivors, but also to families, to descendants who continue to carry the weight of the experiences of those survivors.”
“And so it is really up to all of us to understand the urgency and the need to ensure that those recommendations are implemented fully, not in five years, not in 10 or 20 or another generation, but now, it’s really now that we need to take that urgency seriously. We can’t lose any more survivors.”
