Anniversary of the National Apology

On 13 February 2008, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd made a formal apology to Australia’s Indigenous peoples, particularly to the Stolen Generations whose lives had been blighted by past government policies of forced child removal and Indigenous assimilation.

Reconciliation Australia states that

“The National Apology was an historic acknowledgement of the wrongs done to the Stolen Generations. It was a significant step towards building a respectful new relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. The impact of the Apology is evidence of the importance of historical acceptance, which is one of the five dimensions we use to describe and measure reconciliation. Historical acceptance is not just about accepting and understanding our shared history and its ongoing impacts – it’s about making sure that Australia does what is necessary to ensure past wrongs are never repeated”

This year is the 12th anniversary of the apology. I would encourage everyone to take a moment today to remember this and check out the Healing Foundation’s Stolen Generations Resource Kit for Teachers and Students to learn more. It has been developed to introduce students from Foundation to Year 9 to the firsthand experiences of Stolen Generations survivors.