feb 13, 2008 - The Apology

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Prime Minister Kevin Rudd delivered the National Apology to the Stolen Generations at 9.00am on 13 February 2008, which came about as a recommendation from the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal Children from their Families. It highlighted the suffering of Indigenous families under the Commonwealth, state and territory Aboriginal protection and welfare laws and policies.Members of the Stolen Generations were invited to hear the National Apology first-hand in the gallery of The House of Representatives chamber at Parliament House in Canberra.
The 1997 Bringing Them Home report found that the forced removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families and communities has had life-long and profoundly disabling consequences for those taken, and has negatively affected the entire Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community. For many of the children, removal meant that they lost all connection to family, traditional land, culture and language and were taken to homes and institutions where they were often abused, neglected and unloved.
An apology from the Australian Government to the Stolen Generations is one important step in working together to achieve reconciliation between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous peoples. It is important because it removes a barrier to Australians establishing a better relationship as Indigenous and non-Indigenous fellow Australians. Closing the life expectancy gap involves consistent, long term action by governments and by all Australians, in health, education, housing, employment etc. as well as in building respectful relationships that generate better outcomes for all Australians.

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