It was 2008 when Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, issued an apology to the indigenous people of Australia for mistreatment towards them, particularly to the ‘Stolen Generation’. With deeply rooted racism in Australia, was an apology enough, or does the Australian government need to do more to compensate for the mistreatment of indigenous Australians?
Between 1910 and 1970 thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were forcibly removed from their families and communities by churches, welfare organisations and governments. While the exact number is not known, it is estimated to be anywhere from 1 in 10 to 1 in 3 indigenous children who were forcibly removed from their families and fostered or adopted by non-indigenous families or raised in institutions. These children are part of the Stolen Generations. Many experienced neglect, physical and sexual abuse and exploitative labour, and were denied contact with their families.
Upon reading testimonies from those belonging to the ‘Stolen Generation’, there is no doubt that the pain caused by the government is irreversible, they describe unimaginable horrors;
‘My grandfather was away working at the time, and he came home and found that his kids had been taken away, and he didn’t know nothing about it. Four years later he died of a broken heart. He had a breakdown and was sent to Kew [Psychiatric] Hospital. He was buried in a pauper’s grave and on his death certificate he died of malnutrition, ulcers and plus he had bedsores.’
‘Now I understand why Mum is the way she is, why she’s been strict on us, why she never used to take us to the doctors when we used to hurt ourselves, because the first thing they would have looked at was her skin and said, ‘Well, you’re obviously not looking after them properly’.’
‘All the teachings that we received from our [foster] family when we were little, that black people were bad … I wanted my skin to be white. I couldn’t deal with it, I couldn’t accept my father and his family. They were like strangers to me.’
– Victoria: fostered at 10 years in 1964.
The Australian government began to implement policies for those affected in recent years, including wellbeing and emotional support. These include; counselling services, wellbeing activities and health promotion, family tracing and reunions and access to training programmes to obtain better work opportunities. Similarly, if you’ve recently been on any Australian website or seen any Australian media, you might have seen something like this;
Acknowledgement of Country is designed to raise awareness of the original owners of the land in Australia, and bridge the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. For many years aboriginals were left out of Australian history books, democracy and anthem, but the Acknowledgement of Country allows for an opportunity for anyone to show respect for Traditional Owners and the continuing connection of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to Country.
Many things have been put in place to help raise awareness of the mistreatment of indigenous Australians and allow for more equality, this includes discussions on whether there should be celebrations of Australia Day, a day to celebrate the founding of the country in 1770, a glorious year for the British, and a horrific, painful year for the indigenous people who had their land stripped away from them.
Unfortunately, these policies implemented to make peace between the white and the indigenous Australians can be twisted to cause hatred, especially with the rise of right-wing sentiment across the globe. With the remembrance services that came with Anzac Day this year, a group of “known neo-Nazis” were removed after booing and heckling an elder during his speech that was aimed to stop the divisions between the two groups. They were arrested, but it was certainly hard to watch.
While it may seem that the Australian government have done a lot to somehow repair relations, there is still a long way to go for Indigenous Australians. Recently, in the 2023 “Yes/No” vote, in which Australians had to vote on whether Indigenous Australians should be recognised in the constitution by creating an advisory body, “The Voice of Parliament”. Unfortunately, taking up only 3.8% of Australia’s population, they were outvoted, with 60% voting “No” and 40% voting “Yes”. This can be seen as a huge setback for indigenous Australians, and shows that despite the Australian government finding ways for reconciliation, Australia has deeply rooted racism that prevents indigenous Australians from progressing in society.
So, has the Australian government done enough to make reparations for indigenous Australians, especially those in the Stolen Generation? I would say that while the government have implemented multiple acts to help those involved in the Stolen Generation, the fact that indigenous Australians haven’t progressed that much further in Australia’s society highlights to me that there is still a long way to go, both in government and in wider communities, before all Australians are seen and represented equally.
