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Social Justice Report 1998 : Appendix 3: Text of Sorry Day Statement

Social Justice Report 1998

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    • Appendix 3: Text of Sorry
    Day Statement

    Acknowledgement, Unity,
    Commitment

    A national 'Sorry
    Day' is being observed on 26 May, 1998, exactly one year after the tabling
    in Federal Parliament of the Report of the National Inquiry into
    the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from
    Their Families    .

    The Report, Bringing
    Them Home    , reveals the extent of forced removal, which went on for
    150 years into the early 1970s and its consequences in terms of broken
    families, shattered physical and mental health, loss of languages, cultures
    and connection to traditional land, loss of parenting skills and the
    enormous distress still being experienced by many of its victims today.

    The Report recommended
    that a Sorry Day be held - a day when all Australians can express their
    sorrow for the whole tragic episode, and celebrate the beginning of
    a new understanding. Many of the stolen generations told the Inquiry
    that they would value this. Unlike the widespread Aboriginal use of
    the term 'sorry business' to denote death, they see a Sorry Day as a
    means of restoring hope to people in despair.

    The National Indigenous
    Working Group on Stolen Generations has invited non-Indigenous people
    to join them in a National Sorry Day. They encourage the wider Australian
    community to remember and commemorate those affected by removal, so
    that the nation can continue the process of healing together. Aboriginal
    and Torres Strait Islander people will participate in a day dedicated
    to the memory of loved ones who never came home, or who are still finding
    their way home.

    Many non-Indigenous
    Australians, having learnt the history of forced removal, wish to apologise
    for the practice and State Parliaments, churches and organisations have
    done so in recent months. This has been greatly appreciated because
    apology means understanding, a willingness to enter into the suffering
    and a commitment to help overcome its debilitating effects.

    Sorry Day offers
    every community the chance to shape a ceremony which, by the frankness
    of its acknowledgement of past wrongs towards the stolen generations
    and by the sincerity of its commitment to overcome racism, unites the
    community. Such a ceremony cannot be prescribed. It must come from the
    hearts of local people, Indigenous and non-Indigenous.

    'Sorry books' are
    being distributed which give everyone the chance to say sorry in their
    own words. Civic or political leaders could hand these books to Elders
    of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

    It is hoped the
    ceremonies will be accompanied by displays, cultural presentations,
    theatrical and other events developed together by the local Indigenous
    and non-Indigenous communities. These activities bring history to life,
    expressing the pain and also the resilience of those who were removed.

    Sorry Day will
    be an important step on the road which all Australians are 'walking
    together'. This commemoration can help restore the dignity stripped
    from those affected by removal and offers those who carried out the
    policy - and their successors - a chance to move beyond denial and guilt.
    It could shape a far more creative partnership between Indigenous and
    non-Indigenous Australians, with immense benefit to both.

    [Extract from
    the Minutes of the National Indigenous Working Group on the Stolen Generations
    - Planning Meeting, 19 January 1998].

    3
    April 2003.