ANTaR (Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation)

In April I was surprised (and very humbled) to be one of 1000 Australians selected to participate in the Prime Minister’s 2020 Summit. In the lead up to the Summit we were all asked to come up with an idea that would help tackle the long term challenges facing the nation.

One of my ideas was an Aboriginal Healing Foundation that would help overcome the intergenerational trauma caused by forced child removal.

Fortunately, a number of other people had the same idea and the Healing Foundation survived the various editing processes of the Summit to remain in the final report.

With a Senate Committee also recently urging its introduction, the Healing Foundation now appears to be firmly on the government agenda.

However, while many people now seem to be calling for a Healing Foundation, there is less agreement on precisely what this will do. Some have even suggested fund dental and primary health care services. For an example, see the extract from a recent ABC Radio PM program below:

SENATOR TRISH CROSSIN: The National Indigenous Healing Fund would concentrate solely on the needs of members of the Stolen Generations, and it doesn’t necessarily mean monetary compensation.

In fact, it could mean quite a range of other services that are provide to the Stolen Generation that will assist and support them as they get older and progress through years when they most need reliance on services governments can provide.

BARBARA MILLER: The Committee suggests family and housing services, medical, dental and funeral costs could be covered by the fund.

When I spoke in favour of a Healing Foundation at the 2020 Summit, I wasn’t suggesting that this provide the kinds of services that citizens should already be entitled to receive from government. Instead, the Healing Foundation should concentrate on programs to overcome the intergenerational trauma caused by forced child removal. These programs would encompass both therapeutic change and cultural renewal. They would be targeted to Stolen Generations survivors as well as other Aboriginal people negatively affected by the practice like children and other family members of survivors.

In public policy terms, what is needed is:

Treatment: Culturally appropriate, preferably Indigenous led therapeutic change programs; ongoing group and individual counseling; targeted programs in prisons aimed at psychological healing and reducing recidivism; programs to facilitate cultural renewal and strengthen cultural identity.

Training and capacity building: Training specialist Aboriginal psychological trauma and healing professionals; Training health workers, teachers social workers and others in how to recognize intergenerational trauma and treat it in a culturally appropriate way; Mental health “first aid” for community members in areas like suicide prevention and how to support people seeking to overcome addictions; alcohol and substance abuse rehabilitation for Aboriginal mental health workers in need of it; debriefing and support for workers dealing with traumatized communities.

Research and public education: To identify, promote and evaluate best practice in Indigenous trauma and healing; to foster a greater understanding in the broader community of the issues confronting the Stolen Generations.

Redefining Social Norms: Support for communities and families seeking to discuss and reintroduce culturally appropriate social norms; Assistance for leaders to reassert appropriate social norms.

Much of this material comes from the work of Gregory Phillips, who summarises what healing should mean in this context:

“… at its heart healing is about restoring balance where wrong has been done – a spiritual process that includes therapeutic change and cultural renewal. It is about protection and care for the victims of violence and abuse, as well as the development of correctional services for perpetrators that are based on healing and change, not stigmatization and shame.”

From Greg’s comments, it’s clear that healing in this context is essential, not just for the Stolen Generations (whose needs are in many respects the greatest), but also for many other Aboriginal communities who suffer from trauma, violence and abuse. (For more info Greg’s chapter in the book Coercive Reconciliation, Arena 2007 is really useful).

There are no guarantees that the Government will proceed with the Healing Foundation, or that it would remain in the form that was proposed at the 2020 Summit. But there are few initiatives that could make more of a real, positive and lasting difference to the lives of Aboriginal people.

It was a day many of us thought we’d never see and one none of us will ever forget.

After more than a decade of campaigning by many thousands of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians – including ANTaR members - Prime Minister Kevin Rudd formally apologized to the stolen generations for the policy of forced child removal which damaged so many lives.

I expected the nation to exhale a collective sigh of relief after the apology, but it generated so much more. Far from prompting the guilt that his predecessor, John Howard had predicted, Kevin Rudd’s sorry was followed by unbridled joy and celebration.

Rarely has an event in the national parliament been the centre of so many conversations in such positive terms. In the days after the apology people in petrol stations, supermarkets and pubs all around Australia wanted to talk about what it had meant to them.

When I picked up my morning coffee on the way to work a stranger came up to me and said he’d never really understood why an apology was important until he listened to the Prime Minister’s words.

“Now I realise that it’s not about black people or white people,” he said. “It’s really about families.”

More significant than all of this was the burden the apology seemed to lift from so many members of the Stolen Generations and their descendents. The healing power of that simple word that took so long to say built the bridge of trust that the Prime Minister had hoped for.

Following on from the apology, closing the 17 year life expectancy gap within a generation is now the Government’s top priority in Indigenous Affairs. As the organization that launched the Close the Gap campaign, ANTaR has welcomed the government’s commitment to our campaign aims. Our focus now will be helping shape the Government’s plan to close the gap and making sure its commitment is backed by the sustained action that will be essential to achieve this task.

We’ll also be ensuring that the specific needs of the Stolen Generations and the implementation of the Bringing Them Home report recommendations are not lost underneath the emphasis on closing the gap. As part of this, ANTaR will not be walking away from our demand that compensation to those affected needs to be an essential part of the response.

The apology renewed the faith of Indigenous people that a Government might seek to respond to their history with understanding and compassion. It showed a Prime Minister that he could do the right thing by the First Australians and take the rest of the nation with him. It gave all Australians something to be proud of.

Our task now is to make sure that we don’t look back on the apology as a brief blip in the life of a new government, but as the beginning of something much more.

Messages of ‘Sorry’ and ‘support’ started flooding in via sms and email on Monday. They reached a peak as the speeches ended yesterday morning and I stood amongst thousands on Parliamentary Hill, breathing in fresh air that was filled with hope, history, forgiveness and unity.

Every time my phone rang or beeped the lump in my throat grew as I took messages and calls from people all around the country. Some were ex-students of mine, others were people I’d been to primary school with. One message came from someone I met on the Gold Coast at schoolies in 1986. I was just one of many blackfellas who received an outpouring of love and support from friends and colleagues that for me included publishers, producers, professors, fellow artists, public servants and stay at home mums. I even received a couple of emails from people I didn’t really know that well.

While many of the people who contacted me don’t know each other, they had many things in common. Firstly, the group I am talking about were all non-Aboriginal. Secondly, they shared a common language that included terms like ‘sorry’, ‘healing’, ‘relief’, ‘justice’, ‘hope’, ‘peace’, ‘solidarity’, ‘renewed hope’, ‘there in spirit’, and ‘moving forward together’. These words were accompanied I’m told, by a lot of emotion, many tears and boxes of tissues.

On the ground, I shared the joy of Kevin Rudd’s words with my family and friends, but also with thousands of complete strangers standing around me. There were hugs and tears and sighs of relief. The applause that echoed around Parliament House came from Australians (and some tourists) who’d taken leave from their work and their normal daily lives to be part of one of the most pivotal moments in this nation’s history.

To be honest with you, the apology for me was about finding some peace for those stolen and our families, and there were many levels of relief experienced when Rudd finally said ‘SORRY’, six times! His carefully crafted and sincere words finally provided Australians of all denominations the opportunity to heal themselves, and to share what was in their hearts. An apology from the national parliament also legitimised what many had felt for many, many years.

I heard many non-Aboriginal Australians say yesterday “I am so proud now to be Australian.” One text message I received said, “I now know what it means to be a proud Australian.” It seems to me that Kevin Rudd gave our nation a new sense of identity and perhaps a new sense of patriotism with his words.

As for Brendan Nelson channelling John Howard through his speech, well that’s another blog altogether, but quite frankly I’ve got better things to do with my words than respond to his lack of insight. The Liberal Party was left behind yesterday as the rest of Parliament and Australia made history for the betterment of this great nation.

I am still emotional about what the last 24 hours has done for both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians. But I am filled with hope and expectation for what we can do now to ensure real social equity and sovereignty for the First Peoples of Australia.

Peace,
Anita Heiss

Ainslie Primary School

Crowds cheer Kevin Rudd’s speech

Sharon and Naomi Williams and me … full of happiness!

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has said that the government will apologise to Indigenous Australia’s Stolen Generations. It seems likely that this will happen when parliament resumes during the week beginning 11th February.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports today:

“The intention is to build this bridge of respect between indigenous and non-indigenous Australia,” Mr Rudd told the Seven network.

“(Then) we can get on with the business of closing the gap in terms of life expectancy, education levels and health levels between indigenous and non-indigenous communities.”

He reiterated a promise that no compensation fund would be established following the apology.

The Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson has criticised the Prime Minister for making an apology a higher priority than economic issues.

Some people are cynical of the intended apology, including Neil of Ninglun’s Oz Politics Now who highlights three caveats in Rudd’s promise of an apology:

1. will apologise to indigenous Australia’s stolen generations — not a blanket apology for dispossession at large?
2. no compensation fund would be established following the apology
3. individual Australians have the right to oppose the move, saying the apology was not coming from the non-indigenous citizens — it is an apology on behalf of the government for, presumably, earlier government actions or policies in relation to the stolen children, not an apology on behalf of the Australian people.

Just mentioning all that so we can be clear about what the government is in fact proposing, which is not quite the same thing that many of us have been discussing lately.

Some people will find it reassuring that the Government has consulted with the National Sorry Day Committee and the Stolen Generations Alliance about the apology.

More information

• [audio] Radio National: An apology, but no compensation - Australia Talks
• [press release] ANTaR: Rudd Government abandons Labor platform over Stolen Generations
• [info] Background information on the Stolen Generations
• [info] Reconciliation Australia: Frequently Asked Questions about the apology

The Tasmanian state government will compensate members of the Stolen Generations over the next week. Tasmania is the only state to do so. The Age reported:

Tasmanian members of the stolen generation and their children will be paid lump sums of about $58,000 and $5000 respectively in the next week under Australia’s first and only compensation fund for Aboriginal children forcibly removed from their families.

Tasmanian Premier Paul Lennon is quoted in The Age as saying:

“This is not the end of the process. Making these payments does not mean our job is done and reconciliation is complete.”

More information

• [press release] Premier Paul Lennon: Stolen Generations Assessments Completed
• [press release] ANTaR: Rudd Government abandons Labor platform over Stolen Generations
• [info] Background information on the Stolen Generations