2 June, 2016
National Sorry Day 2016 – Honouring Courage and Resilience.
The NSW Aboriginal Land Council (NSWALC) has honoured the courage of members of the Stolen Generations and their descendants, for national Sorry Day 2016.
NSWALC Chair Roy Ah-See said Sorry Day was a time to reflect on the shameful practice of race-based child removal and to honour the resilience of Aboriginal men and women whose lives will never be the same.
National Sorry Day was first held in 1998, one year after the release of the “Bringing Them Home” report.
“Bringing Them Home comprehensively documented the abuse and mistreatment of Australia’s First Peoples by consecutive Federal and State governments from the 19th century to the 1970s.
Under this cruel policy, the people we now recognise as the Stolen Generations were abused and mistreated. They lost their childhood, language and culture.
Their identity was stolen from them, just as they were stolen from their families and communities.”
Cr Ah-See said Sorry Day was important to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, as an opportunity to recognise the courage and resilience of the Stolen Generations and to play a part in national healing.
“The tens of thousands of members of the Stolen Generations are survivors and the broader Australian society must never forget the pain they have endured and to support them on their long journey of healing.”