Stories from the Stolen Generations: Reading List
Resources
Newspaper articles
From the Torres News
Apology will ‘make a difference’, Torres News, 22 February 2008 - Available by subscription
Apology a ‘turning point’, Torres News, 22 February 2008 - Available by subscription
Emotions flow in Townsville, Torres News, 22 February 2008 - Available by subscription
Church says ‘Sorry’ over Boigu landing
Parliamentary Debates
Australian Parliamentary Debates
http://www.aph.gov.au/
Following the Apology, Members of Parliament and Senators made statements about and debated the Apology. You can search the House of Representatives Hansard or the Senate Hansard for the following dates to read the debates on the Apology to Australia’s Indigenous Peoples.
House of Representatives: Wednesday, 13 February 2008 (includes balance for Tuesday, 12 February) : Apology to Australia's Indigenous peoples -- Thursday, 14 February 2008 -- Monday, 18 February 2008 -- Tuesday 19 February 2008 -- Wednesday 20th February 2008
Senate: Wednesday, 13 February 2008 – 14 February 2008
Photos
Witnessing the Apology, online photographic exhibition by Juno Jemes
Flickr - Sorry - the parliamentary apology - speeches in the Member's Gallery
Videos
From Reconciliation Australia website
Order an Apology DVD from Reconciliation Australia
From APH via www.australia.gov.au
Greens on UTube and the Convergence on Canberra
It's A Long Road Back
Director: Coral Edwards
Released: 1981
Duration: 12 minutes
DVD $19.95 incl. GST, plus postage
ISBN 978 0 85575 628 4
Between 1883 and 1969, approximately 6,000 Aboriginal children in New South Wales were taken from their families and put into institutions run by Aborigines Welfare Board. While in the ‘homes’, the children were deprived of their Aboriginal identity. This film tells of the effects that such an upbringing had and the struggle of one woman to regain her Aboriginality.
Link-Up Diary
Director: David MacDougall.
Released: 1987
Duration: 90 minutes
Audience: secondary, tertiary
DVD $19.95 incl. GST, plus postage
ISBN 978 0 85575 629 1
A film about the effects of the New South Wales government's long-term practice of forced removal of Aboriginal children. It takes the form of a personal journey by film-maker David MacDougall as he spends a week 'on the road' with three workers of Link-Up, an Aboriginal organisation devoted to reuniting Aboriginal families whose children were taken.
Review/buy online at:
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The Prime Ministers annual Close The Gap statements
In his Apology to Australia’s Indigenous People’s the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, made the following statement regarding closing the gaps in the social inequalities faced by Indigenous Australians:
This new partnership on closing the gap will set concrete targets for the future: within a decade to halve the widening gap in literacy, numeracy and employment outcomes and opportunities for Indigenous children, within a decade to halve the appalling gap in infant mortality rates between Indigenous and non-Indigenous children and, within a generation, to close the equally appalling 17-year life gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous when it comes when it comes to overall life expectancy.
So, since 2009, the Prime Minister has given a report to the Parliament on Closing the Gap.
These are all recorded on the website of the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FAHCSIA) at
Click image to view the 2013 report
Music
The Sorry Song by Kerry Fletcher
Archie Roach, Took the Children Away (from album Charcoal Lane)
Bob Randall, Brown Skinned Baby (They Took Me Away)
Cry Stolen (and other CDs) from Kimberley Stolen Generations Aboriginal Corporation
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Apology websites
National Sorry Day Committee
(Includes sections on the Apology, the Bringing them Home Report and its 54 Recommendations and good educational resources)
http://www.reconciliation.org.au/home/resources/school-resources/apology-resources
Reconciliation Australia – guide to Apology Resources
http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2008/02/12/2160623.htm
National Apology: The Kimberley Perspective
Sydney Morning Herald: Kevin Rudd Says Sorry
(News stories, videos, poll)
and The Apology
http://australia.gov.au/about-australia/our-country/our-people/apology-to-australias-indigenous-peoples
Australia.gov.au : Apology to Australia’s Indigenous Peoples