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Welcome to the National Sorry Day CommitteeThe Bringing them home report (BTH Report) recommended (Recommendation No 7.a) that a National Sorry Day be held each year on 26 May "to commemorate the history of forcible removals and its effects." As a result of this recommendation the community-based organisation the National Sorry Day Committee was formed. The NSDC was established in 1998 and has been incorporated since January 2001. From the beginning, the NSDC has worked with the commitment, dedication and involvement of both Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Australians. The NSDC is unique because it’s networks and memberships are made up of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous volunteers, including members of the Stolen Generations. It operates on a reconciliatory basis that upholds a positive partnership between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Australians. Since the NSDC’s initial formation, each State and Territory has established affiliated Sorry Day Committees/Networks. The names of these affiliated bodies today reflect the broad spectrum of groups that the National Sorry Day Committee membership consists of. The various affiliates are known as either the Journey of Healing, Bringing Them Home, Sorry Day, Stolen Generations or Link Up. Over the years it has gathered a varied and wide support base from numerous organisations who are also committed to fighting for the rights of Indigenous Australians. The NSDC has a mandate from the Stolen Generations, through our affiliated Regional/ State / Territory bodies. With the ongoing support of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians the NSDC continues to work in unity with the Stolen Generations, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, government, social justice and community organisations, so that the 54 recommendations of the BTH report are finally achieved. |
Latest NSDC News
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AUSTRALIAN PARLIAMENT SAYS SORRY |
SORRY DAY
On this 13th day of February
Flags may fly a little higher
As from Tassie to the Territory
We gather round a different fire
From Broome to Brisbane, Coffs to Cairns
Four corners we collect
Around a fire fuelled by remembrance
Acknowledgement, respect
Through the flames, the road ahead
One sea, one sky, one land
A step forward in the healing
And a new shape for the sand
From Perth, to Quorn to Bamaga
One word to hear, to say
Forever on our calendar
Australia’s Sorry Day
By Kate Hawtin February 2008
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A PARTNERSHIP BEYOND THE APOLOGY |
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The National Sorry Day Committee (NSDC) joins the Stolen Generations in celebrating the monumental Act of the Apology by the Australian Government. We take heart that through the Apology we can move forward united, towards a healed, just and reconciled Australia. The NSDC acknowledges the Prime Minister’s recognition that the value of the Apology will only be as great as the practical measures that proceed it. The NSDC also acknowledges the Prime Minister’s commitment to sustaining the consultative process undertaken in the lead up to the Apology between the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, the Hon Jenny Macklin, the Prime Minister’s Office and the NSDC. To continue to strengthen this founding partnership and move beyond the Apology it has been agreed that Minister Macklin’s office will meet with the NSDC in the coming weeks. The NSDC appreciates the opportunity to forge a strategy with the Minister by incorporating the NSDC’s five guiding principles to support the Federal Government in achieving its promise to implement a comprehensive response to the recommendations of the Bringing them home report.
These principles recognise:
1. That the Apology is a new beginning in the healing process for the Stolen Generations, their families and communities.
2. A commitment to working together that genuinely negotiates with stolen generations groups, as well as Link-Ups and other service providers.
3. A commitment to implementing a targeted response that comprehensively addresses the 54 recommendations of the Bringing them home report and goes beyond efforts to improve Indigenous quality and expectancy of life and health status.
4. Adopting ‘a whole of government’ approach; and
5. Working across government to address issues between jurisdictions including by the
COAG working group on Indigenous reform. As the Prime Minister has indicated, the strength and true substance of the Apology will depend on having clear goals that take us beyond the Apology and towards practical measures that address the needs of the Stolen Generations. The NSDC strongly believes a comprehensive response to the recommendations of the Bringing them home report is the means by which this can be achieved. Crucial to this process will be that all involved place an absolute premium on respect, cooperation and mutual responsibility.
The National Sorry Day Committee applauds the Federal Government’s Act of Apology and embraces the offered hand of partnership that will take the Stolen Generations beyond the Apology and towards a truly reconciled Australia. The National Sorry Day Committee welcomes the pending meeting with the office of the Department of Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA) and the Hon Jenny Macklin. |
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DON'T JUST SAY SORRY FULFILL THE WHOLE APOLOGY STATEMENT |
“Recommendation 5a of the Bringing them home Report is the proper place to start on the way forward to the formal apology to the Stolen Generations”, said National Sorry Day Committee Indigenous Co-Chair, Helen Moran.
It is not just about saying Sorry, or about ‘Closing the Gap’ in health inequity. It is about reparations that embrace Rehabilitation, Restitution, Acknowledgement, Apology, measures against Repetition, and Monetary Compensation.
"As the Peak National Advocate for the Stolen Generations since 1998, the National Sorry Day Committee strongly calls on Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and the Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Jenny Macklin, to honour the APOLOGY to the Stolen Generations their families and communities by fully implementing and fulfilling the ‘Apology Recommendation’, Recommendation 5a of the Bringing them home Report.
“There is so much more to the apology than words. There is the content and the intent of the Rudd Government regarding outcomes and future action. There is the all important necessity to focus on meeting the needs and the fundamental human rights of the Stolen Generations, their families and communities," Moran said.
"This recommendation clearly asks, and has been asking for over 10 years, that the Federal Government of Australia acknowledge responsibility for these policies and the resulting effects, negotiate with the Stolen Generations, their families, and communities, implement appropriate REPARATIONS and fulfill the remaining recommendations."
“If Recommendation 5a and the following recommendations of the Bringing them home Report are fully implemented and fulfilled, the ’GAP’ will be closed, compensation will be allocated.
RECOMMENDATION 5a.That all Australian Parliaments:
1. Officially acknowledge the responsibility of their predecessors for the laws, policies and practices of forced removal;
2. Negotiate with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission a form of words for official apologies to Indigenous individuals, families and communities and extend those apologies with wide and culturally appropriate publicity; and THANK YOU FOR SAYING SORRY PRIME MINISTER RUDD BUT THERE IS MORE!!! 3. Make appropriate reparations as detailed in following recommendations.
Given the abolition of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, the National Sorry Day Committee and it’s State and Territory affiliates, in partnership with Link Up services and HREOC are in negotiations with Prime Minister Rudd and the Minister for Indigenous Affairs, towards an inclusive and extensive consultative process with the Stolen Generations, their families and communities.
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