National Sorry Day (National Day of Healing)

National Sorry Day is an annual observance in Australia on May 26 to recognize the harm done to many First Australians who were taken from their families as children. It is also called the National Day of Healing. The Aboriginal people who were forcibly removed from their homes and communities are referred to as the Stolen Generation. Many were denied the chance to grow up in their people’s culture and traditions. An estimated fifty thousand children were taken between 1910 and the 1970s, although the practice took place before and after that time period. Researchers say six generations of families were affected.

National Sorry Day grew out of a recognition of the wrongs committed against both Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander peoples. While National Sorry Day is not a federal public holiday, many communities hold special events. These may include concerts, street marches, Sorry Day flag raising events, and speakers from First Australians communities. Many Australians sign sorry books to show their commitment to righting wrongs and reconciliation, and schools frequently hold essay competitions and other events to highlight the issues raised by the observance.

Background

When British explorers arrived and claimed Australia for the British Empire, they justified the claim under the concept of terra nullius. This is a Latin term that means ‘land belonging to no one’. The colonial powers did not recognise the presence of First Australian people, who had resided on the continent for tens of thousands of years. Similar actions took place in other parts of the world as well, including the American colonies and New Zealand.

First Australians were unrecognised in Australian law until the late twentieth century. Federal, state and local governments disregarded their rights in many cases, such as in assigning land to companies for mining and other industries. The government also instituted practices that removed children from their families and cultures to be raised elsewhere.

Local officials often believed that First Australian children were disadvantaged. In many cases, they were simply living in remote areas that did not provide many educational opportunities, or their families were large and/or impoverished. Officials and local missionaries were primarily involved in removing children. The youngsters and infants, including many biracial children, were taken to orphanages or boarding schools or raised by white families. They were often adopted by these families. In some cases the children were told they were orphans. They were forced to give up any cultural traditions of their people and replace these with Western culture.

While some who advocated removing children were apparently well-intentioned, others had racist agendas. It was generally believed that race was a genetic difference in humans, although that was later proven wrong. For example, during the 1930s the then-commissioner for Native Affairs, A. O. Neville, argued that the only way to assimilate people of Aboriginal descent was through so-called selective breeding. Removing children from First Australians communities and raising them in white society was viewed as an important part of the process because it was believed they would adapt more easily. Biracial children, whose skin was often lighter in colour, were most frequently removed and raised in white society.

As these children grew to adulthood, some began looking for their birth parents and siblings. A movement to stop the practice and reunite families swelled. In 1994 the Going Home Conference at Darwin drew representatives from all states and territories of Australia. They shared their stories and discussed the impact of removing First Australians children from their families and communities. Another issue raised was how to heal families and individuals affected. During the conference, attendees called for government accountability. Two civil compensation claims were filed: Williams in New South Wales, and Kruger and Bray in the Northern Territory.

In 1995 the attorney general referred the issue of separation of First Australians children to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC). Over the coming years, personal stories were solicited from individuals and evidence was collected by First Australians organisations, government representatives, nongovernmental agencies and others. The resulting Bringing Them Home report was delivered to Parliament on 26 May 1997. According to the report, between 10 and 33 per cent of all First Australians children were separated from their families from 1910 to 1970. Among its recommendations, it suggested a National Sorry Day be observed annually.

Impact

National Sorry Day came to be on 26 May 1998, the first anniversary of the Bringing Them Home report’s presentation in Parliament. A coalition of Australian community groups announced the day as an annual opportunity to express remorse for the policies. The federal government, however, did not acknowledge the day or issue an apology for another decade. Prime Minister John Howard did express regret in 1999, but did not apologise. His administration pointed out that the actions took place under earlier leadership, and his government ignored most of the fifty-four recommendations in the Bringing Them Home report. In 2008, after he was sworn in, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd issued an apology as his new government’s first parliamentary act. Although the government committed funding to improve conditions in many First Australians communities, it did not commit to reparations.

The process of providing evidence had a strong effect on many members of the Stolen Generations. In their testimony, many said that looking back at the experience reopened old wounds and caused them trauma.

The Stolen Generations, their families and their descendants all experienced trauma. Members of these three groups have been found to experience high rates of anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress and suicide. Large numbers of those who were taken as children were abused by their caregivers—physically, psychologically and sexually. First Australians children who were forced to reject their cultures were made to feel ashamed of their heritage, and as a result they did not pass their culture on to their own children. Children were often lied to, and told their parents had abused or abandoned them or were dead. Those who lived in institutions were frequently treated harshly and had insufficient physical and emotional care. Most received minimal education and often were pressed to work as domestic servants or manual labourers, leaving them to live in poverty.

Parents and family members whose children were taken experienced intense grief. Siblings often did not know about their families, or spent years trying to find them. Many parents were depressed, and some became dependent on alcohol. Children of the Stolen Generation often were affected because their parents did not learn good parenting skills if they were raised in institutions or abusive households. They often also experience trauma and have been called a new stolen generation.

National Sorry Day has become an annual opportunity to evaluate progress made in healing the wounds of the past and what yet needs to be addressed. Events such as walks take place across Australia, and schools discuss Stolen Generation issues. Elders from First Australians communities are often invited to schools as well. Events such as this that address the issues of First Australians help the country move toward reconciliation.

Bibliography

“Bringing Them Home Report (1997).” Australian Human Rights Commission, humanrights.gov.au/our-work/bringing-them-home-report-1997. Accessed 14 Dec. 2020.

Larkin, Steve. “Addressing the Gap Within the Gap.” Journal of Indigenous Wellbeing, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, pp. 72 – 78. journalindigenouswellbeing.com/media/2020/05/131.145.Addressing-the-gap-within-the-gap.pdf?fbclid=IwAR3lc2e4meuoTEXcqG2jGxoany337Pl1qEM0T3wwwq3PksH0wKS6sRGm700 Accessed 14 Dec. 2020.

Latson, Jennifer. “This Is Why Australia Has ‘National Sorry Day.’” Time, 25 May 2015, time.com/3890518/national-sorry-day/. Accessed 14 Dec. 2020.

“National Sorry Day.” Australian Human Rights Commission, 26 May 2020, humanrights.gov.au/about/get-involved/events/national-sorry-day. Accessed 14 Dec. 2020.

“National Sorry Day.” Uniting Connections, 26 May 2014, www.unitingconnections.org.au/events/national-sorry-day. Accessed 14 Dec. 2020.

“National Sorry Day in Australia.” Time and Date, 2020, www.timeanddate.com/holidays/australia/national-sorry-day. Accessed 14 Dec. 2020.

“National Sorry Day 2020.” Reconciliation Australia, 25 May 2020, www.reconciliation.org.au/national-sorry-day-2020/. Accessed 14 Dec. 2020.

“The Stolen Generations.” Australians Together, 2020, australianstogether.org.au/discover/australian-history/stolen-generations. Accessed 14 Dec. 2020.

“Who Are the Stolen Generations?” Healing Foundation, healingfoundation.org.au/resources/who-are-the-stolen-generations/. Accessed 14 Dec. 2020.