Compensation For Stolen Generations; NSW Government Delivers A $73M Reparation Package

The NSW Government has coordinated a multimillion dollar compensation scheme for survivors of the Stolen Generations.

It has been called a “reparation package” and is worth more than $73 million, according to SBS.

An inquiry on the forcible removals of Indigenous people is being held today, where the state government is expected to deliver the new scheme.

The package will include a one-off reparation payment of around $75,000 to roughly 730 survivors and funding for support groups.

Today is a very important day. I announced a $73.8 mln reparations package for Stolen Generations survivors.https://t.co/VFdy3v9Hgn

— Leslie Williams (@LeslieW_MP) December 1, 2016

Speaking to ABC radio, Aboriginal Affairs Minister Leslie Williams said the package acknowledges the painful trauma caused by previous government practices. “There are parts of our history that I, as a minister, and I’m sure many Australians are quite ashamed of,” she said.

“We can’t change the past but what we can do is acknowledge these practices of past governments have had such a profound effect on Aboriginal people.”

Almost 20 years after the Bringing Them Home report, NSW government offers partial reparations to Stolen Generations https://t.co/tOGT62mMBo

— Ruth McCausland (@drumcca) December 1, 2016

In a statement, Jan Barham, the Greens NSW spokesperson on Aboriginal Affairs and Chair of the Parliamentary Inquiry into Reparations for the Stolen Generations, said the reparations are “long overdue”.

The Healing Foundation, a national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisation, released a video about the importance of healing, for survivors of the Stolen Generations.

Ms Barham has commended the government, but said—most of all—she thanks "[survivors] who have waited so long for governments and society to genuinely acknowledge and address the wrongdoing and harms they suffered."

Photo: YouTube (@HealingFoundation)