Gumleaf
January 31st, 2008, 05:57 AM
Thursday Jan 31 19:00 AEDT
By Daniel Street
National Nine News political correspondent
The forced removal of indigenous children from their families must be taught to primary and secondary students as part of the Rudd Government’s formal apology to indigenous Australians, National Nine News can exclusively reveal.
The demand by the Stolen Generations Alliance (SGA) is made in a report handed in person to Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin a fortnight ago.
The report says the "promise of the apology must be the full implementation of all 54 recommendations of the Bring Them Home Report" into the Stolen Generations.
"As called for the Bringing Them Home Report, this history must not only be acknowledged in the apology, it must also be incorporated in primary and secondary school curricula," SGA writes.
"(It must also be) incorporated in in-service training for all professionals who work with Indigenous children, families and communities and as pre-service training for all undergraduates and trainees in relevant professions."
The confidential report — leaked to National Nine News — also demands funding for the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission and the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islands Studies.
"It is essential that the true history of child removal policies and practices and their impacts is widely available in many formats for different audiences to ensure that all Australians know this part of our lives and commit to avoiding such travesties in the future," the document adds.
The success of the Rudd Government’s apology "depended on more than just the ceremony and the wording", with SGA insisting that the government should "specifically declare that forcible child removals will never happen again in Australia under any circumstance and under any future government".
It says the Government should fund "healing houses for men and women in each state and territory, primarily for the use of members of Stolen Generations and their families who need support and a place for healing and getting together".
SGA says a common suggestion from indigenous groups was "to address the financial and other damages done by helping people buy their own houses, as many have rented public housing all their lives but never had the financial resources to own or the security that comes from owning a home".
Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin said today the Government was still working out the exact wording of the apology.
As revealed by National Nine News, the Federal Government has offered to pay for up to 70 return airfares for Stolen Generation members so they can hear the apology.
By Daniel Street
National Nine News political correspondent
The forced removal of indigenous children from their families must be taught to primary and secondary students as part of the Rudd Government’s formal apology to indigenous Australians, National Nine News can exclusively reveal.
The demand by the Stolen Generations Alliance (SGA) is made in a report handed in person to Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin a fortnight ago.
The report says the "promise of the apology must be the full implementation of all 54 recommendations of the Bring Them Home Report" into the Stolen Generations.
"As called for the Bringing Them Home Report, this history must not only be acknowledged in the apology, it must also be incorporated in primary and secondary school curricula," SGA writes.
"(It must also be) incorporated in in-service training for all professionals who work with Indigenous children, families and communities and as pre-service training for all undergraduates and trainees in relevant professions."
The confidential report — leaked to National Nine News — also demands funding for the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission and the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islands Studies.
"It is essential that the true history of child removal policies and practices and their impacts is widely available in many formats for different audiences to ensure that all Australians know this part of our lives and commit to avoiding such travesties in the future," the document adds.
The success of the Rudd Government’s apology "depended on more than just the ceremony and the wording", with SGA insisting that the government should "specifically declare that forcible child removals will never happen again in Australia under any circumstance and under any future government".
It says the Government should fund "healing houses for men and women in each state and territory, primarily for the use of members of Stolen Generations and their families who need support and a place for healing and getting together".
SGA says a common suggestion from indigenous groups was "to address the financial and other damages done by helping people buy their own houses, as many have rented public housing all their lives but never had the financial resources to own or the security that comes from owning a home".
Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin said today the Government was still working out the exact wording of the apology.
As revealed by National Nine News, the Federal Government has offered to pay for up to 70 return airfares for Stolen Generation members so they can hear the apology.