National Apology (Apology to Australia's Indigenous peoples)

The National Apology was an apology carried out by the federal government of Australia to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. In previous eras, the government had severely mistreated these peoples by stealing land, inflicting violence and separating children from families. In 1997, the government initiated the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission inquiry, which confirmed through personal testimony that governmental policies had inflicted undue harm upon indigenous communities.

One of the recommendations made by the inquiry was that the various levels of government, as well as some governmental and nongovernmental agencies, officially apologize to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Most of the recommended groups quickly apologized, doing so within four years of the report’s recommendation. However, the federal government refused until 2007.

The federal government officially acknowledging and apologizing for its role in the suffering of indigenous peoples was viewed as a victory by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across Australia. Many noted that it helped bridge the historic divide between indigenous Australians and white Australians. The day is remembered as ‘National Sorry Day’, and is observed annually.

Background

Though the exact timeframe of the inhabitation of Australia is still debated, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have inhabited Australia since before recorded history. When British colonists arrived in Australia in the eighteenth century, there were roughly seven hundred fifty thousand Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders living on the continent, divided into more than fifty groups.

In the latter half of the eighteenth century, Britain began to establish several penal colonies in Australia. These colonies served to relieve Britain’s overcrowded prisons while cementing the European power’s claim over Australia. When they arrived, British settlers immediately claimed large portions of the best hunting grounds for themselves. This practice, coupled with the introduction of European farming practices, made it difficult for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to practice their historic way of life, leading to tension between the two groups.

Over the following century, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples were treated unfairly by the Australian Government. They were forced off their land, much of which was sold without their consent, and suffered from both disease and violence at the hands of white Australians. For much of Australian history, Aboriginals were legally allowed to be paid lower wages than their white counterparts, despite their labour being central to the Australian economy. Additionally, many Aboriginal peoples were forced to integrate into mainstream Australian culture, a process that sometimes involved removing children from their families. Many Aboriginal people fought against their status with strikes, protests and sometimes violence. On 27 May 1967, Australia made Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people full citizens.

Overview

In May 1995, Attorney General Michael Lavarch initiated the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission inquiry. The inquiry called for a critical examination of past laws, practices and policies instituted by the Australian Government that lead to the separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families. This included separation by a variety of means, including compulsion, duress and the greater consequences of the laws and practices enabled by the government.

In order to secure evidence for the inquiry, the government turned to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Five-hundred-thirty-five Indigenous people personally provided testimony for the inquiry, in addition to hundreds of letters and other forms of testimony. Additionally, the inquiry noted that many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people could have provided testimony, but decided against cooperating with the government for a variety of reasons.

The results of the inquiry were damning for the government. It showed that the government’s actions and policies had caused undue harm to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and had played a significant role in the separation of children from their families. In response to this, the inquiry’s final report made more than fifty recommendations to the Australian government. Notably, recommendations five and six suggested that all Australian governments should issue a formal apology to Aboriginal peoples. In this apology, they should acknowledge their role in the harm the governments caused in the past.

The first apology, carried out by the Western Australian Government, was issued on 27 May 1997. Most Australian state and territorial governments saw the necessity of apologizing to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and carried out their apology by 2001. However, at that point, the national Australian Government had yet to issue any form of apology.

In 2007, after years of campaigning by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander activists, the Labour Party announced that it would support a federal apology. During the first parliament in 2008, the federal government publicly apologized to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The official speech stated that the federal government apologized for the laws and policies of previous parliaments that caused undue harm to the Australian people. It especially apologized for policies that resulted in the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families and communities. The speech was praised by indigenous communities, who stated that the government’s acknowledgement of its previous wrongdoings gave them a greater sense of belonging to the Australian nation.

In recognition of this apology, National Sorry Day, also called National Day of Healing, is celebrated annually on 26 May. The day is commonly used to reflect on the historic treatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders at the hands of the Australian Government. However, it is also celebrated as a day that brought the various communities that make up Australia closer together, healing part of the divide between white Australia and its indigenous peoples.

Bibliography

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