Sorry Day

National Sorry Day, Is a day to acknowledge the strength of the people apart and effected by the Stolen Generations and too remind as on how we can all play a part in the healing process for our country.

Words by Elicia Lelliott.

The first National Sorry Day was held on 26 May 1998. This decision too create and mark this day started from the “bringing them home report” was done in parliament. The Bringing Them Home report is a result of a Government Inquiry into the past policies which caused children to be removed from their families and communities in the 20th century. Following this report  in 2000, On 28 May 2000 about 250,000 people walked across the Sydney Harbour Bridge to show their support for reconciliation between Australia’s Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.

Soon after, similar events took place in other cities and towns around Australia. Together these events were the biggest demonstration of public support for a cause that has ever taken place in Australia.   During this event there was one issue that was high on the agenda was the thought of where is the apology too the stolen generation? It was also high in the sky, when a group of people saw the words ‘sorry’ written in the clear blue skies above the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Pia van de Zandt and her housemates fundraised and booked a pilot too spread this message. Today, twenty-six years after the Bringing Them Home report and twelve years since the National Apology, The rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children subject to child protection orders (removed) has also increased since 2016 (from 5.7% to 7.7%) while the rate of non-Indigenous children being the subject of child protection orders has stayed steady (at 0.7%).

We cannot begin to fix the problems of the present without accepting the truth of our history. Sorry Day asks us to acknowledge the Stolen Generations, and in doing so, reminds us that historical injustice is still an ongoing source of intergenerational trauma for Aboriginal and Torres Islander families, communities, and peoples. Reconciliation Australia has announced the theme for National Reconciliation Week 2023 is Be A Voice For Generations.

This theme encourages communities to reflect on the work of the past and focus on the present too correct change.