Stolen Generation Apology – Hollow without Reparation
Stolen Generation Apology – Hollow without Reparation
Apology can be a hollow act when not supported by reparation. Current calls for compensation to the Stolen Generations have been endorsed by the UN Human Rights Committee in its April 2009 report on Australia’s perfomance on human rights. While applauding the Apology to the Stolen Generations, the Committee raised serious concerns about the lack of an adequately resourced national Indigenous representative body and the need to make adequate reparations to the Stolen Generations. The Committee urged Australia to establish a national compensation scheme.
In New Zealand, the provision of reparation to Maori tribes for historical injustices under the Treaty of Waitangi demonstrates that establishing appropriate legal entities to receive compensation and developing capacity within tribes to manage that compensation for the benefit of all tribal members is crucial. It also shows that money alone is not the answer. Structural change is required, particularly in relation to decision-making powers with respect to natural resources.
If reparation for the Stolen Generations is to have a lasting impact in rebuilding Indigenous lives, it should be made at a collective or tribal level, to restore collective rights so fundamental to Indigenous ways of being. Paying monetary compensation to individuals alone will only create inequity within tribal groups and lead to further break-down of Indigenous traditions. It will not address the intergenerational impacts of the harm.
The development of any national compensation scheme should include consideration of the range of possible types of reparation, the benefits of making that reparation available at both individual and tribal levels, and the importance of capacity building within Indigenous groups.
Dr Meredith Gibbs
