Fish River Station

Today is National Sorry Day, marking the commencement of Reconciliation Week.

This YouTube video by Parks Australia (Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities) shows us Fish River Station, part of the National Reserve System. Conserved in partnership with traditional owners and managed by indigenous rangers.

History of National Sorry Day

from the National Sorry Day Committee

National Sorry Day is an annual day of commemoration and remembrance of all those who have been impacted by the government policies of forcible removal that have resulted in the Stolen Generations.

Sorry Day has been held annually on 26 May each year since 1998, and was born out of a key recommendation made by the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families in the Bringing them home Report that was tabled in Federal Parliament on 26 May 1997:

7a. That the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, in consultation with the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation, arrange for a national `Sorry Day’ to be celebrated each year to commemorate the history of forcible removals and its effects.

The release of the findings of the National Inquiry in the Bringing them home Report in 1997 had a profound effect on the Australian public. The Report detailed unquestionable evidence about the forcible removal of thousands of Aboriginal and some Torres Strait Islander children from their families and communities. When the knowledge of these policies became public, the National Sorry Day Committee formed soon after, and embarked on an awareness raising campaign with the aim of uniting the Australian public in the annual commemoration and remembrance of the Stolen Generations.

The first Sorry Day was held in Sydney on 26 May 1998, and has been commemorated nationally on 26 May each year since then, with thousands of Australians from all walks of life participating in memorial services, commemorative meetings, survival celebrations and community gatherings, in honour of the Stolen Generations.

The annual Sorry Day commemorations have helped to remind and raise awareness among politicians, policy makers, and the wider public about the significance of the forcible removal policies and the impact that they have had not just on the children that were taken, but also on their families and communities. The intergenerational impact of the forcible removal policies on young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander citizens in the 21st Century have been profound, and the commemoration of National Sorry Day each year helps contribute towards a broader ongoing effort toward healing and social and emotional wellbeing for individuals, families and communities across the country.

The NSDC works to support and encourage schools and community groups across the country each year to plan and hold their own Sorry Day events, whilst holding events itself normally in Canberra and Sydney.

We encourage teachers from across Australia to engage their students and local community members in events that mark both the Anniversary of the Apology and National Sorry Day, in order that they can learn about the experiences of the Stolen Generations, their families and their communities. For Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, these dates hold deep meaning – marking these days respectfully and with sensitivity is vital to building real connections between schools and their local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (as well as non-Indigenous) communities.

At the request of the National Sorry Day Committee, the Australian Parliament passed a motion in 2010 recognising May 26th as National Sorry Day, and as a day to be commemorated annually, as a way of achieving greater healing for the Stolen Generations.

Our hope is that one day soon, dates of significance with regard to the Stolen Generations – National Sorry Day and the Anniversary of the Apology specifically – will be held in as high esteem as other national days of remembrance such as ANZAC Day. This will ultimately help to achieve a broader level of recognition across Australian society of the suffering and trauma experienced by the Stolen Generations and by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and communities across the country.