AUSTRALIA TO SPEND $813MN TO COMPENSATE DISADVANTAGED INDIGENOUS
CANBERRA: Australia’s government on Thursday pledged 1.1 billion Australian dollars (US$813mn) to address indigenous disadvantage, including compensation to thousands of mixed-race children who were taken from their families over decades. The AU$378.6 million (US$279.7mn) to be used to compensate the so-called “Stolen Generations” by 2026 is the most expensive component of the package aimed at boosting Indigenous living standards in Australia.
The compensation of up to AU$75,000 (US$55,400) in a lump sum plus up to AU$7,000 (US$5,200) for expenses such as psychological counselling will only be available to mixed-race children who had been under direct federal government control in the Australian Capital Territory, Northern Territory and Jervis Bay Territory.
Most members of the “Stolen Generations” had been under state government control when they were separated from their Indigenous mothers under decades of assimilation policies that ended as recently as the 1970s.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the compensation was a recognition of the harm caused by forced removal of children from families.
“This is a long called for step recognising the bond between healing, dignity, and the health and well-being of members of the ‘Stolen Generations’, their families and their communities,” Morrison told parliament.
“To say formally, not just that we’re deeply sorry for what happened, but that we will take responsibility for it,” Morrison added.
Pat Turner, the Northern Territory-based indigenous CEO of the national aboriginal community-controlled health organisation, welcomed the compensation, which was recommended in 1997 by a government inquiry into the “Stolen Generations”.
“Many of our people have passed, including my mother, so it’s a sad day for those who have passed, but it’s a good day for those who have survived,” Turner said. Australian states have legislated their own compensation plans for “Stolen Generations” survivors between 2008 and last year.