Today marks the 16th anniversary of the National Apology to Australia's Indigenous Peoples.
On this day in 2008, then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd delivered the apology on behalf of the Australian Government at Parliament House. The apology was one of the 54 recommendations of ‘Bringing Them Home’ - the report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families – which was tabled in Parliament in 1997.
Thousands of people gathered across the country to watch the live broadcast of the apology. It was met with applause, tears, and relief, particularly from Stolen Generations Survivors.
While the apology was a historic moment for Australia, many of the recommendations of the Bringing Them Home Report have yet to be made.
On 13 February 2008, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd apologised for past government laws and policies that inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss.
During his speech, he apologised for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, communities, and Country, and for the pain and suffering those children, their families, communities, and their descendants suffered as a result.
You can watch the historic apology on the Indigenous.gov.au YouTube channel.
