Linda Burney (Barton, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Families and Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

They were sitting around on chairs, and all the surviving Prime Ministers, bar one, of course, listening to that apology. I saw one of the most generous things I have ever seen in my life—I will never forget it—an old woman stood up and handed to Minister Macklin and to Prime Minister Rudd a glass coolamon. A coolamon is what we carried our babies in. It was just remarkable. It was gracious, and it was truly a healing moment.

The redress scheme is a result of the dedication and persistence of the stolen generations survivors, advocates and organisations. First Nations people in the territories have long been demanding justice—quietly, and sometimes not so quietly, seeking acknowledgement. To dismantle the systemic abuses of the past, we must recognise the pain experienced and its legacy. We must also look to the future and to reconciliation by taking material steps to address the inherent generational trauma caused by the loss of identity and the loss of connection to country and family, a trauma which is manifested in the economic and social inequality First Nations Australians face and, most worryingly, in the shocking rates of out-of-home care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children today. I'm sure some of the attendants here in the chamber will also remember that moment.

No amount of money can ever compensate people for what was done to the stolen generations and their families, and most worryingly, as I said, we are still seeing out-of-home-care rates climbing and climbing in this country. Members of the stolen generations and their families have waited long enough for redress. Before the last election, Labor made a solemn commitment to introduce a stolen generations redress scheme, very similar to what the government has announced. We are very pleased to see that the minister and the government have adopted a similar position. It is a significant step forward. However, the redress scheme must be implemented with the greatest of care, and those opposite must learn from the mistakes that have been made in the design and administration of the National Redress Scheme for people who experienced institutional child sexual abuse.

Redress should be about healing, not about re-traumatising. For this scheme to truly work, the government will need to listen to the stolen generations survivors and advocates and work with them so that people can access it. Governments must help, not hinder. Notably, this bill does not actually establish the stolen generations redress scheme. Instead, it deals with how payments made under the scheme will interact with the social security and tax systems, most importantly exempting payments from taxation and social security income tests, which we welcome, but also making them inalienable, so they cannot be claimed by creditors or accessed in bankruptcy proceedings. The rest of the scheme will be implemented administratively without the oversight of the parliament.

The scheme is expected to benefit around 3,600 people, and it will have three parts: a one-off $75,000 payment in recognition of the harm caused by forced removal; a one-off $7,000 healing assistance payment; and an opportunity for each survivor to confidentially tell their story to a senior official, have their story acknowledged, and receive a face-to-face or written apology. The scheme will be available to survivors of the stolen generations who were removed as children from their families while living in the Northern Territory, the Australian Capital Territory, prior to self-government, or the Jervis Bay Territory. It will be open to applications from 1 March 2022 to 28 February 2026. To apply, people must have been under 18 when they were removed from their families by government bodies, including the police, church missions and/or welfare bodies, and the removal must have been in circumstances where their Indigeneity was a factor. The scheme will allow families to make an application on behalf of a member of the stolen generation who passes between 5 August 2021, the date of the scheme's announcement, and 1 March 2022, the date the scheme opens to applications—and this is welcome.

The Senate inquiry into this bill identified several important issues which I encourage the government to consider. They include the prospect of payments to the families of those who have died, the treatment of payments under the social security assets test and the availability of culturally appropriate support, advice and counselling. We have seen during the pandemic and so often when government programs are rolled out that communication with communities is poor. I implore the minister, whom I know understands: make sure you work with stolen generations organisations, make sure information about the scheme is available in language, make sure community organisations and health services are informed, make sure First Nations media is used, make sure that face-to-face help is available and make sure those who are making claims cannot be misled or ripped off. Accessing the scheme will be painful for many people, and we do not need to make it any harder than it already is.

Labor is pleased to support the establishment of this scheme, and I am very proud to be here with the member for McMahon, the member for Solomon and others that were here on that day in February 2008. I commend the minister for getting it done. It is a policy Labor has been committed to for years, and we support it with a great sense of urgency. I have outlined several issues that we would like to see the government address. Perhaps an advantage of implementing this scheme administratively is that these issues could be quickly and easily addressed by the minister. People have been waiting long enough and many are in poor health and many are very old. There should be no further delay.

To those state governments that still have not put in place stolen generations schemes, there are no more excuses. History will not look at all kindly on those who do not do everything they can to acknowledge this dark and violent part of our past. We support this scheme. We will not be dividing, but we will be watching carefully.

(Quorum formed)

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