Gladys Liu (Chisholm, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

[by video link] I rise to speak on the Territories Stolen Generations Redress Scheme (Facilitation) Bill 2021. In combination with the Territories Stolen Generations Redress Scheme (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2021, this bill will facilitate the operation of a redress scheme for living stolen generations survivors who were removed as children from their families in the Northern Territory, the ACT and the Jervis Bay Territory. Funded through a $378 million package announced by Prime Minister Scott Morrison in August this year, the scheme will make payments in recognition of the harm caused by forced removal from the families of stolen generations survivors to assist with the healing of this trauma for the stolen generations survivors who were forcibly removed, and to help survivors gain access to counselling and support services and a face-to-face or personal written response. It is another step taken by this government on the journey to providing redress for those forcefully removed as children in territories that were administered by the Commonwealth. The government is committed to a process of truth-telling as part of the nation's journey to reconciliation. The scheme will be survivor focused and trauma informed and will operate on the basis of doing no further harm to the survivor. Consultation with key stolen generations organisations will take place in the coming month, and internal and external advisory boards are being established to guide and monitor the scheme's establishment and to ensure the scheme is delivered in a culturally-sensitive manner.

The facilitation and consequential amendments bills meanwhile will ensure that a participant in the scheme will not be adversely affected by receiving a redress payment. Specifically, survivors receiving a payment can be assured their payments will not be used to repay any Commonwealth debts and that their eligibility or access to Commonwealth payments, pensions, benefits or services will not be effected. As my good friend, the Minister for Indigenous Australians, the Hon. Ken Wyatt has noted, with many stolen generations survivors being of an advanced age, the imperative to act now has been brought into sharp focus. The passage of these bills will ensure the scheme can start receiving applicants in the early months of 2022.

While it is, of course, solely a matter for stolen generations survivors if, when and how they choose to seek redress, pursuing it through the scheme has considerable advantages over doing so through the courts. Court matters take time. They can be complex and have a high level of evidentiary burden. The redress scheme will be largely administrative based with a minimum of complexity regarding the operation of the scheme. It recognises that there may be poor historical records regarding the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families and will establish evidentiary requirements to reflect this. As such, evidentiary requirements for redress through the scheme are likely to be lower than those required to successfully bring court proceedings. In addition to this, applicants will be able to access free application support, and legal and financial advice from independent scheme funded support services throughout the application process.

This government takes incredibly seriously its commitment to supporting the healing of stolen generations survivors. There has been great progress made under the leadership of the Prime Minister and the Minister for Indigenous Australians, and I commend their insights into and recognition of the urgency of establishing the scheme. It is a sad fact that it could easily, although not acceptably, have been pushed aside amidst the once-in-a-generation challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. That it didn't speaks to the priority accorded to this issue by the Morrison government. The scheme represents a major practical step forward towards healing, truth-telling and reconciliation following on from the 2008 apology to Australia's Indigenous peoples. I commend these facilitation bills to the House.

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