Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House notes:

(1) that 16 November 2014 marked the 5th anniversary of an important milestone in Australia’s history, when the Australian Government delivered its formal apology to the Forgotten Australians and former child migrants;

(2) the significant work of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and the inquiry’s Chair, the Hon. Justice Peter McClellan AM, to date in:

(a) raising public awareness of Forgotten Australians;

(b) conducting public hearings and private sessions to ensure that the victims’ voices are heard;

(c) examining abuse in particular institutions across Australia; and

(d) reporting allegations of child abuse to appropriate authorities; and

(3) the Government’s commitment to provide additional funding to extend the Royal Commission’s Inquiry.

I thank the member for Berowra for seconding this motion. I appreciate that as a father of the House, he might have been around at the time when these sorts of events were occurring that the apology was directly attributable to. It was a dark time in the history of care in our state systems.

I would like to set the scene of the day of the national apology and to take the opportunity to acknowledge the members for Corio and Blaxland, who were involved with me on the national apology committee. During that process, we worked closely to make sure that the national apology on 16 November was a day that would help a lot of people who had been through those experiences. On the day there was a lot of anticipation and a lot of excitement in the air. A lot of people travelled to Canberra to the Great Hall to hear former Prime Minister Rudd and then opposition leader, the member for Wentworth, deliver their apologies on behalf of not only the government but the opposition.

There were over 900 people gathered in the Great Hall, and I am sure the member for Corio and the member for Blaxland, who were there, remember the anticipation and the buzz within that room. As the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition entered the hall, it fell silent, and then those words that meant so much to so many people, to over 500,000 forgotten Australians and child migrants, were delivered. Who can forget Peter Hicks coming up to the podium when Malcolm Turnbull was delivering his speech and hugging him halfway through? It was one of many emotional times during that day. It was a day full of emotion.

I want to acknowledge the work done by Joanna Penglase and Leonie Sheedy from CLAN, who worked with the members for Blaxland and Corio to make sure that the apology was actually delivered in parliament. I also want to acknowledge the Senate committee reports that had been done on the forgotten Australians and the victims of child sexual abuse in institutions in Australia; and Senator Siewert and former senator Andrew Murray, who is now on the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, for the work they did to help the apology come to the fore in this place.

My brother had come up for the apology. He was one of the children who was left behind; he was not taken away but left behind. The emotions he felt on that particular day, along with all the other people in the hall, were enormous. I left the hall to go and do a quick interview with one of the radio stations, and there was a young woman from Western Australia whose name was Cheryl just standing outside the hall in the foyer; she was shaking and just did not know what to do. I went over and gave her a hug, and she said that was one of things that made the day for her—that the MPs who were involved and who helped deliver the apology were there and were prepared to get emotionally involved with them.

We then held a fantastic barbecue out on the front lawns of Parliament House. For the first time and the only time while I have been in parliament, I got leave from question time to go and join all the forgotten Australians and child migrants on the front lawns. The mood was ecstatic. One woman, who had got out of her hospital bed that day and travelled from Victoria, said to me that she had thought she was coming to parliament to hear just another diatribe, a lot of words and the delivery of non-meaningful speeches by politicians; but she said that it was well worth leaving her hospital bed and travelling to Canberra to hear the words of the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. She said she could go to her grave happy now that that apology had been delivered.

The royal commission has been extended by the coalition government, acknowledging that the previous government instituted it, but there is much more work to be done. We will continue to fight. As I keep saying to the forgotten Australians and the child migrants, including those from Malta and the UK: never give in.

Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am happy to second the motion. I commend the member for Swan for moving this motion and I thank him for his great contribution. I too remember Monday, 16 November 2009, when Prime Minister Rudd delivered the apology to the forgotten Australians and former child migrants. I also acknowledge the member for Blaxland and the many other people who were involved in making sure it happened.

I too remember being in the Great Hall of the people. There are three apologies that I have heard in the parliament, including on my very first day at work, when Prime Minister Rudd delivered the apology to the stolen generations. Like this one in the Great Hall, it was poignant and heart rending, as was the forced adoptions apology by Prime Minister Gillard, a process in which I was involved. Prime Minister Rudd said:

… we come together today to offer our nation’s apology.

To say to you, the forgotten Australians, and those who were sent to our shores as children without your consent, that we are sorry.

Sorry that as children you were taken from your families and placed in institutions where so often you were abused.

Sorry for the physical suffering, the emotional starvation and the cold absence of love, of tenderness, of care.

They were incredible words, delivered particularly well. I remember the member for Swan's first speech—we were elected at the same time, in the 42nd Parliament—and that is when I became particularly aware of this story. There are so many stories: 500,000 Australians who have had a similar experience during the last century—quite late into the last century, in fact. They were placed in care for a variety of reasons—either because they were orphaned, because they were born to a single mother or because their families were dislocated due to domestic violence, divorce, separation or that most cruel of conditions, poverty and the parents' inability to cope with the children, often as a result of hardship. There were people that were made wards of the state because they were uncontrollable—perhaps it could be treated now—or they were neglected or in moral danger.

Obviously, in all of those circumstances, the strong story that came through five years ago today was that it was not the fault of the children. They were placed in those institutions—the orphanages, the homes, the training schools and the industrial schools. Whether they were administered by the state, by religious bodies or by charities or welfare groups, it was not the fault of the children that they were placed in these situations. As we are seeing now, the royal commission instigated by Prime Minister Gillard—the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, headed by Justice Peter McClellan—is revealing time and time again through these stories, by shedding a light, that these children sometimes were treated appropriately but all too often they suffered harm and heartache.

As the member for Swan touched on in telling that story five years ago today and as my wife, who works in this area, says, too often these people have carried the burden of silence. This apology five years ago told some uncomfortable truths and put a spotlight where it should be shone, because the truth, sadly, is not always the best thing for people when they discover what went wrong, but it is never the wrong thing to tell these stories. I commend Justice Peter McClellan and all of the other commissioners for the great work that they are doing.

Today, whilst many of us will also be acknowledging that it is World AIDS Day, here I am wearing a badge which is the wattle with the fifth anniversary symbol. The wattle, the spirit of Australia, is a national symbol and a beautiful flower, as we know, but also a particularly hardy flower from a hardy tree—resilient. As farmers know, often to their chagrin, the wattle will endure. From so many of those stories that we heard, both five years ago and since then in the royal commission, we know that—despite the darker days and the burdens that many of these people have had to carry and will carry to their graves, sadly—like the wattle, they will endure. So I commend them for their resilience and I urge them to come forward through that royal commission process to make sure that their stories are heard and that we never, ever again have such a horror visited upon young people. As the member for Swan said, we shall not forget.

Andrew Laming (Bowman, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In supporting this motion also, I note too large shifts and trends in public awareness. The first is a fall in trust in institutions, and the second is identifying now, for the first time, the importance of providing every possible level of support, safety and nurturing for children. These two come together in this motion today. There were very, very good people in this place as recently as two decades ago, when many of these injustices occurred—and, to be honest, I confess that there probably are still injustices occurring around Australia, hopefully far fewer than we have witnessed in prior decades. I also note that internationally this issue of looking after children and high levels of institutionalisation are endemic around the world. In a large number of nations, the rates of institutionalisation are far higher than in Australia. Eastern European nations, for one, probably lead in that invidious ranking. We do need to identify for the first time, as I have said, the important role of nurturing zero-to-fives and, of course, helping parents who are right on the margins of being able to cope to do that.

Of course, Australia has changed in that time. My colleague the member for Swan was pointing out how few supports were available to young families a generation ago. We do now have far more generous family payments and supports for struggling parents than we probably did in those days.

But still, as the then opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull said, 'We believe you.' The stories that are told in institutions cannot simply stop at the institutions' walls. The institutions need to be open and permeable. We need to make sure that those concerns are heard—fully ventilated and fully explored—and, where we can, to act.

There is a bigger picture here, of course, and that is: just how much can the state do to step in to the lives of families and turn them around for the better? In many cases, I need to admit the fallibility of government—that we can only do so much. Government will never be able to kick in doors, walk down corridors and look into bedrooms and living rooms across the nation. We will, in the end, have to rely on higher levels of awareness, higher levels of reporting and more communication.

I note that last week there was White Ribbon Day, looking at violence perpetrated predominantly against women and children but recognising that anyone can be the victim of violence. It is simply not good enough to tolerate it, not good enough to brook it—not good enough to hear a cry and ignore it. For so long now there has been the sense that what happens in your own home is your own business, and, very slowly, that is being broken down because we are realising that the costs—the pain that is caused by this kind of behaviour and conduct—have massive implications, both for the individual and, self-evidently, for the state. One broken child will cost over $3½ million over a lifetime in welfare payments. It is unsustainable to simply think that that is the cost of running a nation—that that is the cost of doing business.

About five per cent of children are born vulnerable. By the time they reach school, that has increased to 27 per cent. I have asked this question in here before: what are we doing with our zero-to-fives to see that five per cent become 27 per cent on the day they enter school, many of them not knowing which end of a pencil to hold?

We must do better by pulling down those siloed structures in the zero-to-fives. Government was invented long before we realised just how important it was to look after these children, so we do not have a genuine holistic focus in the zero-to-fives. But slowly nations will come to the realisation that we need to refocus.

I accept that there are no spare dollars in education for those under the age of five. The previous government took really important steps with a biosocial and physical check for children 3½ to four years of age, but that is still 3½ years too late. We must move earlier, and that means more awareness and better reporting.

We simply cannot continue to expand child protection services; it is already a massive department. And to expect them to micromanage and intensively case-follow all of these dysfunctional families is simply a step too far for the state. So we rely on better reporting; we rely on better awareness. We need to make sure that one in five poor families can afford to get their children into structured early education, because only with those small snapshots can we see how those children are faring—can we hear the voices of families who are most crying out.

As a general practitioner, one might immunise a child at 18 months of age but then not see them again until the age of five; that is unacceptable. We are popping in when they have a sniffle, and, apart from that, not evaluating their benchmarks and their milestones and their ability to enter school. Improving these will help in this area. I commend this motion to the House.

Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I begin by commending the member for Swan for bringing this motion to the House, and I full well remember his very important speech five years ago to this chamber. So I would like to begin by acknowledging that it has been five years since the then Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, delivered a national apology to the forgotten Australians and former child migrants. Around half a million people were affected by this terrible chapter of Australian history—people who, as children, were separated from their families, raised in institutions and deprived of love, of basic health care, of educational opportunities, and of a sense of security and self worth. So many of them suffered much worse than deprivation; they were physically, sexually and emotionally abused. The national apology did not and never could completely heal the deep and longstanding wounds of the forgotten Australians, but hopefully it began a slow process of ensuring that they would no longer be forgotten.

I want to acknowledge both Kevin Rudd and my colleague Jenny Macklin as minister for family and community services for initiating and delivering this important apology. In so doing, they not only validated the hurt suffered by forgotten Australians but also helped to ensure that the thousands of heartbreaking stories could be told publicly and understood just a little better. They were told on television, in newspapers, in museums and travelling exhibitions, in community halls, within families and neighbourhoods and to service providers who help make current lives possible and more bearable.

One of these thousands of stories belongs to a very special lady who lives in my electorate: Wendy Dyckhoff. I have mentioned Wendy in this place before, because she has worked enormously hard to deal with the impact of her childhood trauma and focus on helping others in the community. Wendy, along with her friends, Karen Barrett, who also lives in Broadmeadows, and Gabi Rose from Queensland, are constantly active in fighting for the rights of other forgotten Australians. As well as furthering her own education, for which she has won several awards, Wendy devotes her energies to advocating: educating political representatives, service providers, teachers and others about the realities of the daily life struggles of forgotten Australians. However, she is constantly frustrated by the regular confusion between the stolen generations and the forgotten Australians, and is vigilant in educating people about the difference. Deputy Speaker, you will know Kangan TAFE very well. The library staff at Kangan TAFE very quickly discovered their mistake when Wendy found a video about forgotten Australians shelved in the 'Indigenous history' section. Of course, many Indigenous children were also forgotten Australians, but many forgotten Australians are not Indigenous Australians.

'What happened to the stolen children and their families is terrible, but it is another chapter in Australian history—we have our own terrible and important chapter and we also need to be understood,' Wendy says time and time again. Wendy supports people in very practical ways by helping to find family records and contacting long-lost relatives. She has told her own story many times—to parliamentary inquiries, the royal commission, the National Museum of Australia and public meetings. She encourages and supports others to do the same, as she knows that sharing these life stories, however painful, is vital if the broader community is to understand our forgotten Australian history and its ongoing impact.

Wendy works with a range of local service providers to make sure they understand the special needs of forgotten Australians. Their experiences can affect their ability to locate identity documents and to deal with officials and agencies in the first place. While Wendy herself is now used to telling her story repeatedly, she knows the anguish it can bring to have to explain such painful details again and again to different service providers. Her work with some of the excellent local staff of the Department of Human Services has resulted in a more sensitive approach to forgotten Australian clients.

I am grateful to Wendy Dyckhoff for giving me an insight into the lives and struggles of the forgotten Australians living in my electorate. I know that Wendy has many friends and colleagues in her networks throughout the country who are similarly engaged in this important advocacy work. These networks were strengthened by the national apology in 2009.

There are some who might dismiss such prime ministerial statements as tokenistic and abstract, but I would say to those people that a formal acknowledgement of injustice and an apology are very real and practical steps towards healing and reconciliation not just for those who suffered but for the health and coherence of our whole nation. I commend this motion to the House.

Fiona Scott (Lindsay, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise in support of the motion before the House and also to mark the fifth anniversary of the apology to the stolen generations. I would like to thank my colleague the member for Swan for bringing this most important matter before us all today. In the words of the Prime Minister in regard to our Indigenous brothers and sisters, 'There is still so much more that must be done.'

I come from the electorate of Lindsay. Lindsay sits on the freshwater plain nestled behind the sapphire misted mountains. For thousands of years our Aboriginal brothers and sisters made these fertile banks of the Nepean River their home. On the escarpments they raised their families and their crops. They hunted and traded with the clans of so many other nations. Dharug nation was also the home to Yarramundi, the Aboriginal leader who met with Governor Arthur Phillip. Today Lindsay is still home to one of the largest Aboriginal populations in our country. Almost 5,000 Aboriginal people call Lindsay their home.

For me, the bittersweet irony is that within Lindsay and the Dharug nation actually sits five Macquarie towns: Richmond, Windsor, Castlereagh, Wilberforce and Pitt Town. How can you think of Wilberforce and not think of what Wilberforce achieved in becoming the father that ended slavery, and then to have the Dharug nation home to in the towns of Wilberforce, Pitt Town and Castlereagh.

Lindsay is one of the youngest electorates in our country. That is why education is so important. When we look at the nexus of social disadvantage there is no one silver bullet. But if there is a silver bullet, it would be education. I am so proud to have a school like the Chifley College Dunheved Campus within the electorate of Lindsay and a group of passionate teachers. Chifley College is a wonderful example of how to work closely with Indigenous communities and to close the gap. The school has an enrolment of 292 students of which 66 identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander. Working with the local elders, Aunty Edna Watson and Uncle Wes Marne, the school's rich curriculum engages with students in celebration of Aboriginal cultures, traditions and histories. Personalised learning pathways, created in consultation with families, form the basis of planning for Aboriginal students.

The school teaches Aboriginal studies to all students in stages 4, years 7 and 8. Further, the Dharug elders work with the school to develop short courses in Dharug language. The subject is available through a Dharug tutor. This program has also resulted in the publication of a Dharug dictionary for children titled Dharug for little fellas, which is being used very widely in primary schools right across Western Sydney. Other programs specific to Aboriginal students include the University of Western Sydney's Indigenous School Student Mentoring Program—norta norta in class tuition, the sister-speak mentoring program; a bush tucker garden; an extensive work experience and TAFE link program; and strengthening culture and transitioning youth programs, aligned to the New South Wales OCHRE strategy. Mr Jones, principal of the Chifley College, says: 'These programs ensure learning support for Aboriginal students is strategic, planned and multifaceted to meet Aboriginal student educational needs at an individual level. There is sound evidence Aboriginal students demonstrate a deep respect for their school as an important part of their community life.'

Lindsay is also home to the organisation Muru Mittigar, an Indigenous organisation that also works to close the gap, working to teach the Aboriginal knowledge and the history under the one gunya, or roof. Both Aboriginal people and non-Aboriginal people work together for a common social and environmental cause. Muru Mittigar has proven to closing the gap in Western Sydney and has a vision of sharing this model with other groups across Australia.

Another wonderful community organisation is the Penrith neighbourhood centre, run by the very passionate Joy Impiombato. Joy says: 'Education is what is going to make a difference. I agree with the government's emphasis through the IES education employment.' She works very hard to close the gap for Aboriginal people.

I commend the bill to the House.

Richard Marles (Corio, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Border Protection) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

At the beginning of 2007, as the preselected Labor candidate for Corio, I received a call from Leonie Sheedy, a woman who lived in Sydney but had grown up in Geelong at the St Catherine's Orphanage. She along with Joanna Penglase have been the driving force behind Care Leavers Australia Network, an organisation established to advocate on behalf of those who have grown up orphanages. She told me her story and the thousands like her, and told me this was an issue that I needed to give my attention to, an issue to be sure about child abuse but an issue about the absence of parental love. We now know how important that is in the development of a child; that children should only be removed from their parents in the most dire of circumstances and certainly not simply because people were too poor. And, once removed, to then place children in institutions where there were hundreds of kids was the most inappropriate place to put them where that family love could never be replicated. But such is the story of 500,000 of our fellow Australians.

Leonie Sheedy rang me, because Geelong was the home to more orphanages than any other city outside a capital. I suppose that means there are more forgotten Australians in the electorate of Corio than in any other electorate in the country. She said that I had an obligation. So I, along with Jason Clare, her local member, and Steve Irons—himself a forgotten Australian—began to participate in campaigning, along with the forgotten Australians, to have an apology made to them by the then Rudd government.

Today I want to acknowledge Jenny Macklin, the then Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. Without her, this apology would never have taken place. I also want to acknowledge the then Leader of the Opposition, Malcolm Turnbull, who said wonderful words on that day. And, of course, I want to acknowledge then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who gave the apology and made the decision to do so. It was a remarkable day—a day of joy, a day of tears and a day of healing, as stories were told for the first time and believed. It was a day of resilience in this journey, meeting hundreds of forgotten Australians. These are among the toughest and strongest people I have ever met, a characteristic which binds them—people from my own electorate, such as Leonie Sheedy, who has her connection; Vlad Selakovic; and who could forget Peter Hicks and his hugging Malcolm Turnbull on that day? We learnt a lot about the forgotten Australians then, of their needs in adult life, particularly as they grow older, and of how, tragically, too many of forgotten Australians die too early.

With us on that day was also Leonie's brother, Anthony Sheedy. His story is heart wrenching. At the age of two he was put into an orphanage and we are not sure why. He grew up believing that he was an actual orphan, that he had no parents, until his parents arrived at the orphanage to introduce themselves when he was 12. But this was no happy homecoming. At the end of that day, they left and Anthony stayed. At the age of 15, in handcuffs, he was taken to a boy's home in Bendigo where, for the next four years, he worked hard for very little reward. By the time he was 19 he had had an appalling childhood, with a body which had been both physically and sexually abused. As we think about how the cards of life are dealt, how could Anthony possibly have played that hand? Not surprisingly, he lived his life after that on the edge, between boarding houses and the streets, a life soaked in alcohol. It was not until the age of 60, when Leonie found him, at the Sisters of Charity, in Fitzroy, washing dishes. There, his life took a turn for the better, as Leonie took him to Geelong. He started living there and, for the first time in his 60s, he began to experience joy on this planet. He used to volunteer in my office. Anthony was cheeky and fun loving. He loved the Geelong Football Club and loved Frank Sinatra. He would talk about him incessantly, when we let him! It was wonderful that he was able to be here on the day of the apology. Very sadly, within two years of that day, he passed away. Among my most cherished memories is the fact that I stood with him and spoke to him on that day. Today Leonie keeps fighting for compensation, something which must be given, and for services. She keeps listening to forgotten Australians. Leonie Sheedy is a national treasure. To her, I say: thank you.

Craig Kelly (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It gives me great pleasure to rise in support of this motion. I congratulate the member for Swan on his work in this area. The motion reminds us that it was five years ago, on 16 November, that we had one of the truly greatest days ever in the Australian parliament. It shows that, at times, despite our differences we can all come together in this parliament and do something that is very good. That day, back in 2009, when former Prime Minister Rudd gave that apology to the forgotten Australians and former child migrants, was one of the finest days of this parliament.

To his great credit, then Prime Minister Rudd actually gave one of his best speeches on that particular day. I would like to note not only the apology but the words that he used. I would like to quote from his speech:

To say to you, the forgotten Australians, and those who were sent to our shores as children without your consent, that we are sorry.

Sorry, that as children you were taken from your families and placed in institutions where so often you were abused.

The message from this should be that, in the vast majority of cases, government institutions are no substitute for family and no substitute for community.

Following on from that apology, in March 2013, then Prime Minister Gillard gave an apology on forced adoptions. Again, I think that was one of Prime Minister Gillard's finest speeches. I would like to quote from it. She said:

… by speaking truth to power, brought about the Apology we offer today.

This story had its beginnings in a wrongful belief that women could be separated from their babies and it would all be for the best. Instead, these churches and charities, families, medical staff and bureaucrats struck at the most primal and sacred bond there is: the bond between a mother and her baby.

The then Prime Minister continued:

We can promise you all that no generation of Australians will suffer the same pain and trauma that you did …

The spirit of this motion brings me to a recent inquiry in Queensland, undertaken by Tim Carmody, into their child protection system. Although it was a Queensland inquiry, I am sure it is a proxy—there could be an inquiry held in every other state and the factors would be very similar. When commencing the inquiry, the commissioner said:

Removing a child at any age from a loved environment—even if it is inadequate or even risky—can give long term problems to that child.

He then asked a rhetorical question:

If the answer is taking that child away from a loved parent, even if it's a violent home, and putting them with someone they don't know in someone else's home, how is that the right answer?

In his final report he concluded:

… the Commission is convinced by the argument (backed up by evidence) that wherever possible it is better for the child to stay at home – better for the child, better for the family and better for society as a whole.

The evidence from that inquiry is that sometimes our government agencies are engaging in overreach. Rather than actually removing a child from the home, surely it would be better to be supporting that home, to be supporting that family, to be putting our resources there.

That brings me to a most disturbing report that came out last week, by our National Child Commissioner, Megan Mitchell. She noted that here in Australia today one child dies from suicide each week, and 50 to 60 more are hospitalised after trying to kill themselves. This is our country today. The study also noted that one in 15 teenagers in foster care had required medical treatment for attempted suicide in the past year. We need to learn from these mistakes of the past. Governments are limited in what we can do. Yes, we must look after our children. But ultimately that responsibility falls back on the parents. And rather than removing children from their parents, we are far better as a society to give support to those parents first. I commend this motion, and I congratulate the member for Swan.

Jason Clare (Blaxland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Communications) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank my friend Steve Irons for bringing this motion before the House. The apology to the forgotten Australians five years ago was a very important moment in Australia's history. Finally, after so long, Australia opened its eyes and opened its arms to half a million Australians who had been ignored, neglected, let down and, too often, terribly abused. Perhaps most hurtful of all was that for so long they were not believed. These are the half a million Australians who grew up in orphanages, children's homes and other institutions in the 20th century. These were supposed to be places where people were looked after, but that was not the case. Slowly, over the past few decades, the truth has emerged, stories that would make you shudder: terrifying violence, awful depravity, extraordinary brutality.

Here is just one, from Mark, who grew up in a boys' home in Toowoomba and gave this evidence:

Oddly enough … In a place so full of brutality, sexual abuse did not rank as high as the other forms of abuse—such as mental and emotional torture, lack of adequate clothing, shortage of food, and the strings of punishment that never seemed to end … That sexual abuse was the least of our worries should tell you how bad things really were.

All of this, for too long, was a secret. Anyone who went to the police wasn't believed. They were called bloody liars and told to go away.

This is why the apology five years ago was important. Finally, there was some recognition that what happened to these young people was real—that it happened, and that is important in and of itself.

My strongest memory of the day is of a woman who came up to me and thanked me for helping to organise the apology. She told me that she had been married to the same man for 30 years but had told him only a couple of days previously, when she heard of the apology, that she grew up in an orphanage. She told me that ever since then the nightmares had stopped. In the seven years that I have had the privilege of being a member of this place, this is the most important thing that I have done—the work I did with Steve Irons and my friend Richard Marles to urge our parties to come together to make that day happen; the work we did with the incredible Jenny Macklin; and the work we have done with the unbelievable Leonie Sheedy, Joanna Penglase and the whole team at CLAN. The apology would not have happened without them.

Five years on, that apology is still important, but it is not enough. There is more we have to do. There are still Forgotten Australians who need help but are not getting it. There are still forgotten Australians who may never get the justice they deserve in court against the criminals who did them so much harm, unless changes are made to the law. And there are still thousands and thousands of forgotten Australians still waiting for the financial compensation they deserve from the institutions that did them so much harm. My hope is that the royal commission will fix this. Set up by Julia Gillard and headed by Justice McClellan, it has already gathered enough evidence to justify a public inquiry into more than 1,000 different institutions. In January the royal commission will release a discussion paper about compensation or redress, and in June it will release its recommendations. Those recommendations will be very important to many people.

One of those people is Frances. Frances is going to see the royal commission in January and is going to tell them what happened to her when she was a little girl—the neglect she suffered, best typified by a visit to a doctor years after she left the orphanage. The doctor asked her, 'Didn't you have milk or cheese as a child?' She said no; she did not even know what cheese was when she was a child. And she is going to tell the royal commission about the abuse—being forced to sleep on wet mattress, the beltings, the bruising, the caning, the blood all over her dress, and worse. Next month, Frances turns 93. Time has not erased those terrible memories, and tears still well in her eyes as she remembers them. Frances deserved that apology five years ago. And she deserves justice and redress now, and so do the thousands and thousands of other forgotten Australians. They deserved it a long time ago.

Debate adjourned.