Angie Bell (Moncrieff, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

BELL () (): In rising in continuation on the Territories Stolen Generations Redress Scheme (Facilitation) Bill 2021, I will continue telling the story of Indigenous elder Patricia O'Connor. Along with her sister Ysola, Patricia also negotiated for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander service men and women to march under their own flags in the Brisbane Anzac Day parade.

Mrs O'Connor was born to Aboriginal parents Stanley Yuke and Edith Graham. Stan was a former Aboriginal champion boxer who had graced the ring in Brisbane's Festival Hall in the mid-1920s. Edith was the youngest daughter of well-known Aboriginal matriarch Jenny Graham, who raised her children with husband Andrew Graham in Southport, in my electorate, from the 1900s onwards.

Patricia said the Aboriginal community of the day was close-knit and supportive of each other. She grew up in contact with her extended family, who were the traditional people of Beaudesert, Southport and Stradbroke Island. 'I had a lovely childhood,' she said, 'The family was very close and we always felt very loved.' When Patricia was aged five, the family relocated to Southport, to live with Granny Graham and her many relatives on the banks of the Nerang River, by the Broadwater. 'It was actually like paradise,' Mrs O'Connor said, 'Our cousins lived close by and the mangroves and oceans were our playgrounds.'

Patricia was born Beaudesert hospital, representing the first generation of her Aboriginal family line not to be born in the bush. The Australian Constitution was just 28 years old and it didn't recognise Aborigines. Aboriginal people were cut off from the rights enjoyed by Australian citizens, such as land ownership, the basic wage and access to public facilities such as swimming pools, theatres and hotels. Removal policies meant children could be taken from families without notice or explanation, resulting in the stolen generations.

That is what these bills are about—making sure that those affected by separation from their families have access to redress for the pain and the suffering they endured. As a well-respected elder in her community, Mrs O'Connor appears to not dwell on the injustices of the past. Instead, she points to the work that needs to be done to create better opportunities for mobo jarjum—tomorrow's children. She said:

I think people need to know their own history. They need to know the truth of what happened in their neighbourhood and around Australia. Then they need to get to work to make it a better place.

Don't be afraid of hard work and know your own story.

Wiser words were never spoken, and I agree wholeheartedly with Mrs O'Connor's sentiments. I acknowledge Judith Kerr from the Quest newspapers for this story.

It seems, on the surface, an inspirational and a good story to share from Queensland, but Australians know that Aboriginal Australians have been marginalised in our country for generations, and it's simply not okay. A national apology has been made and now, as outlined by Patricia O'Connor, we continue our work to assist the Indigenous peoples of our great country to improve their lives. As a government we continue to work to close the gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous Australians, and I congratulate the minister here in House on the work that he continues to do for all Indigenous Australians. He knows, more than most, the effects of the stolen generations, as members of his own family were just that—as outlined and respected by the member for Barton.

On 5 August 2021 the Prime Minister announced the Australian government's commitment to a $378.6 million financial and wellbeing scheme for stolen generation survivors who were removed as children from their families in the Northern Territory or the Australian Capital Territory, prior to their respective self-government, or the Jervis Bay Territory—collectively known as 'the territories'. This package is known as the Territories Stolen Generations Redress Scheme and will be administered by the National Indigenous Australians Agency, the NIAA. The scheme will operate from 1 March 2022 to 30 June 2026 and will be open for applications between 1 March 2022 and 28 February 2026.

The redress scheme recognises the harm caused by forced removal from family for stolen generation survivors. It will assist with the healing of this trauma for stolen generation survivors who were forcibly removed in the territories. It will help survivors gain access to counselling and support services—so important—a direct face-to-face or written apology and a financial payment. Redress provided through the scheme will enable eligible applicants to access a one-off payment of $75,000 in recognition of the harm caused by that forced removal, and the one-off healing-assistance payment of $7,000 in recognition that the action to facilitate healing is specific to each and every individual. It will provide the opportunity for each survivor to confidentially tell their story, about the impact of their removal, to a senior official within government, have their story acknowledged and receive a face-to-face or written direct personal response. This is truth telling. They can tell their true stories of the appalling events that happened to them, and it's the beginning of their healing process.

The Territories Stolen Generations Redress Scheme represents an important practical step forward to healing in this country and reflects our government's commitment to reconciliation. The redress scheme supports intergenerational healing and will positively impact the health and wellbeing of stolen generation survivors, their families and their communities. These bills will facilitate the operation of certain aspects of the redress scheme for stolen generation survivors who were removed as children from their families in the Northern Territory or the Australian Capital Territory or the Jervis Bay Territory. They will ensure that a participant in the scheme will not be adversely affected by receiving a redress payment.

This is achieved by providing that receipt of a redress payment does not affect a participant's access to or eligibility for any future payments or services provided by the Commonwealth or require the payment of an amount to the Commonwealth. The Healing Foundation's work to address trauma passed from generation to generation will, indeed, continue to inform the government's redress scheme for stolen generation survivors. The bills will make some general rules on how redress payments are to be protected and will make minor changes to the Bankruptcy Act 1966, the Social Security Act 1991, the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986 and the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 to ensure that a participant in the scheme will not be adversely affected by receiving a redress payment.

The Territories Stolen Generations Redress Scheme (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2021 also facilitates crosschecking of identity information, provided by applicants, with information held by the Department of Social Services and Services Australia through change to the Social Security (Administration) Act 1999.

It's important for anyone listening to outline their eligibility criteria, which I'll quickly do: you must be an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person; under the age of 18 years at the time you were removed from your family by government bodies, including the police, churches, missions and/or welfare bodies; in circumstances where your Indigeneity was a factor in your removal; and removed while living in the Northern Territory, ACT and Jervis Bay Territory, as outlined previously.

Further details will be announced closer to the applications opening next year. I encourage those who qualify for this redress scheme to apply for it, because it will be the beginning of your healing journey and it will advance our nation and bring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander First Nations people and the rest of Australia closer together.

Stuart Robert (Fadden, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment, Workforce, Skills, Small and Family Business) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank all those members who've contributed to the debate. It's a pleasure to stand here today to support the bill that will facilitate the operation of certain aspects of this redress scheme. The objective of the bill is to ensure that receipt of a redress payment does not affect a person's access to or eligibility for any pensions, payments, benefits or services, however described, provided by the Commonwealth or require the repayment of an amount to the Commonwealth, and to ensure that the redress payment is absolutely inalienable. I commend the bill to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.