The recent introduction in federal parliament of the Truth Telling bill by the Greens will raise much-needed dialogue about such a national process in Australia. It will build on the momentum generated by state-based processes, such as Yoorrook Justice Commission's work in Victoria that has urged reforms in that state and the preliminary work done in Queensland which is soon to embark on its own Truth Telling process.
Truth and Reconciliation Commissions (TRCs) have been adopted globally as a method of transitional justice and overcoming histories of colonisation. TRCs have been adopted in Canada, South Africa, South American states and most recently by Finland and Norway concerning the treatment of Sami people.
While Australia is yet to embark on a national Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Aboriginal peoples have always highlighted the impact of colonisation and racism, including though writing of biographies and life stories. There have long been strong protest movements, including for land rights and against Australia Day. Our Elders led the way in exposing history that non-Aboriginal Australia preferred to hide, such as the history of slavery and killings of our people, visiting massacre sites in memory of our Ancestors.
Then Prime Minister Paul Keating in his famous Redfern speech, launching Worlds Indigenous Peoples Day in 1993 was the first PM to expressly acknowledged the importance of Truth and Reconciliation, stating
'It begins, I think, with that act of recognition. Recognition that it was we who did the dispossessing. We took the traditional lands and smashed the traditional way of life. We brought the diseases. The alcohol. We committed the murders. We took the children from their mothers. We practiced discrimination and exclusion. It was our ignorance and our prejudice. And our failure to imagine these things being done to us … As a consequence, we failed to see what we were doing degraded us all'.
The Hawke government established the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation (CAR) in 1991 and for a decade supported reconciliation and a more truthful understanding of history. Thousands of Australians engaged in Reconciliation, taking part in reconciliation meetings and walks to acknowledge the past and express their remorse.
Reconciliation is now supported by governments, as well as many universities and the business sector. Reconciliation Australia continue to encourage Reconciliation Action Plans (RAPS) to improve reconciliation, but there's no monitoring and Indigenous peoples aggrieved by racism at the hands of such bodies have little recourse to any process.
In 1997 the Human Rights Commission tabled the 'Bringing Them Home Report' into the removal of Aboriginal children from their families and communities. Hearing from Aboriginal survivors of the Stolen Generations across the country, and examining official government reports and laws, the Inquiry found Australia had committed the crime of genocide against Aboriginal people. It recommended a national apology by government be made, survivors be compensated, and child protection systems be reformed to address discrimination against Aboriginal children and families.
Today most states have established compensation regimes, but Western Australia and Queensland have refused. We also know that child removals are increasing with former PM Rudd on the anniversary of the 'Bringing Them Home' report aptly warning 'we do not want to see the emergence of a second Stolen Generation, not by design, not by default'.
Recently an important discussion took place at the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP) in Geneva, focussing on the 2023 Country report and visit to Australia by EMRIP and concerning Aboriginal child removals today. The UN expert body has advised Australia to respect Indigenous people's rights and address the over-removal of children from families today. They also highlighting the importance of self-determination and decolonisation of child welfare systems and practices. This level of international exposure calls on government to uphold and respect Indigenous rights and is critical.
The federal government's delay of the Makaratta Commission post Voice Referendum defeat may not bode well for Indigenous hopes for a formal national Truth and Reconciliation process. Since the Referendum, government has continued to pin its hope on the Close the Gap policy which is failing to deliver, with governments clearly lagging genuine commitment to Aboriginal partnership approach.
A national Truth and Reconciliation process will help address the serious problem of racism, including systemic racism, and assist Australia's historic first national Anti-Racism strategy. This strategy will fail without the buy in of Australian people, many of whom engage in stereotyping and who by and large lack awareness of racism and its deep roots in history.
International experience shows that TRC processes provide important opportunity for countries to learn, engage and potentially reform, which has clearly happened in Canada with the adoption of the federal Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples legislation.
The Labor Party has in the past led the way in Australia on the recognition of Indigenous rights, this chapter of history is one they should clearly support as a party committed to Reconciliation and Indigenous peoples' rights.
Dr Hannah McGlade is a Kurin Minang human rights expert, law academic and member of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
