Key points:
- Ahead of National Sorry Day, AbSec has called for systemic changes to keep Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families together
- "We say sorry to the Stolen Generations. Yet in the same breath, history is repeating," the peak body's chief executive said
- In NSW, Aboriginal children are removed from their families at 10 times the rate of non-Indigenous children
'For Aboriginal children, "Sorry" means nothing without systemic change,' AbSec says ahead of Reconciliation Week
While Australia says sorry to the Stolen Generations, history continues to repeat itself as long as today's Indigenous kids are removed from their families at severely disproportionate rates, the NSW for Aboriginal and children and families said Monday while urging action.
Tuesday, May 26, marks National Sorry Day (National Day of Healing), an annual date of reflection and recognition of the estimated 100,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children forcibly removed from their families — The Stolen Generations.
Ahead of this, and Reconciliation Week beginning on Wednesday, AbSec has renewed its calls for systemic change while this kind of removal has failed to cease.
"Sorry Day calls on us to acknowledge the profound harm of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child removal policies that continue to tear families apart across generations," AbSec said.
"Reconciliation Week asks us to walk together toward a shared future. AbSec believes these two moments carry a single, urgent truth: there can be no reconciliation while Aboriginal children are removed from their families at a rate 10 times higher than non-Aboriginal children, while more than 6,500 Aboriginal children and young people in NSW remain in out-of-home care (OOHC)."
The first National Sorry Day in 1998 came one year after the Bringing Them Home report was tabled in Parliament.
The report indicated the scale of the Stolen Generations was between one-in-10 to one-in-three Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander were removed from their families.
In 2026, "For Aboriginal children, "Sorry" means nothing without systemic change", AbSec wrote.
Latest Closing the Gap data shows 45.1 per 100,000 Aboriginal children in NSW are currently placed in out-of-home care, a rate 9.8 times higher than non-Indigenous children.
"Sorry Day is not a moment we observe from a distance. It lives in the families who are still fighting to bring their kids home. It lives in the courtrooms, the caseworker visits, the kids growing up disconnected from Country and community," AbSec chief executive John Leha said.
"We say sorry to the Stolen Generations. Yet in the same breath, history is repeating. The answer cannot be more of the same. Aboriginal communities must lead the change for our children."
The peak body continues to call for the establishment of a Child Safety and Wellbeing Commission for independent oversight in the NSW child removal system.
A commission would give families and place for trust to issue complaints and raise concerns, and would be responsible for monitoring compliance with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle (ATSICPP)
The Principle is another measure AbSec has called on the NSW Government to fully implement.
ATSICPP is designed to ensure Indigenous children placed in child protection systems retain connections to family, community and culture. It is a framework shaped by First Nations leaders and community-controlled child welfare organisations.
The Principle includes five key elements - including a hierarchy of placement priorities 'when a child cannot remain safely at home', as outlined by SNAICC.
The hierarchy is:
- With a relative or extended family member
- with members of the child's Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander community
- with an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander family-based carer
Any other arrangement should be a last resort.
In addition to Placement, ATSICPP key elements include:
- Prevention: prioritising early support and addressing underlying risks
- Partnership: First Nations people, peak bodies and community-controlled organisations are involved in shaping legislation, policy, programs and service delivery
- Participation: children, parents, extended family and community members have a right in involvement of all decision-making affecting a child's life
- Connection: to ensure Indigenous children in out-of-home care are supported to maintain and strengthen links to family, community, culture, language and Country.
AbSec said Reconciliation Week should mean governments have a clear roadmap for fully implementing ATSICPP, "and shifting funding toward early intervention and family support so our children stay safe and together with their families".
"When Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are raised strong in identity, connected to family and Country, and surrounded by community, they thrive. When they are not, the consequences ripple across lifetimes and generations," the peak body stated.
It outlined reconciliation must be measured in children kept with family.
