After ‘Sorry’: NSW Parliament to mark 25-Year Stolen Generations Anniversary

7 June 2022

More than 50 Stolen Generations survivors and their supporters will attend ceremonial proceedings at NSW Parliament House today, sharing their stories and being acknowledged in both Houses of Parliament.

Speaker of the NSW Legislative Assembly Jonathan O’Dea said the NSW Parliament will mark the 25th anniversary of the NSW Government apology to the “Stolen Generations” (the Aboriginal infants and children forcibly removed from their families from the 1920s until 1969), including through a special event for survivors.

"It will be an honour and a privilege to hear survivors' stories here at Parliament House, a place that made the laws that inflicted enormous harm," said Mr O'Dea.
“It is vital for us as a society, and for the ongoing healing of survivors, that these stories continue to be recognised."

In 1997, the NSW Government under Premier Bob Carr, supported by then-Leader of the Opposition Peter Collins, made an unreserved apology to the Aboriginal people of NSW for the policies and practices that led to the removal of generations of Aboriginal children from their families.

The current NSW Premier and Leader of the Opposition will mark the 25th anniversary by reaffirming their commitment to the Apology and ongoing reconciliation.

President of the NSW Legislative Council Matthew Mason-Cox said that revisiting the apology demonstrated the Parliament’s continued commitment to the process of reconciliation with Aboriginal people. 

“On this anniversary, we take another step towards the goal of collective healing and reaffirm our commitment to reconciliation for all people in NSW,” said Mr Mason-Cox.

“The NSW Apology in 1997 was a pivotal moment. Commemorating the 25th anniversary of that apology and reflecting on our past is essential as we contemplate the futuretogether.”

As part of the day, a mobile education centre – a travelling bus that displays educational materials and survivor testimony – from the Kinchela Boys Home Aboriginal Corporation (KBHAC) will be parked outside NSW Parliament House on Macquarie Street, Sydney.

In Living Memory, an exhibition developed in 2006 by NSW State Archives, will be on public display on the Reconciliation Wall dedicated to art by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists, featuring photographs from the former NSW Aborigines Welfare Board.