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The Healing Foundation March 2025 newsletter
CEO Message
Ngaji gurrjin
February 13 2025, marked the 17th anniversary of the National Apology to the Stolen Generations. On the eve of this year's anniversary, we released a new report ‘Are you waiting for us to die?’ The unfinished business of Bringing Them Home, which focuses on the implementation of the historic Bringing Them Home report recommendations.
Nearly 30 years on, over two thirds of the 83 recommendations remain fully or partially unmet. Only five – or just 6 percent – have been clearly implemented.
The title of the new report reflects the collective testimony of Stolen Generation survivors, who are seeing their brothers and sisters passing away, and the urgency of the changes that are sought.
The report offers practical policy solutions to some of the big challenges facing survivors and their families, including:
access to culturally safe, trauma informed aged care and health services
urgent equitable redress
prioritised access to records, and
investment in Stolen Generation Organisations.
We are calling on all political parties, governments, police, churches, and other agencies to lead a comprehensive National Healing Package for Stolen Generations survivors.
Survivors are dying. We cannot wait another generation.
The Healing Foundation dedicates this report to the many Stolen Generations survivors and organisations whose wisdom and insights shaped this report. Thank you to our Stolen Generations Reference Group, Youth Reference Group and Board who guide us in all we do.
To read the report in full, along with the Executive Summary click here.
Yours in solidarity,
Shannan Dodson (Yawuru),
CEO, The Healing Foundation
National Apology Anniversary Events
The Healing Foundation is pleased to have seen so many Stolen Generations survivors, descendants, and organisations gathered across Australia to mark the 17th Anniversary of the National Apology.
In Canberra, The Healing Foundation welcomed over 60 survivors and caregivers to the annual National Apology Anniversary breakfast at Parliament House, partnering with various Stolen Generations Organisations to bring in survivors from across the country, to remember, connect and share.
The event included speeches from the Prime Minister and Minister Malarndirri McCarthy, with special recognition to five members of The Healing Foundation’s Stolen Generations Reference Group: Uncle Michael Widdy Welsh, Aunty Yvonne Mills, Aunty Jenni Caruso, Uncle Tony Hansen, and Aunty Maisie Austin, who shared their experiences and healing needs.
Survivors also visited various institutions including AIATSIS, the National Library, and the National Archives, and engaged in aged care consultations and community activities.
The Healing Foundation also supported Apology Anniversary events across the country, including events in Brisbane, Western Australia, Melbourne, Sydney, and Alice Springs.
Click here to view photos from the National Apology Anniversary Breakfast in Ngunnawal/Ngambri Country.
National Healing Package part of The Healing Foundation’s Pre-Budget Submission 2025-26
In line with our report, ‘Are you waiting for us to die?’ The unfinished business of Bringing Them Home, The Healing Foundation has called for a comprehensive and coordinated national healing package in our 2025-26 Pre-Budget submission.
We make an urgent call for strategic investment in key sectors and services to ensure Stolen Generations survivors have their needs met. Urgent action is needed to ensure all survivors have access to comprehensive redress schemes, particularly in Western Australia and Queensland where there has been no compensation for Stolen Generations survivors.
Critical action is needed in the aged care sector, where survivors must be able to access safe and fully subsidised services, with community-controlled organisations supported to become service providers.
Access to records remains a critical issue, as with no prioritised access for survivors, there remains ongoing barriers and inconsistencies, and no protective measures to ensure access to private collections.
The Stolen Generations Organisation sector operates currently under inconsistent funding, despite providing critical, holistic, survivor-centred services. These organisations must be supported with sustainable core funding, workforce development, and capacity building, so that they can continue to provide expanded services in critical areas.
Finally, the government must ensure appropriate monitoring and accountability measures are in place to oversee the implementation of the outstanding recommendations.
Read the full budget submission here.
Stolen Generations must be counted in Aged Care System Reforms
The Federal Government must act on the recommendations of the Interim First Nations Aged Care Commissioner Andrea Kelly now before it is too late for Stolen Generations survivors.
Most Stolen Generations survivors are aged 50 or older; the age at which many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people require aged care due to significant health disparities.
Survivors are a ‘gap within the gap’ and experience additional disadvantage as a result of being forcibly removed from their families and the abuse they suffered following removal, compared to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of the same age who were not removed.
We reinforce recommendations in Commissioner Kelly’s Transforming Aged Care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People report that an equity-based approach is needed to achieve equal access and outcomes for older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, particularly Stolen Generations survivors. Read the full statement here
Commemorations a vital healing tool for Stolen Generations survivors and communities
The Healing Foundation is proud to announce Commemorative Activities Grants totalling $230,000 for 15 Stolen Generations organisations across Australia to support critical healing events. Commemoration for survivors, their descendants, and the broader community is important for healing as highlighted in the 1997 Bringing Them Home report.
The grants support Stolen Generations organisations to deliver Apology, Sorry Day and other commemorative activities, including healing days, talks, and gatherings, ranging from the Roelands Village Gathering in Western Australia to Queensland’s major Apology anniversary event in Brisbane. Acknowledging truth and delivering apologies are crucial first steps in healing trauma.
We urge collaboration to fulfill the outstanding recommendations from the Bringing Them Home report, particularly in areas like reparations, family tracing, and education.
To read the full statement and see the list of recipients visit the Healing Foundation website.
Board Member announcement
The Healing Foundation would like to express its heartfelt gratitude to board members Aden Ridgeway and Nigel Browne as they embark on exciting new opportunities.
Aden, a Gumbaynggirr man, has served with us for 10 years and will continue his incredible community work as the NSW Treaty Commissioner.
Nigel, a descendant of the Larrakia and Wulna peoples, has just been appointed Chief Executive Officer of Aboriginal Investment NT after three years of service on the Board.
“We want to sincerely thank Aden and Nigel for their significant contributions during their time on The Healing Foundation’s Board. Their wisdom, strategic insights, collegiality, and leadership have been invaluable, leaving a lasting impact on our organisation. We will certainly miss them,” said Healing Foundation CEO Shannan Dodson.
Please join us in wishing Aden and Nigel the best in their future endeavours. We are grateful for the time, talent, and dedication they have shared with us, and we look forward to seeing the wonderful achievements in their next pursuits.
Marella Mission meeting
The Healing Foundation recently met with Aunty Rita and Uncle Ed, Stolen Generations survivors of the Marella Mission, located in Western Sydney, New South Wales. Marella, often known as the "Hidden Mission," operated from 1948 to 1986 housing approximately 300 Aboriginal children from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, and the Northern Territory.
Survivors are pursuing fair redress for the traumatic experiences they faced on the Mission as well as acknowledgment and recognition. Aunty Rita and Uncle Ed are helping to lead the efforts amongst survivors, so far achieving recognition of the site on its former premises (now home to Kellyville High School and private housing).
Check out our Stolen Generations Institutions map to find out more information about Marella Mission and other Institutions across Australia.
Support Uncle Ed and his business, where he sells homemade art, paint your own animals, fridge magnets, puzzles here
Stolen Generations LGBTQIASB+ research project
The Healing Foundation is seeking participants for a research project with Macquarie University, focusing on the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTQIASB+ individuals who are Stolen Generations survivors and their families.
We invite survivors and their children or family members who also identify as LGBTQIASB+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual, Sistergirls, Brotherboys or any other person that is part of the Rainbow Community) to participate.
Participants can choose to join a 30-minute to one-hour interview via Zoom or phone, they will receive a $100 voucher. Additionally, we’re forming a Knowledge Holders Group, we anticipate at least four meetings lasting one to two hours, participants will receive a $200 voucher per meeting.
All researchers and facilitators will be Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander. Your input will help shape future research and resources for Stolen Generations Survivors who are LGTBQIASB+ and inform the Healing Foundation about intergenerational trauma and related issues. For more information, please contact Madi Day via email madi.day@mq.edu.au.
The Territories Stolen Generations Redress Scheme Extended
The Healing Foundation has welcomed the Albanese Government’s announcement on the extension of the Territories Stolen Generations Redress Scheme until 31 August 2027.
The Territories Stolen Generations Redress Scheme provides support to Stolen Generations survivors who were removed from their families or communities, and whose removal took place in the:
Northern Territory, before 1 July 1978 or
Australian Capital Territory, before 11 May 1989 or
Jervis Bay Territory.
The Scheme is a financial and wellbeing package that:
Makes payments in recognition of the harm caused by removal from family or community.
Assists with the healing of this trauma for the Stolen Generations survivors who were removed in the territories.
Help survivors gain access to free support services.
Gives survivors the choice to tell their story.
The Scheme seeks to recognise the harm and trauma experienced by Stolen Generations survivors who were removed from their families or communities in the Northern Territory, the Australian Capital Territory or the Jervis Bay Territory, for more information click here.
To learn more about redress options available for Stolen Generations survivors, please visit Knowmore
Thank you for your Support!
