The George Institute strongly supports saying sorry
Dulcie Flower, Chris Lawrence, Naomi Mayers and Kooncha Brown - Aboriginal Medical Service Coop Ltd
We believe that it is about:
- Recognizing the past wrongs of governments such as the forced removal of children from their mothers and families without justifiable cause. We understand that this practice continued in some areas until the early 1970s.
- Recognizing the pain and hurt suffered by Aboriginal children; many of whom still struggle today to deal with health issues resulting from being removed from their families, communities and land.
- Acknowledging that Australian governments did not allow Aboriginal people the right to be citizens in their own country until 1967; when a national referendum was held which overwhelmingly supported fundamental human rights of citizenship being extended to Aboriginal people for the first time.
- Acknowledging that Australian governments failed to provide equitable access to health services, education and employment opportunities. For example, the Aboriginal Medical Service in Redfern was the first service to be provided official government funding in 1972. We also acknowledge that Aboriginal Australians today still do not enjoy equitable access to health services and suffer substantially poorer health outcomes.
The George Institute wishes to express its strong commitment to working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and health services to improve people’s lives through health research partnerships, strengthening communities, building capacity and creating employment opportunities for community members. Through research programs including the Kanyini Vascular Collaboration, the IMPAKT study, the Stride project, the Safe Koori Kids project and Safety Promotion and Injury Prevention projects in urban and rural areas, we collaborate with Aboriginal Medical Services in Sydney, the Hunter Valley, western NSW, Cairns, Brisbane, Central Australia and the western Desert to improve people’s health.
All Australians have benefited from and continue to benefit from Aboriginal knowledge, culture and land. We believe that saying sorry is an important step forward to improving the lives of Aboriginal people. Saying sorry recognizes past injustices and gives us a base from which to move forward.
The George Institute recognises that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are diverse groups of people with different identities, languages and cultures, each unique in its own right.