Healing Foundation

19/07/2024

Our Engagement and Delivery team have been working with early years educators to explore what bringing Stolen Generations voices into early learning centres could look like.
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Keep an eye out for workshops in your area, and in the mean time, for anyone working with children you can check out our book list in our school resources that includes target ages for each book as well as our lesson plans, certificates and much more!
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https://healingfoundation.org.au/schools/ -resources
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17/07/2024

The Healing Foundation works with communities to create a place of safety, providing an environment for Stolen Generations members and their families to speak for themselves, tell their own stories and be in charge of their own healing. Help create a different future with your donation today.
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You can make a one off or ongoing donation to support local healing programs that are designed with and for local people. These programs support healing by combining Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and knowledge with best-practice Western trauma theory.
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Supporting The Healing Foundation can be easy as paying a bill. Your gifts go towards work that allows healing to happen for survivors, their descendants and communities - survivor-led, collective healing and truth telling.
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Scan the QR code or click on the link below to donate today.
https://healingfoundation.org.au/?form=FUNSKNMBWGF
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09/07/2024

Turn on the kettle and get yourself comfortable!
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Don’t miss the latest news and updates from the Healing Foundation from the past few months. The July 2024 newsletter is out now!
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Sorry Day 2024 wrap up, videos and content to watch, funding news and a bunch of other around the grounds updates.
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Hit the link below to read and shoot us a message in case you’re not subscribed or have some news we should be amplifying to community.
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https://createsend.com/t/d-74C3D5A62C6D431E2540EF23F30FEDED
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08/07/2024

In everything we do at The Healing Foundation, we are guided by Stolen Generations survivors, families and communities. This year's NAIDOC Week theme celebrates the unyielding spirit of our communities and invites all to stand in solidarity, amplifying the voices that have long been silenced.
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There is much work to do. We have to stoke those fires in our bellies, get our hearts burning and yearning for reconciliation. The capacity to embrace the past honestly and acknowledge its
truth goes to the very depths of The Healing Foundation’s work, our national identity and what we stand for as First Nations peoples. Going forward is also about remembering, and we implore you all to listen, to create a future that's steeped in the spirit of reconciliation and a journey of healing - the body, the soul, hearts, and the spirit of our nation. We must go on telling the truth about First Nations history.
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This NAIDOC make sure you attend an event, surround yourself with community, support Blak businesses, artists and grass roots organisations, educate yourself and those around you. The fire within this year’s NAIDOC theme represents 'the enduring strength and vitality of First Nations cultures, passed down through generations despite the challenges faced. It is a symbol of connection to the land, to each other, and to the rich tapestry of traditions that define First Nations peoples. As we honour this flame, we kindle the sparks of pride and unity, igniting a renewed commitment to acknowledging, preserving, and sharing the cultural heritage that enriches our nation.'
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"Blak, Loud and Proud" encapsulates the unapologetic celebration of First Nations identity, empowering mob to stand tall in their heritage and assert their place in the modern world. This theme calls for a reclamation of narratives, an amplification of voices, and an unwavering commitment to justice and equality. It invites all Australians to listen, learn, and engage in meaningful dialogue, fostering a society where the wisdom and contributions of Indigenous peoples are fully valued and respected.
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Through our collective efforts, we can forge a future where the stories, traditions, and achievements of First Nations communities are cherished and celebrated, enriching the fabric of the nation with the oldest living culture in the world.
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This week and every week The Healing Foundation acknowledge the strength, resilience, love and compassion of those communities we work with, for and we thank them for leading the way in healing for the next generations. We are grateful and honour you in all that we do.
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05/07/2024

The Healing Foundation wants YOU or someone you know, to come work with us!
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We have several vacant roles that we are currently recruiting for including:
• Senior Manager Communications & Development to build and implement a strategic approach to communications, philanthropic funding and fundraising. This role can based in either Canberra or Brisbane. For further information visit: https://www.seek.com.au/job/76978454
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• Lead Program and Grants to lead the review and implementation of a Grant Program supporting Stolen Generations Organisations and survivors. This role involves close collaboration with the Senior Manager, providing leadership and advice on program policy and grant management practices. This position will be a 2 year fixed-term contract, with the possibility for extension. This role can based in either Canberra or Brisbane. For further information visit: https://www.seek.com.au/job/76978949
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• Territories Redress Engagement Officer - Remote to support the Territories Redress Scheme delivery. The officer will be based in the Northern Territory and must have the capacity to work remote from The Healing Foundation Offices. This position will be a 2 year fixed-term contract, with the possibility for extension. Regular Travel is a requirement of the role. For further information visit: https://www.seek.com.au/job/76977903
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Don’t miss your opportunity to be part of a national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisation that partners with communities to support and amplify the voices and lived experience of Stolen Generations survivors, families and communities.
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03/07/2024

Last night The Healing Foundation attended a screening of the new Stolen Generations documentary “Genocide in the Wildflower State” at Parliament House on Ngunnawal/Ngambri Country in Canberra.
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The documentary focuses on the Western Australian Stolen Generations experience, about a violent, state-run system of eugenics, racial absorption, and social assimilation in twentieth century. For the more than six decades between 1905 and 1970, thousands of Aboriginal children in Western Australia were forcibly removed from their families. The screening was presented by Yokai - Healing Our Spirit (The West Australian Stolen Generations Aboriginal Corporation), with documentary participants Lorrain, Gail, Garry, Maree, Dorothy, Jim and Tonji all in attendance.
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Systematically organised by the State, overwhelmingly supported by West Australian society, generation after generation, for over sixty years — the State worked to destroy Aboriginal families, culture, and language, for the purpose of securing white, settler dominance.
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In 1997 a National Inquiry called this for what it was — Genocide. Stolen Generation survivors give vivid and at times heartbreaking testimony of cruel isolation, abuse and humiliation in the system. Their accounts are supported by documentary evidence from state records, public archives and historical scholarship.
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The documentary has been produced by Yokai, an Indigenous, not-for-profit, community-based organisation that represents and supports Stolen Generation survivors and educates the broader community. The documentary was co-produced by, Bringing Them Home WA, a sister organisation advocating recognition and justice for the Stolen Generations and their families.
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“Genocide in the Wildflower State” is truth telling and a demand for justice. It holds to account successive parliaments in Western Australia that have failed to make redress. It is about helping to heal the trauma in the Survivor community, and building understanding in broader society.
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For further information regarding the film and screenings head to https://genocidewildflowerstate.org.au/ and to the Yokai website at yokai.com.au
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02/07/2024

With the support of the Healing Foundation’s recent Collective Healing Grants, Ember Connect will create an online safe space for Stolen Generations women to connect, share and learn together.
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The work will empower Ember Connect’s members to engage in collective healing, thereby helping to process the trauma caused by colonisation and segregation, aiming to elevate the voices and stories of Stolen Generations women.
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Throughout the project the Ember Connect team would love to will come together with Stolen Generations women and their families to build a community grounded in their values, knowledges, and experiences to truly nurture our collective healing experience. Ember Connect would love to hear from any women interested in being a part of growing our community and developing our ways of working to create a safe, caring and healing space for our women.
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Stolen Generations women wanting to find out more about the Healing Collective project and how they can be involved can contact Leandra Healy at Ember Connect via [email protected].
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01/07/2024

Meanjin/Brisbane served as the meeting place for the latest Healing Foundation Youth Reference Group (YRG) and Stolen Generation Reference Group (SGRG) meetings.
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Pictured are our Healing Foundation staff members with representatives of both groups that play an integral role in the work of the Healing Foundation, along with our Youth Reference Group members at their respective meeting.
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Youth Reference Group members advise and assist The Healing Foundation in the engagement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people.
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The Healing Foundation’s Stolen Generations Reference Group guides our Stolen Generations work, ensuring these programs effectively meet the unique healing needs of Stolen Generations survivors and their families. The group brings together a diverse group of Stolen Generations men and women from around Australia.
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The Healing Foundation extends it’s gratitude to the time, knowledge and efforts of both Groups who work closely together to represent experiences of trauma and intergenerational trauma as well as resilience, survival and intergenerational healing.
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24/06/2024

Healing Foundation CEO, Yawuru woman Shannan Dodson dropped into the ABC Radio National last month for a yarn with the distinguished Euahleyai/Gamiliaroi Professor Larissa Behrendt for her show Speaking Out.
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The show offers listeners the chance to hear politics, art and culture from a broad range of First Nations perspectives, with the latest episode featuring Shannan in conversation discussing all things Healing Foundation including her priority to broaden the wider community's understanding of the intergenerational impacts of trauma and the complex mental health issues affecting First Nations communities. A conversation you don’t want to miss!
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Listen on the ABC app and at all good podcast outlets as well the ABC website https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/speakingout/speaking-out/
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20/06/2024

Thank you to everyone who organised and took part in National Sorry Day events around the country in the last week of May, remembering and acknowledging the Stolen Generations and the history of forcible removals and its ongoing impacts.
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With your help, we reached well over a million people in the last week of May alone through TV, print and online news, social media and radio. Both organisations and individuals helped us to spread the word about the urgency of acting to support Stolen Generations survivors before it's too late.
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Here's a snapshot of some of the activities organised to elevate the voices and needs of Stolen Generations survivors this Sorry Day in the Nations Capital on Ngunnawal/Ngambri Country including:
• the return of the National Sorry Day Bridge Walk with Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health and Community Services and a Sorry Day Policy Forum and Dinner,
• partnering with the The Australian National University First Nations portfolio with an audience comprised of government officials, community members, academics and Stolen Generations survivors. Great discussions were led by the panel and members of the audience engaged in the Q&A session.
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We will not rest until key actions are taken, beginning with full and consistent redress for all survivors, improved access to family records, and trauma informed service provision across a range of sectors.
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19/06/2024

As part of our National Sorry Day activities in the Nation’s Capital to commemorate Stolen Generations survivors and the unfinished business of the Bringing Them Home report, we turned landmarks across Ngunnawal/Ngambri Country purple.
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The colour purple is often associated with Sorry Day. This is the colour of the Native Hibiscus flower used by Stolen Generations survivors to recognise the scattering of the Stolen Generations and their strength and resilience.
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We illuminated Canberra’s light rail stops, the iconic Telstra Tower, National Museum of Australia, Old Parliament House, Questacon, Malcolm Fraser Bridge and the Canberra Times Fountain in Civic.
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We hope you all had the chance to check them out whilst illuminated and reflected on how this history still impacts survivors, their families and all First Nations communities today 💜
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17/06/2024

Our team had a blast talking to educators and administrators who dropped by our booth at the National Education Summit in Naarm/Melbourne last week.
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There were some great conversations and huge interest in the Stolen Generations Resource Kit for Teachers and Students, and we're excited to see all the ways survivor history is brought into classrooms around the country. Jump on our website now to download your free Kit, filled with lesson plans, plug-n-play powerpoints, survivor stories and loads of other resources - there is something for all years.
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The kit also includes the new 'Educators Guide' which can help you and your school build confidence in how to respectfully teach First Nations history and cultures, plus help you introduce the Stolen Generations Resource Kit in your school!
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PS - our stall caught a lot of attention and nabbed the 'Best Stand' of the show award!
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13/06/2024

The first half of 2024 has seen the Healing Foundation team, and Territories Redress Scheme Lead connecting with communities across the Northen Territory, Queensland and ACT about the Territories Stolen Generations Redress Scheme. We have worked closely with Stolen Generations Organisations and knowmore Legal Services as support services and the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA) in the delivery of information sessions about the scheme to the community.
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These sessions have been invaluable in distributing information to community, but also in hearing from communities and Stolen Generations survivors about the challenges and any barriers there have been in accessing the scheme.
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These information sessions have led to applications from survivors and information about the scheme being shared more broadly. The feedback about the challenges and how to increase engagement and with communities and survivors is now forming The Healing Foundations next steps as we work towards making sure all eligible Stolen Generations Survivors receive information in ways that are culturally responsive to their communities.
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To find out more about the Territories Stolen Generations Redress Scheme go to https://territoriesredress.gov.au or call knowmore Legal Service 1800 566 966 for free legal and financial advice about the Territories Stolen Generations Redress Scheme.
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Pictured are participants from this week’s ACT information session at AIATSIS
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07/06/2024

Our CEO Shannan Dodson presented at the AIATSIS Summit in NAARM yesterday on the unfinished business of the critical Bringing Them Home report. Shannan outlined the most urgent priorities for ageing Stolen Generations survivors: nationally consistent redress; improved access to historical and contemporary records including births, deaths and marriages; and tailored trauma-informed and healing-aware services to meet the needs of survivors.

Stolen Generations survivor Tony Hansen then spoke about some of the challenges survivors and their families face in regaining traditional cultural knowledge and practices.

Both presentations led to some great discussions, ideas and sharing of stories.

This afternoon Shannan and our Senior Research and Policy Adviser Dr Gemmia Burden will be speaking on the importance of historical records for Stolen Generations survivors.

06/06/2024

Former Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Social Justice Commissioner (1993-1998) Professor Mick Dodson AM spoke to us recently about the most urgent actions needed to support ageing Stolen Generations survivors. Hear from Professor Dodson about the importance of nationally consistent reparations and improved access to family records - both contemporary and historical.

Can you help us share this message with your networks? 27 years on from the Bringing Them Home report, we have no time to lose.

05/06/2024

Thank you to those who attended the Mt Isa Territories Stolen Generation Redress Scheme Information Session on Kalkadoon Country.

Hosted by the National Indigenous Australian’s Agency (NIAA), it was a day filled with great yarns and important discussions. With a continued call to action to increase application uptake. Acknowledgement to our fellow presenters, Link-Up Qld, Department of Social Services (DSS) and knowmore Legal Services for sharing valuable information with community.
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These regular meetings are a crucial part of relationship building and providing outcomes to assist in the healing journeys of Stolen Generation survivors and their families. Let's continue working together to ensure justice and awareness for Stolen Generations survivors and descendants.
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26/05/2024

Thanks so much to everyone who has helped to spread the word about National Sorry Day 2024 and the urgency of acting to support Stolen Generations survivors before it's too late.

We'll leave you with a video from Stolen Generations survivor Chris Edwards-Haines, who describes the landmark Bringing Them Home report as "a pathway to finding my way home."

We will not rest until key actions are taken, beginning with full and consistent redress for all survivors, improved access to family records, and trauma informed service provision across a range of sectors.

https://youtu.be/0_rlFbANhns

Stolen Generations survivor Chris Edwards-Haines describes the landmark Bringing Them Home report as "a pathway to finding my way home."We will not rest unti...

26/05/2024

"We're asking all Australians to understand the Stolen Generations experience as best they can, and to do whatever they can to compel governments to do something."

As National Sorry Day 2024 comes to a close, our board chair Professor Steve Larkin has a message for each of us to take forward in the days, weeks, and months ahead.

26/05/2024

WOW! Check out the Canberra Times Fountain, illuminated in purple tonight to honour Stolen Generations survivors and mark National Sorry Day.

The colour purple is often associated with Sorry Day. This is the colour of the Native Hibiscus flower used by Stolen Generations survivors to recognise the scattering of the Stolen Generations and their strength and resilience.

For details of all the landmarks and light rail stops being lit up tonight, check out our Sorry Day Illumination Map here: https://healingfoundation.org.au/sorryday/

If you're in Canberra, please take some time to check them out and reflect on how this history still impacts survivors, their families and all First Nations communities today 💜

26/05/2024

National Sorry Day is a stark reminder that truth-telling in education is more important than ever. As well as honouring Stolen Generations survivors, we also encourage education providers to embed truth-telling all year round, in all education settings by incorporating our Stolen Generations Resource kit for Teachers and Students: https://healingfoundation.org.au/schools/

A National Sorry Day message from the CEO of The Healing Foundation, Shannan Dodson.

26/05/2024

Statement from The Healing Foundation on today's Stolen Generations funding announcement by Minister Burney:

Marking National Sorry Day, the Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney has today announced an additional $3.5 million to support healing activities for Stolen Generations survivors over the next two years.

“This funding will make a difference to the lives of many survivors, their families and communities,” said Professor Steve Larkin, chair of The Healing Foundation.

The new funding, over the next two years, will support Stolen Generations organisations to deliver impactful, tailored and locally focused community-led healing activities through The Healing Foundation’s existing Collective Healing Grant program.

“We acknowledge Minister Burney’s support for Stolen Generations organisations and the unique healing models they lead,” said Professor Larkin.

“This new funding will be a welcome boost to the incredible organisations that work on the ground and support survivors around the clock.

“The Healing Foundation will work closely with Stolen Generations organisations to ensure their leadership of the expanded grants program. Their guidance will help ensure the grants are flexible, useful, and address the unique healing needs and aspirations of Stolen Generations survivors, their descendants and communities.

“We hope today’s announcement will bring us a step close to developing an ongoing, sustainable funding model for Stolen Generations organisations that are all across the country,” Professor Larkin said.

“The Healing Foundation will continue to advocate for long term, concerted investment in locally led healing for Stolen Generation survivors, and the organisations who represent them.”

Full statement: https://healingfoundation.org.au/2024/05/26/stolen-generations-funding-a-much-needed-boost-to-healing/

26/05/2024

Stolen Generations survivors like Uncle Richard Dawes are still healing from being forcibly removed.

On National Sorry Day and every day we must remember that this history lives on in our communities and we must act now to address intergenerational trauma and support survivors and descendants to access redress, records, appropriate healing services and aged care.

26/05/2024

These landmarks and light rail stations will be lit up purple tonight, National Sorry Day, in honour of Stolen Generations survivors.

Please take some time to check them out and reflect on how this history still impacts survivors, their families and all First Nations communities today 💜

The colour purple is often associated with Sorry Day. This is the colour of the Native Hibiscus flower used by Stolen Generations survivors to recognise the scattering of the Stolen Generations and their strength and resilience.

Find out more about National Sorry day https://healingfoundation.org.au/sorryday/

26/05/2024

The Healing Foundation has welcomed the apology by Victoria Police as an important acknowledgement of the police involvement in creating the Stolen Generations.

The Bringing Them Home report recommended that State and Territory police forces acknowledge their prominent role in the implementation of forcible removal laws and policies, formally apologise for these actions, and participate in commemorations.

“Apologies are an important part of acknowledging the atrocities of the past and the ongoing impact, but always need to be backed up with action,” Professor Steve Larkin, The Healing Foundation Board Chair says.

“We hope this week’s apology now leads to better relations between the Victorian Police and Aboriginal community leaders.

“The enduring Bringing Them Home report also made a range of practical recommendations to improve juvenile justice and interactions between police and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.”

“Twenty seven years on from its tabling in the Australian Parliament, which very publicly shared Australia’s Stolen Generations history, the Bringing Them Home report serves as a roadmap for so much of the change that is needed for our people,” Professor Larkin says.

As well as apologies, the report also calls for a transfer of police, judicial and/or departmental functions to an Indigenous community, region or representative organisation.

“This apology should set a precedent for other police forces around the country to commit to issuing similar statements in order to forge better relations with Aboriginal peoples,” Professor Larkin said.

https://healingfoundation.org.au/2024/05/26/victoria-police-apology-must-pave-the-way-for-future-action/

26/05/2024

Hear our Youth Reference Group member Blake Tatafu's message to all Australians this National Sorry Day (today, May 26).

"This Sorry Day, it is important for ALL Australians to stop, reflect and pay tribute to the strength, tenacity and perseverance of the Stolen Generations survivors and be reminded that there is still so much work to do."

There is still much unfinished business from the Bringing Them Home report. We know what Stolen Generations survivors need, we have known for decades. What is needed is action. For more information see www.healingfoundation.org.au

26/05/2024

This National Sorry Day, our Stolen Generations Reference Group member Mark Bin Bakar shares his powerful comments:

"Let's not forget the many mothers who had their children taken because of the colour of the skin."

Today our thoughts are with all Stolen Generations survivors, their families and communities.

Today is all about commemorating the Bringing Them Home report and the experiences of survivors.

26/05/2024

A few weeks ago, we brought together Stolen Generations survivors, descendants and representatives in two locations, to hear and elevate their stories ahead of National Sorry Day (today, 26 May). This week we received the very sad news that one of the people we filmed, Aunty Flossie Taylor Bowden, had passed away.

We post this video with permission so that Aunty Flossie's message can be heard.

We are losing too many survivors as well as descendants. Too many people are passing away without receiving any redress (or the same level of redress as their interstate counterparts), without any closure on their family records, without trauma-informed care that is sensitive to the trauma they experienced as children. The trauma that in many cases continues to affect them and their children throughout their lives - as we heard from Aunty Flossie.

We have no time to waste. We must act now on these urgent priorities!

We acknowledge the support of survivors, descendants and the Stolen Generations Council NSW/ACT in creating this video. Our condolences to Aunty Flossie's family and friends.

25/05/2024

Shannan Dodson, the head of the national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisation, the Healing Foundation, said it was an important day for all Australians to reflect and learn about the impact forced removal had on survivors and their descendants.

She would also like to see all the report's recommendations implemented, so survivors can be eligible for compensation and have easier access to documents like birth certificates.

"If you look at the recommendations, they are still completely relevant today," she told AAP.

"The answers are there and it's just about how we can come together, have a very systematic and holistic approach to addressing those issues."

Sorry Day is held each year on May 26, the day before Reconciliation Week begins.

This year, Ms Dodson said the Reconciliation Week theme 'now more than ever' rings true for Stolen Generations survivors.

"There really is no time left, the survivors are ageing," she said.

"What they've gone through was at the hands of government and police and other entities in Australia, and we have to come to terms with that truth."

Indigenous communities will gather to mark Sorry Day across the country, amid ongoing calls to implement all of the recommendations of a 27-year-old report into the ...