Healing for Our Stolen Generations: sharing our stories

Executive summary This report is a review of the first two years of projects funded under the Healing Foundation’s Stolen Generations Initiative 2013-2015. The removal of Stolen Generations members from their families, identity, land, language and culture continues to have a profound impact on communities, families and individuals. Between 1910 and the 1970s up to one in three Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were forcibly removed. The Australian Bureau of Statistics National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey 2008 estimated that 10,500 children were removed up until 1972. Bringing them Home, the final report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from their Families, contends that Stolen Generations members should be supported to lead and develop their own healing responses to overcome the trauma of removal and be assisted to limit the intergenerational transfer of trauma to their descendants. Outcomes from the Stolen Generations Initiative funded healing programs are impressive. More than 3,676 Stolen Generations participants increased their sense of belonging and connection to their culture, and their understanding and strength in caring for their trauma and grief in healthy ways. Engaging in these projects has enabled Stolen Generations members to take steps to connect to cultural and community services to support their ongoing healing journeys. A collective healing approach for Stolen Generations has many benefits and can effectively complement other government and community driven healing responses. The elements that are essential to create an environment for healing Stolen Generations are: coming together with other survivors and sharing stories of pain, hope and renewal reconnecting and strengthening culture and cultural identity trauma informed services and responses healing solutions led and developed by Stolen Generations member