The National Apology to the Stolen Generations: The Ripple Effect

Abstract

This is an edited version of a keynote presentation given at the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) National Conference, Strength in Unity: Sharing and Building Skills, held in Sydney in 2008. It offers insights into the role of social workers around the historic Apology to Australia's Indigenous Peoples—the Stolen Generations, their families, and communities—delivered by the then Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, in 2008. It outlines work done prior to, during, and after the Apology. It shares some of the feedback received nationally, and from international contacts, as thousands viewed the Apology on the news, in schools, towns, and other gathering places as it reached out, touched their lives, and rippled across the globe. A number of questions are also raised in relation to social work practice into the future.

Abstract

Keywords:

• Indigenous Issues
• Indigenous Knowledge
• Indigenous Social Work