The first National Sorry Day was held on 26 May 1998 by a coalition of Australian community groups. It marked one year after the 1997 Bringing Them Home report was tabled in Australian parliament. The report was the result of an inquiry into the government policies and practices which caused the Stolen Generations.
On 13 February 2008 Prime Minister Kevin Rudd made a formal apology to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, particularly to the Stolen Generations whose lives had been blighted by past government policies of forced child removal and assimilation.
National Sorry Day is held annually on May 26.
The first National Sorry Day was held on May 26, 1998, which was one year after the tabling of a government report about the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families and communities.
On May 26, 1998, the first National Sorry Day was commemorated as a collective response to the "Bringing Them Home" report. The day aimed to raise awareness, express remorse, and demonstrate solidarity with the Stolen Generations and their families.
Many schools Australia wide participate in Nations Sorry Day events by holding essay competitions, walks around their communities, learning the stories of the Stolen Generation and inviting local First Nations elders to speak to the students.
The first National Sorry Day was held on 26 May 1998 by a coalition of Australian community groups. It marked one year after the 1997 Bringing Them Home report was tabled in Australian parliament. The report was the result of an inquiry into the government policies and practices which caused the Stolen Generations.
At 9:30am on 13 February 2008, Rudd presented the apology to Indigenous Australians as a motion to be voted on by the house. It has since been referred to as the National Apology, or simply The Apology.
National Sorry Day, or the National Day of Healing, is commemorated yearly on 26 May. The first Sorry Day was held in 1998, one year after The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission inquiry produced the Bringing them Home report on the Stolen Generations.
KSGAC Stolen Generation Flower is often referred to as the National Sorry Day flower. The five-petal Native Cotton, Desert Rose, or Native Hibiscus as we know it, was chosen by members to symbolise the scattering of the Stolen Generations and their resilience to the eugenic policies of Australia.
National Sorry Day is a day to acknowledge the strength of Stolen Generations Survivors and reflect on how we can all share in the healing process. The inaugural National Sorry Day was held on 26 May 1998.
The theme for 2023 is 'Be A Voice for Generations'. Reconciliation Australia is encouraging all Australians to be a voice for reconciliation in tangible ways in their everyday lives.
For older preschoolers, it may be appropriate to say something such as, “We commemorate Sorry Day because many, many years ago, the people that were in charge of running Australia made some bad choices and many Aboriginal families were hurt, and became very sad.
The Stolen Generations
In Australia, between 1910 and the 1970s*, governments, churches and welfare bodies forcibly removed many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families. These children became known as the Stolen Generations.
The Australian Aborigines League held the first Invasion Day protest as early as 1938, at the time of the sesqui-centennial celebrations, and it has continued ever since. One of the most successful slogans has been 'White Australia has a Black History'.
Aboriginal people were subjected to a range of injustices, including mass killings or being displaced from their traditional lands and relocated on missions and reserves in the name of protection. Cultural practices were denied, and subsequently many were lost.
Purple has been adopted as the official colour after the native purple hibiscus. The native hibiscus has been approved by the National Stolen Generations Alliance as the official symbol for Sorry Day.
to wear handcrafted flowers in remembrance of the members of the stolen generations. You can show your solidarity for genuine remembrance and healing by wearing the flowers on Apology Day and Sorry Day. Kimberley Stolen Generation Aboriginal Corporation and members of the Stolen Generation.
Monday 13 February is the 15th anniversary of the Apology to Australia's Indigenous Peoples . Given by then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, the Apology was a watershed moment for reconciliation in Australia.
National Sorry Day is a yearly opportunity for all Australians to reflect upon past mistakes and learn more about the current issues facing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. It also gives Australians a chance to outwardly show their commitment towards reconciliation.
Under the laws of the Australian Government, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples were not included as citizens. Instead, in many cases they were treated as foreigners in their own land.
Slavery practices emerged in Australia in the 19th century and in some places endured until the 1950s.
For over ten years the conservative Howard government consistently rejected the call for an official government apology. Howard had made his position clear in his opening remarks to the 1997 Australian Reconciliation Convention, which repudiated any apology for past actions.
From 1940 until 1955, the Sunday before Australia Day was the Day of Mourning, now known as Aborigines Day. The NMCA believed that the day should become not simply a protest day but also a celebration of Indigenous culture and so in 1955 the day was shifted to the first Sunday in July.
Each year, National Sorry Day commemorates and acknowledges the atrocities faced by First Nations children who were forcibly removed from their families and communities, and the continuing impact of forcible removal and assimilation policies on Stolen Generations Survivors, their families and whole communities.