Year 12 Modern History

The Stolen Generation is a major racial issue in Australian History, and has had a large effect on the reconciliation between white and Indigenous Australians. Some people, both Indigenous and white Australians, believe that reconciliation cannot occur between the two races, for a number of different reasons. One of the major reasons for this is the Stolen Generation, where many Indigenous Australians have had to suffer from cases such as being separated from their families, abuse, neglect, and ongoing race issues today. Reconciliation cannot occur until both sides are willing to work towards this reconciliation.

The ‘Stolen Generation’ describes the Indigenous children that were forcibly taken from their families for the purpose of assimilation. ‘Stolen Generation’ refers to the children taken, resulting in a lack of a ‘new generation’, with the generation of Indigenous population being taken. These removals were occurring from the late 19th century; however the majority of these removals occurred between the mid-20th century. The removals were conducted by all three levels of government, along with a number of religious organisations, such as the Catholic Church. (National Sorry Day Committee, 2014).

Children had been taken from the first days of colonisation, with planned takings of Indigenous children occurring more often in the 20th century. From 1912 to 1938, over 1400 children were from their parents in New South Wales alone (Red Apple Education, 2014). Once the children had reached the age of 14, they were removed from their reserve and were made to work as a labourer or servant elsewhere.

2. These policies were created by the governments of Australia to assimilate the Indigenous population, with official policies being ...

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...f his life without seeing his mother, he claims that reconciliation can’t occur, as the two races were never friends to begins with (Stanley, 2014). His viewpoint is one shared by many Indigenous Australians, in that he is willing to forgive people, but does not want compensation for what has happened, but simply for his history and experiences to be acknowledged by the government.

The Stolen Generation has had a large effect on the stages of reconciliation between white and Indigenous Australia. With the acknowledges the Australian government has made to the neglect, and the abuse that has occurred to a large number of Indigenous Australians, further steps to reconciliation can be made. Events such as Kevin Rudd’s speech have been a large step towards reconciliation, with a formal apology acknowledging the many Australians that had been affected by these actions.