The Federal Government recently announced a financial and wellbeing redress scheme for Stolen Generations survivors in the Northern Territory, ACT and Jervis Bay Territory.

The redress scheme has been announced as part of new Closing the Gap measures, negotiated between the Federal Government and the Coalition of Peaks.

The scheme aims to:

• recognise the harm and ongoing trauma of forced removal from family for Stolen Generations survivors
• assist with the healing of this trauma for the Stolen Generations survivors who were forcibly removed in the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory prior to their respective self‑government, and in the Jervis Bay Territory
• help survivors gain access to counselling and support services, a direct written apology and a financial payment.

Available compensation

The scheme will provide eligible applicants with:

• a one-off payment of $75,000 in recognition of the harm caused by forced removal
• a one-off healing assistance payment of $7,000 in recognition that the action to facilitate healing will be specific to each individual
• the opportunity, if they choose, for each survivor to confidentially tell their story about the impact of their removal to a senior official within government, have it acknowledged and receive a face-to-face or written apology for their removal and resulting trauma.

Eligibility

To be eligible for the scheme, recipients must:

• be Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people
• be under the age of 18 years at the time they were removed from their family by government bodies (including the police), churches/missions and/or welfare bodies, and in circumstances where their Indigeneity was a factor in their removal
• have been removed whilst living in the Northern Territory or in the Australian Capital Territory prior to their respective self-government or the Jervis Bay Territory.

Families of a Stolen Generations member who pass between 5 August 2021 and 1 March 2022 will be able to submit an application on their behalf.

The scheme will be open for applications from 1 March 2022 and will run until June 2026. Online applications will be encouraged, however, paper applications will be made available for those without internet access.

At this time, the scheme is still in development. You can keep up to date on the scheme by subscribing here.

At AFS we proactively seek to provide Aboriginal organisations and individuals with solutions to their challenges. If you have any questions regarding the scheme, including determining your eligibility, please contact Adrian Downing on 03 5443 0344.