Aborigines Of Australia's 'Stolen Generation' To Receive Compensation - Government

Faizan Hashmi Published August 05, 2021 | 03:46 PM

Australian authorities have decided to pay 82,000 Australian dollars (almost $61,000) to every Australian Aborigine identified as a victim of the policy of Aboriginal children assimilation, the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA) said on Thursday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th August, 2021) Australian authorities have decided to pay 82,000 Australian Dollars (almost $61,000) to every Australian Aborigine identified as a victim of the policy of Aboriginal children assimilation, the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA) said on Thursday.

From 1910 until the 1970s, Australian authorities and churches took children away from Aboriginal people for re-education, which is where the term "stolen generation" came from.

"The Scheme was announced on August 5, 2021 and will invest $378.6 million over five years for a financial and wellbeing package to support Stolen Generations survivors who were forcibly removed as children from their families, while living in these territories," the NIAA said in a statement.

In addition, every representative of the Stolen Generation currently living in Australia will have the opportunity to confidentially disclose his or her personal history and the consequences of the assimilation policy, as well as receive a letter of apology from the authorities for the suffering caused, the NIAA explained.

"This announcement reflects the government's commitment to recognise and acknowledge the wrongs of the past as part of the nation's journey to reconciliation," Indigenous Australians Minister Ken Wyatt, cited by the Australian NCA NewsWire agency, said adding that supporting intergenerational healing was key to the government's commitment to closing the gap.

According to the news outlet, although Aboriginal people make up only 2% of Australia's population, they account for 27% of all prisoners in the country.

The plan will run for five years and be administered by the NIAA, with applications opening from 1 March 2022.