SYDNEY – Prime Minister Scott Morrison today announced one-off payments to many indigenous Australians who were forcibly removed from their homes as children.
The federal government redress scheme is part of a A$1 billion (RM3.1 billion) plan to reduce the sharp disadvantages faced by indigenous communities.
Thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth were taken from their homes and put in foster care with white families under official assimilation policies that persisted into the 1970s.
“What happened is a shameful chapter in our national story,” Morrison told Parliament of the “stolen generation” of indigenous Australians.
He said A$378.6 million will be allocated to redress the human damage of the policy, including one-off payments to victims.
It applies to indigenous Australians living in former Commonwealth territories: the Northern Territory, the Australian Capital Territory that is home to the capital Canberra, and Jervis Bay.
Other Australian states have also set up redress schemes. – AFP, August 5, 2021
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