Bringing-Them-Home-Report-Web

On behalf of our constituent national groups we sincerely and deeply regret any involvementChurch agencies had in any injustices that have been visited upon Aboriginal and TorresStrait Islander families. It is apparent with hindsight that some Church agencies, along withother non-government organisations, played a role in the implementation of governmentpolicies and legislation which led to the separation of many children from their families andcommunities.We sincerely regret that some of the Church’s child welfare services and organisations,which were amongst those non-government organisations in Australia that providedresidential services and institutional care to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander childrenforcibly removed from their families by agents of the state, assisted governments’ implementassimilationist policies and practices.To the best of our knowledge, at no time have the Church’s child welfare services andorganisations been given any legislative power or authority to forcibly or physically removeany children from their families … We do accept that there were cases where the actions ofChurch child welfare services and organisations were instrumental in keeping childrenseparate from their families and in this respect the Church holds some responsibility inplaying a role for the state to keep these children separate from their families (Chairman,Bishops’ Committee for Social Welfare, Chairperson, National Aboriginal and Torres StraitIslander Catholic Council and National Director, Australian Catholic Social WelfareCommission, extract from page 1).We Pallottines freely admit and regret our mistakes in this area. Our attitudes were in someways typical of the prevailing mindset of the general population. We deeply regret every hurtvisited on Aboriginal and Islander people who have been taken from their heritage of family,community, culture and language. We apologise for any role which any of our group,however well meaning, might have played in such activities (Society of the CatholicApostolate (Pallottines) submission 433 page 1).We are also mindful of the role our order played in the devastation that is now known as theremoval of the Stolen Generation and we are endeavouring to come to terms ourselves withthe hurt and pain that this policy of assimilation has caused those Aboriginal people that wereremoved from their families and the members of the families that were left behind to grievetheir loss. In the spirit of Reconciliation we offer unreservedly our apologies for any hurt ourrole in this process has caused and offer whatever resources we have available to us to helppeople come to terms with the hurt that has occurred (Kimberley Sisters of St John of Godsubmission 521 page 6).To those who have suffered personal deprivation and hurt in Church institutions because ofthe effects of this policy, the Church of this Diocese unreservedly apologizes. Further, Sheregrets the great suffering that continues in the hearts of some people and extends to them acompassionate wish for peace and reconciliation (Roman Catholic Church of the Diocese ofBroome submission 519 page 3).The Anglican Church Social Responsibilities Commission referred to apologiesextended by other parts of the Anglican Church of Australia.The SRC joins with other parts of the Anglican Church of Australia in offering its unreservedapology for the involvement of Anglicans, both individually and corporately, in the policiesand practices that allowed the separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island children fromtheir families. It may be that the church had no direct control over the policies themselves. It