The purpose of consultation was to engage with Victorian Stolen Generations and families to gather information on what was needed from Stolen Generations Reparations and how they would be supported through a Reparations process. This was to ensure that Victorian Stolen Generations Reparations was designed with the input and decision making of all Victorian Stolen Generations.
Consultation was framed by the principles of trauma-informed engagement, Aboriginal self-determination and cultural safety requirements, including those specific to Stolen Generations.
Consultation was conducted with Stolen Generations through facilitated group sessions, surveys and individual submissions conducted in person, by phone and online. The consultation options were developed and promoted by the Steering Committee Secretariat. A total of 411 Stolen Generations and family participated in the consultation process.
Group sessions for Stolen Generations and families were held in person across Victoria and online. 276 people participated across 24 in person sessions and one online group. Three Aboriginal agencies were engaged to facilitate the consultation sessions and were guided by the requirements of the Steering Committee. The three agencies were Mirriyu Cultural Consulting, Arabena Consulting, and Nicole Cassar consultancy. Support was provided for participants in group consultation by Bringing Them Home Workers, Social Emotional Wellbeing Counsellors, support workers or support persons as nominated by participants. The consultation process as a whole was supported by a Victorian Aboriginal Health Service Counsellor who provided support at group sessions and follow up phone support as required. The Steering Committee and Secretariat attended the group sessions to ensure Stolen Generations felt respected and heard throughout the process. The information collected from these sessions will be reflected in the recommendations below. For a full summary of consultation sessions please see the consultation report listed at Appendix 2.
A Stolen Generations Reparations Survey was established and made available for Stolen Generations and families to provide input on the design of Victorian Stolen Generations Reparations. These were completed by participants with support from the Steering Committee Secretariat, independently, or with a nominated support worker or support persons. 94 surveys were completed, of these 63 were completed by Stolen Generations and 47 were completed by family of Stolen Generations.
The information collected from these surveys will be reflected in the recommendations below. A full summary of the survey results can be found at Appendix 2.
41 Stolen Generations people made individual submissions to the Steering Committee which detailed what they would find beneficial from a Stolen Generations Reparations package in Victoria. 14 of these were Deaf Stolen Generations people and 21 were Hard of Hearing Stolen Generations people.
The information collected from these individual submissions will be reflected in the recommendations below. A full summary of the individual submission results can be found at Appendix 2.
The overall theme arising from consultations was about identity, belonging and connection, one participant stated ‘I feel sadness over lost opportunities, grief over ancestral history and abuse and a general loss because I still do not feel I belong. The impact on my identity is real’. The Steering Committee have considered this theme strongly in all recommendations made in this report.
Updated