3 posts tagged “aboriginal australia”

Working for an Aboriginal organisation makes the appalling statistics about the life expectancy of Aboriginal people horribly real. Barely a week goes by without someone from one of our groups passing away, and sometimes it feels like we are always in the midst of sorry business. I once had a meeting cancelled 3 times for 3 different deaths. The impact of working in this environment wasn't apparent to me when I first started here, but death is starting to become an ordinary event in the average work week, and it frightens me that I have become so used to it.

I've never had anyone really close to me pass away - my father's mother died when I was only 5, my father's sister died when I was about 10, and when my father's father died when I was 14 or so it was somewhat of a relief. Because all of my father's family lived across the country from us, I didn't go to any of the funerals. I wish I had been able to go to my grandfather's, but for whatever reason my parents decided it wasn't a good idea. My mother hadn't been able to go, and I think it would have been too much for my dad to look after the teenage me while packing up his father's house, making funeral arrangements, and actually dealing with the loss of his dad.

I guess what I'm trying to say is I've never really been hit hard by loss. I can't imagine what it must be like for Aboriginal people to be surrounded by so much loss and sadness all of the time. In recent times, some of my colleagues have had funerals on Fridays weeks in a row. It is a strange feeling to be surrounded by so much death, but for it not to be personal. Of course I'm sad when old (and young) Aboriginal people I have known have passed away, but because my relationship with those people has always been sporadic and related to work, their deaths have not had a huge impact. Sometimes the impact is, unfortunately, one of inconvenience, which sounds cold and unfeeling, but that's the reality of working here. Other times the impact is the reminder that the longer we wait, the more knowledge is lost. So much culture and history is tied up in the minds and hearts of old Aboriginal people, and every time a person dies, so does a body of knowledge and a link to traditional culture. 

The other strange thing about death at this organisation is that often I remember the clients more than they remember me. Some of the clients who I have a lot to do with don't generally remember my name, and need to be reminded of who I am. For them, I am just another in a parade of white lawyers who turn up planning to change the world, get burnt out and leave very quickly. I am involved with their issues every single day, but I only see most of them every 3-4 months for a day or two at a time. I live and breathe this business, but for most of our clients, their everyday lives are elsewhere.

I'm not too sure where I'm going with this. I guess it is part of the reason why I moved to a regional office. I don't just want to be part of that parade. Having a personal relationship with clients is one of the most rewarding aspects of this job, and my committment to their issues is why I have continued to work here under sometimes very difficult circumstances. I'm not saying I need to be invited into people's hearts and homes; after all this is my job, not my life. But I do want to provide a professional service and to have clients know that if they need assistance, I will do my very best to provide it.  

Stand up and be sorry

Full text of today's apology from the Australian Parliament to the Stolen Generations:

Today we honour the Indigenous peoples of this land, the oldest continuing cultures in human history.

We reflect on their past mistreatment.

We reflect in particular on the mistreatment of those who were Stolen Generations - this blemished chapter in our nation's history.

The time has now come for the nation to turn a new page in Australia's history by righting the wrongs of the past and so moving forward with confidence to the future.

We apologise for the laws and policies of successive Parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians.

We apologise especially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country.

For the pain, suffering and hurt of these Stolen Generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry.

And for the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry.

We the Parliament of Australia respectfully request that this apology be received in the spirit in which it is offered as part of the healing of the nation.

For the future we take heart; resolving that this new page in the history of our great continent can now be written.

We today take this first step by acknowledging the past and laying claim to a future that embraces all Australians.

A future where this Parliament resolves that the injustices of the past must never, never happen again.

A future where we harness the determination of all Australians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, to close the gap that lies between us in life expectancy, educational achievement and economic opportunity.

A future where we embrace the possibility of new solutions to enduring problems where old approaches have failed.

A future based on mutual respect, mutual resolve and mutual responsibility.

A future where all Australians, whatever their origins, are truly equal partners, with equal opportunities and with an equal stake in shaping the next chapter in the history of this great country, Australia.  

sorry.