Supplementary submission to the Inquiry into Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage

In PIAC’s original submission to the NSW
Legislative Council Standing Committee on Social Issues Inquiry into Overcoming
Indigenous Disadvantage, PIAC identifies that significant Indigenous disadvantage
continues to flow from the impact of previous government policies and laws, in
particular, those that permitted the removal of children from their families
(resulting in the Stolen Generations), and those that diverted wages and other
payments due to Indigenous people (particularly young people) into
government-managed trust funds (referred to as Stolen Wages).

In this supplementary submission, PIAC
responds to the Inquiry’s Terms of Reference, noting that these Terms do not
encompass an investigation of the policies and practices of child removal or
stolen wages. PIAC discusses its own community consultation, Moving Forward, which resulted in a
model for reparations in the Restoring
Identity report in 2002, and recommends that the NSW Government adopt this
model. This submission also identifies access to family history records and the
need for genuine partnerships between government and indigenous communities as
essential to overcoming the significant Indigenous disadvantage caused by
previous government policies and laws.