Uniting Communities welcomes today’s announcement by Minister Kyam Maher, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation, about the establishment of an $11 million reparations fund for members of South Australia’s Stolen Generation.

Simon Schrapel, Chief Executive of Uniting Communities, says: ‘It’s been a very long wait for members of the Stolen Generation and we’re pleased to see that all the attempts over many years to set up a mechanism for compensation have finally resulted in a reparations fund being set up.

‘We join with members of the Stolen Generation in celebrating this landmark and, sadly, we remember those for whom this fund is too late and who were not able to benefit from it. Uniting Communities would like to acknowledge all members of the Stolen Generation, past and present, and the effects of trauma and unjust policies on their lives. We hope that in some small way, the compensation from this new fund will make a contribution towards healing and reconciliation.

‘We now expect that – whether through individual or whole-of-community reparations – the administration and assessment of applications for compensation will not result in further delays, re-victimisation or secondary trauma for those who have been impacted.

‘The announcement today is a victory too for common sense. The threat of protracted political debate about the mechanisms and value of reparation was of significant concern. That our political leaders could agree on a way forward to resolve this matter is to be applauded.’