The Victoria police commissioner Shane Patton has issued a formal apology for the force's role in removing Aboriginal children from their families and communities. He delivered the apology and acknowledgement to a room full of stolen generations survivors and their families gathered in Melbourne.
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00:00 Victoria Police is deeply committed to a genuine truth-telling process enabling Victorians
00:07 to reckon with the causes of injustice and create an opportunity to heal and bring meaningful
00:16 and positive change. A shared commitment to truth-telling is a critical step towards building
00:24 a fairer relationship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people in Victoria. As part
00:31 of that process, it's vital for Victoria Police to face up to and accept responsibility for
00:40 the widespread harm caused to Aboriginal people by the role police played in forcibly removing
00:52 children from their families and the deep impact this had on severing their connection
00:59 to family, community, country, language, culture and identity. I am deeply sorry for the harm
01:18 which this has caused and the harm which continues to be felt now. During my direct conversations
01:25 with stolen generation survivors, the realisation of the impact on them had a particularly profound
01:36 impact on me, strengthening further my commitment to leading transformation in Victoria Police's
01:44 engagement with Aboriginal people. Solely acknowledging past harms is not enough. Victoria
01:51 Police is fully committed to continuing to implement changes and reforms to address ongoing
02:02 systemic injustices for Aboriginal people. While we cannot change history, we can change
02:12 history, we can accept the harsh truth of it and learn from it so these harms are never
02:19 repeated. I acknowledge that survivors of the stolen generations have called for an
02:29 apology for police involvement in the forced removal of Aboriginal children for more than
02:36 a decade. This apology is long overdue. As Chief Commissioner and on behalf of Victoria
02:43 Police, I am here with you today to formally and unreservedly apologise to survivors of
02:53 the stolen generations and their families for the role of Victoria Police that we played
03:06 in the forcible removal of Aboriginal children from their families, culture and country.
03:13 I am sorry for the profound distress caused and the trauma experienced by so many Aboriginal
03:25 families. When I reference Aboriginal families, I am referring to children who were removed,
03:34 their siblings, their parents and their extended families. I also acknowledge the impact of
03:41 the children of those who were removed and generations that come after. For over 100
03:51 years, whether on our own initiative or in assisting other agencies or organisations,
04:00 Victoria Police contributed to the stolen generations by enforcing policies and laws.
04:07 Victoria Police was historically one of several agencies with legislative responsibilities
04:16 for the management and movement of Aboriginal Victorians. From 1864 to 1992, police had
04:25 the power to remove what were deemed to be neglected children.
04:28 [BLANK_AUDIO]