National

Victoria Police to apologise to stolen generation

By AAP Newswire

May 24, 2024

Victoria Police Chief CommissionerÂ Shane Patton. — Victoria's police chief Shane Patton will apologise for the force's role in removing children. -AAP Image

Stolen generation survivors and their families will gather to hear Victoria's police chief apologise for the role the force played in removing children from their communities over many decades.

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Tens of thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children around the nation were taken from their families from the beginning of the 20th century until 1969 via formal government policy.

Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton will deliver a formal apology and acknowledge the role of police in the removals at a public event in Melbourne on Friday morning.

It's part of a series of reforms stemming from the force's response to Victoria's truth-telling inquiry, the Yoorrook Justice Commission.

The inquiry is creating an official public record of the impact of colonisation on Aboriginal people in Victoria and will recommend actions to address historical and ongoing injustices.

The force has committed to carrying out 79 reforms by the end of 2025, including improved processes for Aboriginal people dealing with police.

It involves expanding cultural awareness training across the organisation and upgrading reporting of police statistics about Aboriginal people.

Commissioner Patton's apology comes a year after he made a series of mea culpas to the inquiry about police's treatment of Indigenous people since the force was handed powers to remove "neglected" children in 1864.

By AAP Newswire

Australian Associated Press