Foster Care Victoria

For the past month Opinion pages in newspapers around the nation have been filled with letters, some with praise, some with disagreement, over the Prime Minister’s Apology to the Stolen Generations. For me personally it was a very significant and dignified day where we, as a nation,  finally reached a maturity in realising and taking responsibility for horrific mistakes throughout history.

Of course, the whole apology has been a contentious area, and as reported by The Age, Federal MP Sophie Mirabella was one who disagreed and who, in fact, boycotted Parliament. While Sophie Mirabella is entitled to her opinion, however, I do feel that her argument that ‘condemning the past removal of indigenous children may scare welfare officers from protecting children in future‘ misses the mark. While even recently judges and other public figures have pointed to concerns over repeating a history of separation, in publically and officially recognising the flawed policies of removal based on race, Australia now has a new frame of reference for Child Protection which is purely based on simply that; protecting children. Surely the public Apology for racial bases for removal actually alleviates the risk of decisions being made for fear of comparisons to past policies.

For foster care too, the apology draws a line and separates past policies from today’s context and the aims of foster care, which is to provide temporary care for children until they can return home.