Apology Plaque unveiled at WNSLHD office in Dubbo | Daily Liberal | May 2024 - video Dailymotion

Ahead of National Sorry Day, the Western NSW Local Health District (WNSWLHD) unveiled the first apology plaque at its head office in Dubbo on May 24.

Transcript

00:00So that's the apology, this will sit inside as it will in all of our facilities, and on

00:06the wall over here, I guess we should unveil this one as well, I don't know if you wouldn't

00:11mind.

00:12That's the permanent plaque that will sit here, and as I say, in all of our hospitals

00:17as well, across the district, so that we never forget our apologies and our commitment to

00:22do things better moving forward.

00:27Today, on behalf of NSW Health, we say sorry to the survivors of the Stolen Generations.

00:36We extend this apology to the mothers, families and descendants of the Stolen Generations.

00:44We pay our respects to all Elders, past, present and emerging, and acknowledge the unrelenting

00:53resilience of Aboriginal people and their culture.

00:59I, we, are deeply sorry for the pain and suffering caused by taking children from their families,

01:07from their communities, from their land, and denying them their language and their cultural

01:14reference.

01:15I, we, are profoundly sorry for the institutions managed by NSW Health and its predecessor

01:23agencies played a role in the forced removal of Aboriginal children and their babies.

01:31NSW Health acknowledges that many Aboriginal children who were admitted to our hospitals

01:38did not return to siblings, their families and their communities.

01:44I, we, sincerely apologise for the impact of the role NSW Health had in the forced removal

01:53of Aboriginal children from our hospitals and institutions.

01:59We are committed to working in genuine partnership with Aboriginal people, communities and survivors

02:06of the Stolen Generations.

02:08What occurred has a very real and lasting legacy today.

02:13The anguish and trauma caused by past NSW Health policies has been passed down through

02:20generations.

02:23Nothing can give back what was taken away from these children or their families, but

02:29we can, and will, change the future.

02:34We are deeply sorry.