National Apology Day in Australia

This assignment delves into National Apology Day in Australia, focusing on its historical context and the importance of reconciliation with Indigenous Australians. It examines how the day brings communities together through art, celebration, and a shared understanding of history. The assignment also discusses the role of organizations like Youth Off The Streets in promoting cultural awareness and healing.

Running head: INTRODUCTION TO EVENTS 1
Introduction to Events
Name
Institution
Date

INTRODUCTION TO EVENTS 2
National Apology Day is the commemoration of the formal expression of remorse made
to Australia's Aboriginal and additionally Torres Strait Islander people groups, especially the
Stolen Generations by the Rudd administration and the Parliament of Australia in 2008. On
February 13, 200, The Australian federal legislation made the long late stride of apologizing to
the stolen generation. The stolen age alludes to the great many Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander kids who were persuasively expelled from their folks and received by white families.
Infants, babies, and youths were persuasively discharged from their moms and fathers and sent to
missions or received by white families. This arrangement of coordinating blended race
youngsters into white society began in 1910 and just finished in 1969 (Cuthbert, & Quartly,
2012). About 40 years after its end, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd influenced the formal
conciliatory sentiment in a parliament address.
National Apology Day was developed a year after Rudd’s administration made the formal
apology to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders for the discrimination and genocide this
group of people endured. To the society, this event initiates national healing where the rights and
needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are taken into account similar to those of other
groups in Australia (Rudd, 2008). It is a day that commemorates and acknowledges the
oppression of the native communities in Australia. It then introduces a sense of cohesion among
the Australian population by recognizing all races equally. The society benefits from combined
efforts to make Australia a better place for Aboriginals. It balances the administration of services
among races and propels the society towards offering equal human rights to the oppressed group.
For the downtrodden, this event gives a sense of healing as it recognizes the cruelty and the
national apology made to them (Healey, 2009).

INTRODUCTION TO EVENTS 3
The Youth off the Streets Aboriginal Services holds an annual event on National apology
day. It is an event to attend. It highlights social artists and exhibitions for everybody to
appreciate. Free beverages and food will likewise be given during the event. This occasion
furnishes Australians everywhere with the chance to tune in and ponder on the troubled past with
the first people of Australia (Barta, 2008). It likewise serves to feature the issues confronting
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in a more extensive Australian culture. Native Australians
are as yet hindered contrasted with white Australians. Aboriginals are still behind in training,
future and financial opportunities and are over-spoken to in a considerable lot of the
administrations, most strikingly the vagrancy benefit. At Youth off the Streets essential focus is
placed on education, and how it is crucial in separating disservice and engaging the future
generations (Celebrating National Apology Day - Youth Off The Streets 2016). Education is the
key to success, and no youth should be left out or go without education in his or her young age.
Youth off the Streets is a non-profit group working for hindered youngsters who might be
destitute, tranquilize subordinate or potentially recouping from mishandling. Youth Off The
Streets bolsters these youngsters as they work to turn their lives around and beat massive
individual injury, for example, disregard, physical, mental as well as psychological mistreatment.
Since its foundation in 1991, the organization has developed from a solitary food van conveying
suppers to youthful vagrants in the city of Kings Cross to a noteworthy youth particular office
offering a full continuum of care through the provision of an extensive variety of
administrations. Its objective is that these youngsters will leave the responsibility to medicate
free, with a secondary school training, living aptitudes and a full or low maintenance work.
According to issues it deals with, Youth off the Streets organizes an event every year for
approximately 3 hours to celebrate the National Apology Day (Celebrating National Apology

INTRODUCTION TO EVENTS 4
Day - Youth Off The Streets 2016). The youth feel appreciated in the country through
organization of such holidays and events where they interact and socialize.
The event organized by Youth off the Streets is held at Macquarie Fields which is forty-
two kilometers from Sydney’s central business district. Travelling will be made by road on the
previous day and accommodations booked. Since Youth off the Streets is a non-profit
organization, no requirements on tickets or paying for food and accommodation made. However,
it assisting with the event may increase the efficiency of the staff. As a youth program, the
occasion focuses on reacquainting the young generation with Aboriginal culture through artwork
and celebration of different cultural aspects of the first Australian people. Besides, it combines
different elements of various races, such as music and artwork to bring harmony to the
community. Set in the Macquarie Fields, the event is accessible to many people in the
community who wish to celebrate National Apology Day with Youth off the Streets foundation
(FGX Supports Our Aboriginal Services - Youth Off The Streets 2017). People come from
different regions to witness the national apology day for the day unites and brings together
different cultures. Different communities are formed by cultural beliefs and their ways of life
vary from one another and this is harmonized by the National Apology Day.
Through making work of art, the youngsters find out about their way of life, foundation
and Aboriginal creativity concentrating on methods of narrating through craftsmanship. Artistry
is a significant aspect of Aboriginal culture. These projects are a piece of the social association's
programs, ingraining Aboriginal culture into the youngsters. The painting is an image that shows
two hands, one of which incorporating the Aboriginal banner and the other, delineating the
Torres Strait Islander hail. The hands symbolize the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
individuals are meeting up and living on Dharawal land (Fejo-King, 2011). The event marketed

INTRODUCTION TO EVENTS 5
through Youth off the Streets website and invited people around the community for national
healing. Additionally, the subtlety of the occasion does not affect the community in any negative
way. Instead, it enhances cohesion among its people (Celebrating National Apology Day - Youth
Off The Streets 2016). Therefore, the National Apology Day should be upheld in the country
given its numerous benefits to the society.

INTRODUCTION TO EVENTS 6
References
Barta, T. (2008). Sorry, and not sorry, in Australia: how the apology to the stolen generations
buried a history of genocide. Journal of Genocide Research, 10(2), 201-214.
Cuthbert, D., & Quartly, M. (2012). “Forced adoption” in the Australian story of national regret
and apology. Australian Journal of Politics & History, 58(1), 82-96.
Celebrating National Apology Day - Youth Off The Streets. (2016). Youth Off The Streets.
Retrieved 11 November 2017, from
https://youthoffthestreets.com.au/2016/02/09/celebrating-national-apology-day/
Fejo-King, C. (2011). The national apology to the Stolen Generations: the ripple effect.
Australian Social Work, 64(1), 130-143.
FGX Supports Our Aboriginal Services - Youth Off The Streets. (2017). Youth Off The Streets.
Retrieved 11 November 2017, from https://youthoffthestreets.com.au/2017/10/09/fgx-
supports-aboriginal-services/
Healey, J. (Ed.). (2009). Stolen generations: The way forward. Spinney Press.
Rudd, K. (2008). Apology to Australia's Indigenous peoples.