Mick Dodson Slams Government Response to Stolen Generations Report as 'Total Failure'

Almost three decades after the landmark Bringing Them Home report was tabled in parliament, co-author Mick Dodson has slammed the federal government's response to the recommendations as a "total failure".

Speaking on Sorry Day, Professor Dodson said the government's lack of action indicated two things: "I don't think they care, and secondly, maybe they're just waiting for all the survivors to die out so the problem goes away," the Yawuru elder said.

"That's a callous, hard, unacceptable attitude if that be true."

The Healing Foundation, an advocacy group that represents survivors, commissioned a report in 2025 called "Are you waiting for us to die? The unfinished business of Bringing Them Home," which found that only five out of 83 recommendations had been implemented.

"That's a woeful failure," Professor Dodson said.

"Some [recommendations were implemented] inadequately, some not at all, some totally ignored.

"Trauma of this sort is transgenerational. Talk to any psychiatrist, psychologist, anyone who knows about trauma … it gets passed down through the families.

"But many of these older Stolen Generations people are dying without proper redress, with no reparations."

On Tuesday morning, the government announced an additional $2.6 million in funding for 2026-2027 for Stolen Generations, including $1 million for the Healing Foundation and $1.6 million for LinkUp services, in recognition that "there is more work to do".

Professor Dodson was Australia's first Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, serving from 1993 to 1998.

"Day in, day out, we sat there as commissioners and listened to these awful, awful stories that happened to these adults, who as children, were totally traumatised by what the government did to them," he reflected.

Established in 1995, Professor Dodson co-led The National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families.

The Inquiry was tasked with documenting the impacts of racist government legislation, policies and practices on First Nations people and exposed the ongoing trauma and grief that followed.

For two years, they heard evidence from 535 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and organisations from across Australia.

It was the first time Indigenous people had their experience of abuse and sorrow publicly acknowledged, and many Australians responded with shock and horror.

The final 689-page Bringing Them Home report made a total of 83 recommendations to support the healing and reconciliation for survivors and "for the benefit of all Australians".

One of the most contentious recommendations was for all parliaments, police forces, churches and non-government organisations to issue a formal apology to survivors.

Then prime minister John Howard refused to apologise.

"I don't believe the current generation can be held accountable for the injustices inflicted by earlier generations, particularly when those practices were sanctioned by law at the time," he said at the time.

After a change of government 11 years later, Labor prime minister Kevin Rudd apologised to Stolen Generations survivors on behalf of the nation.

Following the apology, the government promised to implement practical measures such as improving Indigenous housing. Nearly three decades on, only 6 per cent of the report's recommendations have been fully implemented according to the Healing Foundation.

"We're glad that you're sorry," Professor Dodson said

"But sorry's hopeless or useless without any action. We need action."

'We can't waste any more time'

Following in her father's footsteps, Shannon Dodson has taken up the fight for Stolen Generation survivors as CEO of the Healing Foundation.

"I do feel that sense of responsibility to try and finish what he started and to continue that work," she said.

The Healing Foundation has used this year's Sorry Day to publish a strategic plan for the government to implement many of the 1997 report's outstanding recommendations, before the 30th anniversary next year.

Ms Dodson said while "apologies are important", it was time that Stolen Generations survivors saw "tangible action".

As members of the Stolen Generation continue to age, Ms Dodson said a number of the recommendations were "time critical".

One of the major concerns is that Queensland, unlike every other state and territory, has never offered a redress scheme for survivors.

The report noted that "many survivors have passed away without receiving justice for what was inflicted upon them".

The long shadow of forced removals

Ms Dodson said it was "really important" that the broader community understood the ongoing legacy of forced removals.

"A lot of the symptoms that we're seeing experienced by communities are as a result of things like historical removal," she said.

The action plan's recommendations are closely aligned with the Closing the Gap Agreement, and she said they would lead to "real, tangible change in the lives and the dignity of survivors".

Focusing on five key areas, the plan calls for immediate action on public education, service delivery, prioritised access to records, and equitable access to redress schemes.

"No amount of money will ever make up for what they've lost and for the experience that they've had," Ms Dodson said.

"However, as is common when you see a gross violation of human rights, it's part of international law."

She said receiving redress validated survivors' experiences and "made a real difference in people's lives".

The plan also called for urgent work on culturally safe, trauma-informed and fully subsidised aged care for Stolen Generations survivors, given that most were now at least 50 years old and had "unique and complex needs".

The government announced in this month's budget $3.2 million over four years from 2026-27, an exemption for the Stolen Generations redress scheme payments from inclusion in residential aged care asset testing.

The Minister for Indigenous Australians, Malarndirri McCarthy, said "we reflect on the pain and harm caused by past policies of forced removal' and would consider the Healing Foundation's action plan.

The shadow minister for Indigenous Australians, Julian Leeser, said the coalition's priority was "improving the situation we are seeing on the ground right now" through practical solutions across areas like aged care.

"And I want to look ahead, focusing on education, safety and hope for the next generation," Mr Leeser said.