Call to include Forgotten Australians in the national curriculum
Last week, the Australian newspaper had a story about a call from former Senator Andrew Murray for the history of institutional ‘care’ to be included in the new national history curriculum. You can read the full article here.
Murray called for the national history curriculum to include the Australian government’s apology to Forgotten Australians and Former Child Migrants in 2009, as well as the apology to the Stolen Generations in 2008. Murray said:
It is vital that the 30,000 – 50,000 indigenous Australians of the Stolen Generation have their history taught. It is extraordinary that the 450,000-500,000 non-indigenous Australians who experienced similar trauma will not have their history taught.
The 16 November 2011 will see the second anniversary of the Australian government’s apology to Forgotten Australians and Former Child Migrants. The apology was a landmark event for Forgotten Australians and Former Child Migrants. Yet it is clear that the recognition and remembrance of the histories of the many thousands of children who spent time in institutional ‘care’ is still a fraught issue in Australia.