Stolen generation redress 'bittersweet' for south-west Victorian survivors

Aboriginal people were raised on missions in south-west Victoria after being herded off their lands through massacres, wars of resistance and soldier settlements.

News of long overdue compensation for stolen generations is "bittersweet" for many survivors.

South-west Victorian Gunditjmara Elder Charmaine Clarke was two-and-a-half years old when she was removed from her family, along with five other siblings in 1969.

All of them ended up in Ballarat's Catholic homes, where most - including her - endured "unimaginable" child abuse and the instability of the foster system.

Ms Clarke said Thursday's announcement was well overdue.

"The scars will never quite heal, the pain will never really diminish, the struggle will never quite end, for what we have is but the journey," she said.

"With all its challenges and some of its wins. Today's announcement is one of them."

Under the $155 million package announced on Thursday, Aboriginal Victorians removed from their families before 1977 will be able to access $100,000 payments.

Those survivors will also receive a personal apology from the government and access healing and family reunion programs.

About 1200 people are expected to qualify for the redress scheme, with applications opening on March 31.

Many members of the stolen generation did not live to see this day, including two of Ms Clarke's siblings and her parents, who died early in life.

"It's a bittersweet moment as it reminds you of those that aren't here," Ms Clarke said.

"A lot of them have passed and struggled, the scars are both psychological and physical.

"We are survivors on more than just the experience of being taken from your family, but also to live with those experiences and traumas into adulthood was quite challenging and still is."

She questions whether families of eligible victims who passed will receive compensation.

"What about those who have passed? Are their families still eligible? How are they assessing the eligibility?

"What supports are there, as we don't want to retraumatise applicants."

She still remembers the Ward number assigned to her - 87844.

Off the back of Thursday's news she hopes to find the graves of her father and brother in Portland, who died three years apart, and finally give them recognition with a headstone.

For Tracy Roach, no amount of money will take away the pain endured by her family.

"They can give so much money but it doesn't compensate them taking us from mum and dad, not growing up with a family and the struggles we face every day," Ms Roach said. "No amount of money in the world could ever do that."

Tracy's uncle is singer-songwriter Archie Roach, whose famous song 'Took The Children Away' told the world what really happened to Aboriginal children on missions like Framlingham in south-west Victoria.

She heard the news while at her Uncle Archie's house in Killarney this morning.

"We fight our own personal battle with ourselves, trying to make a change every year, especially here in Warrnambool," Ms Roach said.

"Is there anything here for the stolen generations? The children and their children's children? Because it doesn't stop at the ones taken, it continues through the families.

"It's a confusing thing where you have people like myself who feel it could never make up for what was done, but I'm happy for the ones who have been fighting for it.

"We all need different things for healing. Mine is to give me back my family and my mum and the time I lost.

"If one person stood up back then it might have been different, but nobody did."

Ms Roach was 17 when she realised her foster family wasn't her real family. She had applied for a birth certificate and it didn't exist.

Her birth mother had registered her as Dianne Roach but she grew up as Tracy Lee.

It was her Uncle Archie who showed her Framlingham and took her to meet her long lost siblings.

She remembers hearing Prime Minister Kevin Rudd give the apology in parliament in 2008. She was standing in the supermarket.

"An old woman grabbed me and said, I'm so sorry. I told her she didn't have to be sorry, but it was magic that she did that, it really touched my heart," Ms Roach said.

While nothing will bring back what was lost, Ms Roach finds healing in connecting to Country in Framlingham, where her mother was taken so many years ago.

Victorian premier Daniel Andrews said the package was designed by and for Aboriginal people, through the Stolen Generations Reparations Steering Committee.

The First Peoples' Assembly of Victoria - the elected body representing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the Victorian Treaty process - has welcomed the redress scheme.

"The damage inflicted on our people when government authorities ripped families apart and stole our children runs across generations and the disadvantage it caused is ongoing," Assembly Co-Chair and Bangerang and Wiradjuri Elder Aunty Geraldine Atkinson said.

"I don't believe there is anything that can heal that trauma or ever repay that loss, but the package announced today will go some way to helping people address the disadvantage caused by the inhumane practices our people have been subjected to."

Applications will be assessed from June and payments will start later this year.

If you or anyone you know is affected by this story, support can be found at Lifeline on 13 11 14, and 24/7 Aboriginal crisis support is also available from Yarning SafeNStrong on 1800 959 563.

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