Rees apologises over orphanage abuse

The pain on their faces is still visible today.
For tens of thousands of people who were abused as children in the state's
orphanages and foster homes over the past decades, an apology from the NSW premier
has gone some way to help in the healing process.
But many of the "forgotten" Australians who endured horrific conditions at some of
NSW's most notorious children's homes and out-of-home institutions in the 1960s and
'70s say only compensation can help repair the damage.
NSW Premier Nathan Rees and representatives of private institutions delivered a
formal apology to 500 people who grew up in foster care and orphanages at an
emotional healing ceremony at Sydney's Botanic Gardens on Saturday.
They were representing an estimated 200,000 people who suffered sexual, physical and
emotional abuse while living in NSW institutions.
Mr Rees, who was interrupted by protester Wendy Just wearing a T-shirt with
"retribution now" written on it, said some children were removed from their families
by the state, while others were placed in care by relatives who often had no other
option prior to the 1970s.
Apologising to all those who suffered, he said: "I say on behalf of the government,
I am sorry for any hurt and distress you suffered in the care of the state. This
should never have happened..
"I'm sorry that some of you were physically, psychologically or sexually abused.
this should never have happened.
"I'm sorry for any lasting disadvantages you have experienced as a result of your
childhood suffering. This should never have happened.
"I'm sorry that many of you have been unable to return to your families and loved
ones."
Mr Rees and Community Services Minister Linda Burney unveiled a memorial as "a
lasting tribute to the children who suffered in care in NSW".
The premier vowed that the state would never revisit this dark chapter in its
history and asked for the forgiveness of all who had spent childhood years in the
state's care.
"To all care leavers we offer this public act of reconciliation, this small gesture
of compassion and contrition and in doing so we ask for forgiveness and pledge that
nothing that can be done to prevent a repeat of such suffering for other children
will be left undone."
However, Mr Rees did not broach the subject of compensation.
After wreaths were laid to remember those who had taken their own lives, fathers who
did not see their children after returning from war, and indigenous families who
lost their offspring and culture, many victims called on the government to examine
compensation options.
Julie Todd and Norma Organ suffered physical and emotional abuse at the hands of
authorities at Parramatta Girl's Home in the early `70s.
"I feel that the government treated us so cruelly," Ms Organ told AAP.
"You either got flogged, abused or you were underprivileged. But for them to say
sorry, it's a big thing, because so many Parramatta girls and Hay girls died."
Ms Todd, who was deemed "uncontrollable", said she had been banned from seeing her
parents.
"I was bashed up and put down into a dungeon," Ms Todd told AAP.
She said several of her friends were sexually abused by officers at Parramatta.
"Girls would come in pregnant and their babies were stolen," she said.
"You couldn't put a (compensation) price on it".
The apology comes five years after a Senate inquiry recommended the federal
government apologise for widespread failures in the foster care system.
The inquiry found half a million children suffered from a "litany of emotional,
physical and sexual abuse, and often criminal physical and sexual assault", while
food, education and health care were lacking.
Ms Just said she was shifted between three institutions as a teenager.
"I want the government to recognise the pain and suffering we endured, and I think
some form of compensation is necessary."
The state government has committed $9 million in additional funding over five years
for counselling support and carer training.