The most heartbreaking part of Victoria's new reparations and redress scheme for the Stolen Generations is how many people suffered and missed out, Ballarat elder Uncle Murray Harrison said.
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The scheme, announced last week, promised $100,000 and a formal apology for survivors of the Stolen Generation, joining other states with similar schemes.
Mr Harrison, a survivor himself, said the state government's plan was a long time coming.
"This has come to fruition after many, many years of people really making an effort," he said.
"Our older elders, who were suffering from various ailments and of course displacement - the first issue is that they need it for their health, because a lot were suffering.
"They were taken away - that's a trauma - then after that, you need to understand that these people needed something to replace, to get rid of, the trauma of being taken away, and for a lot, there was alcohol, and for some, there was drugs and other things.
We know this is not going to replace what was lost.
- Uncle Murray Harrison
"Again, they needed money and help, to help them, as young people.
"We know this is not going to replace what was lost."
He said he was lucky his Bunjil was looking over him when he was a young man, and that his wife Norma was by his side, but others were not so lucky.
"I was fortunate enough, by 20, I got told to get my act together, I had a family to support," he said.
"At the time, it would have been very handy to have (reparations), but as we know, things don't happen overnight with governments and councils, and it takes a lot of hard work to get to where we are now."
But that long wait has meant some who survived being taken from their families and placed into orphanages or worse have missed out - Mr Harrison said he wanted to ensure Aunty Eunice Wright, who died in 2020, was remembered for her fierce determination to support survivors.
Ms Wright was taken from her family as a child and sent to an orphanage in Ballarat, and joined Mr Harrison in Canberra in 2008 to hear the National Apology.
"She really needed this help, she was in a wheelchair and had all sorts of ailments, and the money would have been wonderful for her to get better treatment," Mr Harrison said.
"She was a real fighter, it was a joy to be around her - she never complained, and (this scheme) was because of people like her.
"There are people who need this more than me, people with housing issues, health issues, all sorts of problems, that this money, used right, will go and get help, they'll be able to say "I have this ailment, or mental issues, whatever, I need access to proper care", and if this money can help them access that proper care, then well and good.
"This will make their lives just a little bit easier."
IN OTHER NEWS:
As well as Ms Wright, hundreds of other children were taken from their families to Ballarat, and even generations later, this is having an effect in the community.
The Ballarat and District Aboriginal Co-operative will continue to support Stolen Generation survivors in the city, chief operating officer Jon Kanoa said, but this scheme will certainly help.
"In moving forward, this is not going to take away the history of what happened, the hurt, the pain, the injustice of what our community members and elders went through, but if it's something that can help them move forward and put them in a better position, for themselves and their family, we're all for that," he said.
"I've spoken to elders, they know money can't change anything from the past, but it can put them in a better position financially, knowing they've had to deal with generational trauma from an early age."
Mr Kanoa added he was hopeful any new government-backed support services wouldn't "reinvent the wheel" to replace ongoing support networks, like what BADAC has established.
"When the government talks about healing support, we don't want the government to come to Ballarat and say 'we're going to establish a whole new support service,' it's about boosting what we already have here," he said.
"As an organisation, this is going to open up a lot of old wounds for survivors, so we want to make sure we're in the background and if they need more support, we're here to look after them.
"We'll make sure we're vocal in letting the government know we already provide those services, and if there's additional funding to boost those services, we'd be willing to sit at the table and have that conversation."
Mr Kanoa also paid tribute to elders and activists who had made sure the issue stayed on the table.
"It's a positive out of a negative, we shouldn't have ever gone down this path of having the reparations scheme, because we never should have had the Stolen Generations," he said.
"This isn't the end - what they've said around healing support will be a long process for survivors and later generations.
"It's always going to be a burden we'll be dealing with, but this is looking from a different perspective, it's a first step in the right direction, a big step."
Applications for the Victorian Stolen Generations Reparations Package open March 31, with applications to start being assessed by June and payments to begin later this year, according to the state government.
The package is open to those who were removed by a government or non-government agency in Victoria prior to December 31, 1976.
Applicants must have been first removed from their family in Victoria, and been separated for a period of time that "resulted in the experiences of loss of family, community, Culture, identity, and language".
The application process will prioritise terminally and critically ill applicants who will be able to receive interim payments.