Last week, Australia commemorated the sixth anniversary of the National Apology to the Stolen Generations. Community events were held right around the country, with one of the highlights being a free celebration concert at Melbourne’s Sidney Myer Music Bowl.

Hosted by the Healing Foundation, the spectacular event line up included performances from Christine Anu, Frank Yamma, Thelma Plum and Blue King Brown. For performer and Human Rights Award winner Archie Roach, the event was particularly significant.

“What happened to the Stolen Generations can’t be erased or taken back and the anniversary is here to remind people it shouldn’t have happened and that we need to come together to make sure it never happens again,” said Archie.

One of the hosts of the event, performer Eddie Perfect, said he was “incredibly proud to be involved in the concert as for me, it constitutes an important and symbolic step towards acknowledging Aboriginal identity, past wrongs and a commitment to working towards a unified future.

The free Apology concert might have been one of the national event highlights, but this year, a number of micro grants were given to eightysix communities, to support them in commemorating this significant date.

The Noonga Reconciliation Group in Wavell Heights, Queensland used the grant to host a ‘Growing with Elders’ event, to foster stronger relationships between Elders and school students. On the anniversary, they came together to plant native trees and plants in the Elder’s Garden.

In the NT, Waltja Tjutangku Palyapayi held a commemorative flag raising event to honour the Pintubi people who after being forcibly removed from their country decades earlier, walked back to their country in the 1980’s and founded the most remote community in the Western Desert.

To find out more about other events that happened across the country, visit the Healing Foundation’s micro grants recipients page.

We would also love to hear about what happened in your community. Share it with us on social media and tag it #IndigenousX