Top 3 things to do to mark Sorry Day this year

There are many appropriate ways to recognise Sorry Day. Here are three simple things you can do this year:

• Learn more by watching this short film about Gwen Schrieber’s healing work and personal and family story
• Show your support by changing your Zoom background for the day
• Reflect by listening to Archie Roach’s moving song ‘Took the Children Away’

Hosting an event

Hosting an event is an important way of marking Sorry Day. This year we recommend meeting digitally.

It’s appropriate and respectful to start your event with an Acknowledgement of Country.

In your meeting you could share some of the resources below or just have a yarn about Sorry Day. These conversation starters might be helpful:

• Indigenous artist and counsellor, David O'Neill has said that Sorry Day is not about blame, “Recognition starts that healing process.” How can we recognise the truth and the hurt?
• How can our work, or the way we work, have an impact on reconciliation?
• Sorry Day is also about recognising the resilience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, have I thought about that before?

Resources

There are many resources that can help us to understand more about the stories and resilience of the Stolen Generations and their families. Here are some that we invite you to share with your team.

Online activities and resources

Share Our Pride (interactive learning from Reconciliation Australia)

Written Testimonies from Stolen Generations survivors

Timeline of Trauma and Healing in Australia

Videos

The Apology, Reconciliation Australia

Intergenerational Trauma Animation, The Healing Foundation

This is How we Heal, The Healing Foundation

Personal Stories, Healing Foundation

There are also many movies and books that you might like to reflect on:

Radiance (1998)

Rabbit Proof Fence (2002)

Too Afraid to Cry, Ali Cobby Eckermann (2013)

Sister Heart, Sally Morgan (2015) (Young Adult)

Jack Charles: A Born-again Blakfella, Jack Charles & Namilia Benson (2019)

Hot Tip for readers: you can borrow ebooks and audiobooks for free from your local library using BorrowBox

Instructions for changing your Zoom background

Download the National Sorry Day Zoom Background (JPG 375KB)

• Download the Zoom app
• Click on the cog located in the top right corner
• Select virtual background
• Upload your National Sorry Day background
• Make sure you have unselected ‘I have a green screen’ and ‘mirror my video’.
• If you are unable to unselect 'I have a green screen', try and position yourself against a blank wall and wear a contrasting colour. This is an operating system error - and you may like to select something else to mark National Sorry Day.
  

Sharing on social

Share photos and comments on social media with the tags #NationalSorryDay and #NSWDoERAP. Don’t forget that you need permissions before sharing people’s images.

Contact and joining the conversation

For any queries please contact: rap@det.nsw.edu.au.

Everyone in the department is welcome to join the Yammer ‘Reconciliation Action Plan Group’ it’s a great place to join in the conversation around reconciliation.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders employees are warmly invited to join the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employee Network, contact Darren.Bell@det.nsw.edu.au