This report is not a raking over the past for its own sake. It is directed to healing and reconciliation for the benefit of all Australians. The first two parts of the report recount the laws, practices, policies and effects of removal. They are part of the telling, the listening, the understanding and the acknowledgment which Sir Ron spoke about. The second two parts are about what we ought to be doing for people affected by removal and the practical steps we can take to repair the injustice and ease their pain.
Reparation is a broader concept than compensation.
It means trying to repair the damage caused by removal, trying to give back what was taken and lost, trying to make up for the hurt. It is, of course, impossible to reconstruct a life that has been so radically altered. But experience in other countries, and the international guidelines on the right to reparation for victims of gross human rights violations provide us with some guidance.