Sorry and Beyond by Brian Butler

Author:Brian, Butler
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aboriginal Studies Press
Published: 2021-05-03T00:00:00+00:00

(Courtesy Koori Mail)

This all prompted state and territory governments to take action. In Western Australia, several government departments opened files which enabled Aboriginal families to discover their histories. ‘Government policies contributed to the destruction and dislocation of Aboriginal families and communities,’ explained Jill Lewis from the Department of Indigenous Affairs. ‘We are addressing the recommendations of Bringing Them Home by providing a first-stop shop for people wanting more information.’10

In 2003 Brian Butler ended his term as ATSIC commissioner and joined South Australia’s Aged Rights Advocacy Services:

This was a service to support the rights of older South Australians, which had just started venturing into the Aboriginal community. I was their first Aboriginal advocate, and teamed up with Louise Herft, originally from Sri Lanka. Indigenous people are always suspicious of white people who come saying they want to help – too often we have been taken for a ride. As a result, many Indigenous people have no understanding of their right to support from aged care, disability, housing and community services.

Louise and I established trust instantly. We travelled all over the state, into the Flinders Ranges and the APY Lands, helping elderly Aboriginal people to receive good housing, health care and other services. Many were Stolen Generations, and it was very satisfying to help them receive the benefits to which they were entitled.

In collaboration with Janine Haynes, chief executive of South Australia’s Council of Aboriginal Elders, we developed the Aboriginal Advocacy Programme, which gained state and federal government funding. This enabled us to travel throughout the state’s regional and remote communities, raising awareness of strategies to prevent the abuse of elders, and helping organisations to assist elders experiencing abuse. Our programme was hugely successful and we were in demand at forums and conferences.

I loved this work. Racism pervades our society and many times we were called to resolve a dispute between an Aboriginal family and their white neighbours. But racism was not the only problem. In one case a young Aboriginal had brought his elderly grandmother to Adelaide so that he could steal her pension to feed his drug habit. When we found her, she was in a terrible condition. After a month in hospital, she was able to return to her home in a remote South Australian community, and lived happily there for many years more.

Elder abuse is a challenge to the Indigenous community, as it is to the white community. From long experience, I knew that a family conference could result in better outcomes than the Western judicial system. In many cases we were able to stop the abuse by bringing together the extended family so that the abused elder could tell them how he had been treated. Shaming the miscreants in front of their families was often more effective than putting them in prison.

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