Brian Butlers grandmother was taken from her family in 1910. She was 12 years old. Twenty years later her daughter, Brians mother, was taken. Thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families, like Brian Butlers, have been coping with the trauma of child removal for more than a century. Beyond Sorry describes the growth of the grassroots movement that exposed the truth about Australias shameful removal policies and worked towards justice. Born in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, the movement was joined by nearly a million non-Indigenous Australians in the 1998 Sorry Day Journey of Healing campaigns which paved the way for the Federal Parliaments unanimous apology in 2008. Brian Butler and John Bond call on the Australian government and community to take further steps to help complete the journey of healing for Stolen Generations people, bring about real reconciliation and prevent the continuing separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families and communities.
Brian Butler is from central Australia and, since his teens, has devoted himself to reuniting families separated by the removal policies, and healing the harm caused. He was the first Director of South Australias Aboriginal Child Care Agency, and for 15 years chaired the Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care. He was an ATSIC Commissioner for South Australia, and was nominee for Senior Australian of the Year in South Australia. He has served on the boards of many Aboriginal organisations, and is a consultant to South Australias Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People.
John Bond has worked in 30 countries, written for many publications, and has been a member of the Institute of Journalists UK. He served as Secretary of Initiatives of Change International, which tackles injustice and works for peace and reconciliation in more than 50 countries. He served as Secretary of the National Sorry Day Committee from 1998 to 2006 and was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for his work on the committee.