You are invited to join the Shepparton Region Reconciliation Group for the 2025 Shepparton Apology Breakfast. This event will be held near the William Cooper Statue, Welsford St, Shepparton, Yorta Yorta Country. The Apology Breakfast will take place on Thursday 13 February 2025, at 8:00am. All welcome.
The journey to National Apology began with the Bringing Them Home report – the findings of an inquiry instigated by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission in 1995.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, 13 February 2008:
We apologise for the laws and policies of successive Parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians. We apologise especially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country.
The Apology was the first item of business when parliament opened in 2008, and was witnessed by the thousands of people gathered in Canberra for the event and was broadcast all over the country.
Apology Breakfast
The Apology Breakfast is held on the anniversary of the National Apology to the Stolen Generations delivered on 13 February 2008 by the then Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd.
Renai Dean and Fran Smullen – the Reconciliation Group’s co-convenors at the time – were in Canberra for the Apology. They wanted to acknowledge locally, the local Stolen Generation members and their families, and highlight the role that local non-Aboriginal community could have in responding to this hurt, pain, suffering and trauma. The annual Apology Breakfast continues to build on Renai and Fran’s work.
This year will be the 17th Apology Breakfast held in Shepparton.
The Breakfast is held near the William Cooper statue in the Queens Gardens in Shepparton and starts at 8.00am with a Smoking Ceremony and Welcome to Country. The numbers attending this event have grown significantly over the years with approximately 300 people attending last year. A very light breakfast will be provided from 7:30am
The Apology Breakfast is held in conjunction with the Academy of Sport, Health and Education (ASHE). Their students conduct the Smoking Ceremony and take on the roles of MC’s introducing the speakers and performers.
Each year, a young Aboriginal person is invited to be the guest speaker. It is an opportunity for the audience to hear different voices speak about the National Apology. Community members have often commented on their sense of pride as the young people step up into these roles.
Young people are our future. It is vital that they know the true history of the colonisation of Australia so they can be agents of change for our country. Because of this, a focus of the Apology Breakfast has been the involvement of students from secondary and primary schools in the Goulburn Valley. Each year, a school is chosen to have two representatives read the National Apology – this year, it will be Notre Dame College.
Join the Shepparton Region Reconciliation Group for the 17th Anniversary of the National Apology
When: Thursday 13 February 2025
Time: 7.45am for an 8.00am start
(8.55am finish)
Where: Queens Gardens, Welsford St,
Shepparton, Yorta Yorta Country
Light breakfast and coffee provided
Please RSVP via humanitix: https://events.humanitix.com/shepparton-apology-breakfast-2025
For more information contact: Dierdre 0417 398 158 or Bobby 0434 279 653
