amie Walker and Pia Akerman |
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,,22175063-2702,00.html?from=public_rss
The compensation win is for Aborigines taken from their families.
The damages award not only establishes a potent judicial precedent, but will
intensify pressure on the commonwealth and states to establish statutory
compensation schemes for Stolen Generations victims.
The scope of the order by South Australian Supreme Court judge Thomas Gray
stunned legal observers and reversed years of disappointment for indigenous
litigants.
Since the release of the 1997 Bringing Them Home report on the Stolen
Generations, only
In a strongly worded judgment, Justice Gray yesterday found that Bruce Allan
Trevorrow, now 50, was falsely imprisoned and denied
the duty of care owed to him after he was taken from his parents in 1957, aged
13 months.
The state was liable to compensate Mr Trevorrow for its "misfeasance in public office",
the judge said.
He awarded Mr Trevorrow
$450,000 in damages for injuries and losses, as well as exemplary damages of
$75,000. The South Australian Government was last night reviewing the 294-page
decision and its options to appeal.
Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough was
awaiting a briefing on the judgment.
Justice Gray pointedly contrasted how Mr Trevorrow had "struggled" with depression and
other setbacks, while his siblings, who remained with their natural family, had
been able to "achieve their potential".
"I am satisfied that the conduct of the state, amounting to misfeasance
in public office, together with the false imprisonment of the plaintiff, has
been a material cause of the plaintiff's long-term depression," the judge
said.
"It was this conduct that ruptured the bond between the plaintiff and
his mother and natural family.
"The breaches of duty of care that occurred were also
a material cause of his depression and other losses", among them Mr Trevorrow's loss of his
Aboriginal identity.
Outside the court, flanked by his brothers and legal team, Mr Trevorrow said he was grateful
he had "peace of mind and closure" after nine years of arguing his
case in court. "I've been up and down, in and out of institutions, jail
and depression," he said. "I couldn't get on my feet. It's just made
me happy that the judgment has come against the state."
Lowitja O'Donoghue, a
one-time ATSIC chief who was taken from her parents as a two-year-old, said the
compensation award was "just tremendous" following the failure of
other test cases.
Notable among them was the compensation claim brought by the late Kwementyay (Peter) Gunner and Lorna Cubillo.
The Federal Court ruled against them in 2000, finding that they had failed to
show that the commonwealth had not acted in their best interests by taking them
from their families.
Hailing Justice Gray's decision as the "first of its kind", Ms O'Donoghue said governments should now offer compensation
to Stolen Generations victims rather than defend further court actions.
"I'm appealing to government to own up to its history and set up a
process whereby many more cases ... could be heard and taken into
account," she said.
Peter Read, a professor of history at
"It should have happened 20 years ago," he said.
"I am absolutely delighted."
COMMITTEES: Community Affairs References Committee: Report
Originaly published by: www.aph.gov.au/senate_ca
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