Peak Principals Group Applauds 'Sorry'

The Australian Principals Associations Professional Development Council (APAPDC) applauds and strongly supports the Australian Parliament’s forthcoming apology to the Stolen Generations. The APAPDC is Australia’s peak professional development body for school principals – primary and secondary; Government, Catholic and Independent; from every state and territory.

Many school leaders have witnessed first-hand the past and present impact of child removal on Indigenous communities. The ramifications of this are ongoing for many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families, and can affect their children’s educational outcomes. Consequently there is strong approval from APAPDC for the decision to say ‘Sorry’.

This strong approval is shared by the leaders of the four peak bodies that own APAPDC: Leonie Trimper, President of the Australian Primary Principals Association; Andrew Blair, President of the Australian Secondary Principals Association; Barbara Stone, Chair of the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia; and Vin Feeney, President of the Catholic Secondary Principals of Australia.

Saying ‘Sorry’ should be seen as another step forward, not an end in itself. As long as education and health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people lag behind those of other Australians – something demonstrated again in the latest Productivity Commission report – there remains an urgent need to ally words to action. Australian school leaders have shown repeatedly that they can be agents of positive change for individuals and communities. APAPDC bolsters this work through cutting-edge projects which are designed to make a real difference in areas of educational and social need.

APAPDC’s Dare to Lead is a collegial project formulated and driven by the profession, designed to achieve data-evidenced improvements in the key indicators of Year 5 literacy and Year 12 completion for Indigenous students, and foster Reconciliation in all schools. It is a data-driven project, accommodating a plurality of processes in the cause of achieving measurable improvement. With the vast majority of Australian school principals being non-Indigenous, it also models the way in which non-Indigenous Australians need to listen to and work alongside Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders.

Saying ‘Sorry’ is an essential first step. Continuing to work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to improve children’s outcomes – whether through Dare to Lead or through MindMatters and KidsMatter, mental health programs with strong Indigenous components – is the ongoing commitment of APAPDC and the peak principals associations.