Sorry means you don’t do it again.
Suellyn thought the Department of Community Services (DOCS) would only remove children in extreme cases, until her own grandchildren were taken in the middle of the night. Hazel decided to take on the DOCS system after her fourth grandchild was taken into state care. Jen Swan expected to continue to care for her grandchildren but DOCS deemed her unsuitable, a shock not just to her but to her sister, Deb, who was, at the time, a DOCS worker.
The rate of Indigenous child removal has actually increased since Prime Minister Kevin Rudd delivered the apology to the ‘stolen generations’ in 2008. These four grandmothers find each other and start a national movement to place extended families as a key solution to the rising number of Aboriginal children in out-of-home care. They are not only taking on the system; they are changing it.
Awards:
- Australian Directors’ Guild 2018 – Best Direction of a Documentary Feature Film (Larissa Behrendt)
- Nomination: AACTAs 2018 – Best Direction in Nonfiction Television (Larissa Behrendt)
- Nomination: AACTAs 2018 – Best Documentary or Factual Program (Michaela Perske)
- Nomination: AACTAs 2018 – Best Original Music Score in A Documentary (Caitlin Yeo)