On the anniversary of the National Apology to those affected by forced adoption, mothers, fathers and children grieve as Prime Minister Abbott moves to free up and make faster intercountry adoption.
The last three years has been a period of intense activity - and intense emotions - as State and National Apologies were developed and delivered from 2010 to 2013 and for many healing began. It was uplifting and liberating to hear an acknowledgement from the then Opposition Leader now Prime Minister Tony Abbott that the policy of closed/forced adoption was wrong by any standards, that the behaviour and practices implementing the policy were often illegal and that the politicians and the public understood the significance of the pain, hurt and trauma that adoption has caused mothers, fathers, sons and daughters and extended family members.