Like some other post-colonial nations, Australia is coming to terms with the knowledge that decades of colonial policy instituting the removal of indigenous children from their families and communities has had a destructive effect on individuals and society, marking a ‘blemished chapter in our nation's history’ (Rudd 2008). The Stolen Generations describe their lived experiences of post-colonialism in heartrending narratives of personal tragedy, cultural devastation and collective trauma, also evidencing remarkable courage, resilience and stoicism. Such painful accounts call for a just response from settler Australians, so that we might move forward as a national community and begin the task of postcolonial reconciliation. While the symbolic response of a formal apology has finally been offered, the material requirements of a fair rejoinder are complex and as yet undecided. However, no matter what concrete measures of retribution and recompense are finally agreed to be appropriate and accepted by the indigenous peoples of Australia, reconciliation also requires all Australians to materialise the postcolonial modes of sociability and cultural engagement signalled in the Prime Minister's formal apology. While the state's past racist policies of assimilation might ultimately be held responsible for the suffering of the Stolen Generations, these policies were put into practice by countless individuals who, even when they felt uncomfortable in the act of theft, tolerated and participated in the many nefarious practices removing children from parents, siblings, communities, land and culture.