Prime Minister Julia Gillard has set a date for a formal apology to those affected by forced adoption practices from the 1950s to the 1970s.
The apology comes after a landmark inquiry by the Federal Senate, which found up to 250,000 babies were forcibly taken from their mothers, who were mostly young and unmarried.The Federal Government has confirmed Ms Gillard will deliver the apology at Parliament House on March 21 next year.
It says the apology will acknowledge the pain and suffering caused by the practice and is designed to help in the healing process for affected families.
A reference group, including people directly affected by forced adoption, provided advice on the wording of the apology.
The ceremony will be open to victims including mothers and fathers who were forcibly separated from their children, now-adult children who were adopted, affected siblings, and extended family members.
In February the Senate Committee recommended the Government formally apologise for past forced adoption practices, which it described as barbaric and a "horror of our history".
The inquiry, conducted over 18 months, received hundreds of submissions and spoke to dozens of witnesses.
Some claimed they were drugged and restrained before giving adoption consents.
Others said they were given no choice but to surrender their babies for adoption in the face of family and social pressure.
Greens Senator Rachel Siewert chaired the committee and said governments and institutions need to take a more credible approach to former forced adoption practices.
"It is time for governments and institutions involved to accept that such actions were wrong, not merely by today's standards, but by the values and laws of the time," she said.
"Formal apologies must acknowledge this and not equivocate."
Australian states and territories including Tasmania, Queensland and Victoria have already apologised to those affected.
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