National Sorry Day is held on 26 May each year to acknowledge and recognise the generations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children separated from their families and communities.
On 26 May 1997, the ‘Bringing Them Home’ report was tabled in federal parliament. ‘Bringing Them Home’ is the final report of the National Inquiry into the separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, and was conducted by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (now called the Australian Human Rights Commission) between 1995 and 1997.
On 26 May 1998, the first National Sorry Day was held to commemorate the anniversary of the report and remember the grief, suffering and injustice experienced by the stolen generations.