May 26 in History
1998 – The first ‘National Sorry Day’ is held in Australia, with reconciliation events held nationally, and attended by over a million people
National Sorry Day, or the National Day of Healing, established as an annual event on this day in 1998, remembers and commemorates the mistreatment of the country’s Indigenous peoples, as part of an ongoing process of reconciliation between the Indigenous peoples and the settler population. The date marks the publication of the 1997 ‘Bringing Them Home’ report, the result of an inquiry into government policies and practices during the 20th century that caused Aboriginal children to be separated from their families, with the intention of assimilating them into white Australian culture. The practices resulted in what became known as the ‘Stolen Generations’, with the effects of the traumatic removals being felt by succeeding generations even today.
The report made many recommendations, including that state and federal governments should issue formal apologies and that funding should be provided to help deal with the consequences of the policies.
John Howard, who was prime minister at the time, refused to issue an apology, but Kevin Rudd on February 13, 2008 issued a formal apology on behalf of the government and Australian people.
-Wikipedia