WITH just 361 words, the Federal Parliament will today seek to heal the hurt caused by past decades of state-sponsored ill-treatment of all indigenous Australians - not just those forcibly removed as children from their families.

More than 10 years since the story of the stolen generations was told in the Bringing Them Home report, the declaration of the apology will usher in a new era of recognition and reconciliation between indigenous and non-indigenous Australia.

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For the pain and suffering, we apologise

Phillip Coorey and Stephanie Peatling