‘Forgotten Australians’ receive apology

PRIME MINISTER Kevin Rudd made an emotional apology yesterday to half-a-million “Forgotten Australians” who faced sexual abuse, violence and forced labour in childcare homes over decades.

Victims among the 1,000 people who packed Parliament House for the address burst into tears as Rudd detailed cases of neglect in Australia’s orphanages and institutions from 1930 to 1970.

“We come together today to offer our nation’s apology. To say to you, the Forgotten Australians, and those who were sent to our shores as children without their consent, that we are sorry,” he said.