Badge depicting tree of tears with text 'Stolen Generations commemorative badge, Sorry Day - 26th May'. In the 1990s the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission commenced an inquiry into the forced removal of the children. The Bringing Them Home report, tabled in Parliament on 26 May 1997, acknowledged the longstanding practice and the devastating impact that the removal policies had on children and their families. One of the key recommendations of the report was an official apology from the government. As part of the grassroots campaign calling for an apology, the first National Sorry Day was held on 26 May 1998.