Australia readying apology to Aborigines

The Australian government will take the historic step of offering a formal apology to Aborigines "as early as possible" in the new parliament, Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin said Monday.

Thousands of Aboriginal children, mostly of mixed descent, were taken from their parents over four decades up to the 1970s and adopted or put into foster care or institutions as part of an attempt to force assimilation. (AFP)