The first Sorry Day was held in 1998, one year after the report 'Bringing them Home' was first tabled in federal parliament.
The report looked at Indigenous people affected by forced removal from their families in what came to be known as the Stolen Generations.
But 16 years on, concerns continue to be raised about the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families.
The Bringing Them Home report documented the forced removal of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, between 1910 and the 1970s.
The children who were removed have come to be known as the Stolen Generations - marking the beginnings of what is now known as Sorry Day.
Since then Sorry Day is recognised as a day of healing for Indigenous people.
But some Indigenous people are concerned by the increasing number of Aboriginal children still being taken from their families and placed in out-of-home care.
Gunnedah elder Aunty Hazel says the forced removal of children from their homes is destructive to families, and deprives young people of access to their culture.
"They have a past but most importantly they are our future generations. How are we to hand down our culture our heritage when these children are taken outside our homes and put out in other communities and we are left with token visitation rights to our children?" she said.
Debra Swan is an Indigenous woman and former employee of the federal Department of Family and Community Services.
She believes there should be more consultation between the governments and Aboriginal communities before intervention takes place.
"We're expected to be assimilated into the way they want us to rear our children and have child practices with our children. The old nuclear family stuff they don't understand that. When there is Aboriginal children they don't have one parent, they have lots of parents," she said.
"They're grandparents are virtually like their parents. We have families that probably have 15 relatives that are really close to them, but they continue to take these kids and place them outside of family."
Full report in the video player above.
