The Inquiry into Children in Institutional Care was referred to the Senate Community Affairs References Committee on 4 March 2003. This inquiry was directed primarily to those affected children who were not covered by the 2001 report Lost Innocents: Righting the Record, inquiring into child migrants, and the 1997 report, Bringing them Home, inquiring into Aboriginal children. The Committee released its first report from the inquiry on 30 August 2004, Forgotten Australians: A report on Australians who experienced institutional or out-of-home care as children. A second report, Protecting vulnerable children: A national challenge, was released on 17 March 2005. The Australian Government's response to the inquiry was tabled in the Senate on 10 November 2005.
The Apology issued on 16 November 2009 by the Australian Parliament was an endorsement of Recommendation 1 from the 'Forgotten Australians' report of the Inquiry into Institutional Care.
See the full report at
http://www.findandconnect.gov.au/vic/biogs/E000484b.htm