FACTBOX: Key facts about Australia's Stolen Generations

(Reuters) - Key facts and dates about Australia's "Stolen Generations" of Aborigines, the name given to indigenous children forcibly removed from their families under old assimilation policies.

* 1980s - Academic Peter Read researches the history of forced separation policies dating back to the mid-1800s, and names those affected as the "Stolen Generations".

* 1995 - The "Bringing Them Home" national inquiry is set up into the separation of aboriginal children from their families.

* 1997 - The "Bringing Them Home" report is tabled in the Australian parliament. It found:

- Between one in three and one in 10 indigenous children were forcibly removed from their families and communities between 1910 and 1970.

- The children were at risk of physical and sexual abuse in institutions, church missions and foster homes.

- The policies amounted to genocide under international law, and the laws were racially discriminatory.

- It recommended a national apology, compensation for the Stolen Generations, and guarantees the policies would not be repeated.

* 1997 - The state parliaments of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania, as well as the Australian Capital Territory, apologize to the Stolen Generations.