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.

- Queensland's parliament apologized in 1999, and the Northern Territory parliament in 2001.

* 1999 - Conservative Prime Minister John Howard leads a parliamentary motion of "regret" for unspecified past injustices against Aborigines, but refuses to apologize. He says an apology could leave the government liable for compensation claims, and current generations should not be responsible for past actions.

* 2000 - More than 250,000 people march across Sydney Harbour Bridge to support an apology. Tens of thousands of people attend similar marches across Australia. Prime Minister John Howard does not march.

* 2006 - Tasmanian government sets up A$5 million ($4.5 million) fund to compensate Tasmanian Aborigines who were removed from their families.

* 2007 - The conservative government in June sends police and troops to the Northern Territory to curb alcohol-related violence and sex abuse in Aboriginal communities, prompting indigenous fears that children could be taken away.

- In August, a court makes a landmark damages award of A$525,000 to Aborigine Bruce Trevorrow. He was taken from his mother without her consent when he was 13 months old and did not see her for a decade.

* 2008, February 13 - Australian Parliament apologizes for historic mistreatment of Aborigines.

(Compiled by James Grubel; Editing by David Fogarty)