In 1951, at the third Commonwealth/State Conference on 'native welfare', assimilation is affirmed as the aim of 'native welfare' measures.

Australian Aborigines Conference held in Sydney. Meeting on January 26, the 150th Anniversary of NSW, Aborigines mark the 'Day of Mourning'.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is adopted by the newly-formed United Nations, and supported by Australia.

The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody presents its report to the Commonwealth Government. It finds that of the 99 deaths it investigated, 43 were of people who were separated from their families as children.

The position of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner is established within the Australian Human Rights Commission. The Commissioner's role is to monitor and report to Commonwealth Parliament on the human rights of Indigenous Australians.

The parliaments and governments of Victoria, Tasmania, ACT, New South Wales, South Australia and Western Australia all issue statements recognising and publicly apologising to the ‘Stolen Generations’.

The People's Walk for Reconciliation on 28 May occurs in state/territory capitals throughout Australia.
Australia appears before the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The Committee criticises the Commonwealth Government's inadequate response to recommendations from Bringing them home:

National Library of Australia Oral History Project, Many Voices: Reflections on Experience of Indigenous Child Separation published.

The first member of the Stolen Generations is awarded compensation in the NSW Victims Compensation Tribunal for the sexual assault and injuries she suffered after authorities removed her from her family.

As part of the Victorian Government's response to the Bringing them home Report, Victoria establishes a Stolen Generations taskforce.
 

Volume two of the Western Australian Aboriginal Child Health Survey is released. The report says that 12.3% of the carers of Indigenous children aged 0–17 in Western Australia were forcibly removed from their families. Compared with other Indigenous children, the children of members of the ‘Stolen Generations’ are twice as likely to have emotional and behavioural problems, to be at high risk for hyperactivity, emotional and conduct disorders, and twice as likely to abuse alcohol and drugs.

The first Stolen Generations compensation case is successful in the Supreme Court of South Australia. The Trevorrow judgment recognised the existence of the policy of removing Aboriginal children from their families and the detrimental long-term effects of that policy on both the removed children and on the wider Aboriginal community. It found that even though the State of South Australia had guardianship powers over Aboriginal children, those powers were formulated for the 'care and protection' of Aboriginal children, and did not extend to removal of children from their natural parents.

The Federal Parliament opens for the year with a Welcome to Country, for the first time ever.

The Australian Government formally endorses the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Declaration specifically recognises that even though everyone is equally entitled to human rights, Indigenous people have not always enjoyed those rights.

The Australian Parliament passes the Aboriginal and Torre Strait Islander People’s Recognition Act 2013 with bi-partisan support, which recognises the need to acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the Australia’s constitution.

The Victorian Government appointed Aboriginal man Andrew Jackomos as Victoria’s first Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People. The appointment of an Aboriginal children’s commission was a result of the Protecting Victoria’s Vulnerable Children’s Inquiry recommentations.