Oct. 27 (Bloomberg) -- The Australian government will formally apologize next month to more than 500,000 people, known as the “Forgotten Australians,” many of whom were abused in public institutions during the past century.

The apology from Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, which will also address ill-treatment suffered by more than 7,000 child migrants, will form part of a remembrance ceremony in Canberra’s Parliament House on Nov. 16, Families Minister Jenny Macklin said in a statement today.

The “Forgotten Australians” grew up in Australian orphanages and institutions, where many were subjected to emotional, physical and sexual abuse, a 2004 Senate report found.

“The apology, which has bipartisan support, will acknowledge the abuse and neglect suffered by many of these children,” Macklin said in the statement.

Rudd last year apologized to the “Stolen Generation” of Aborigines, who were forcibly taken from their families for assimilation with the white community in the 1900s.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sarah McDonald in Canberra at

Last Updated: October 27, 2009 02:09 EDT