In 1997, the National Inquiry Into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from their Families published its findings as Bringing them home, a report including fifty-four recommendations that adopt international provisions for responding to and redressing gross violations of human rights. Five components of reparation were identified by the inquiry: acknowledgement and apology, guarantees against repetition, measures of restitution, measures of rehabilitation, and monetary compensation. In the years since the report, the Howard government has failed to respond to these recommendations, and its much debated failure to apologise effectively illustrates an underlying denial of the fundamental need for reparation.