In an address at the Legislative Assembly this morning, Chief Minister Katy Gallagher made a formal apology to the mothers, children and relatives affected by the policies, dozens of whom had gathered in the chamber to hear the government say sorry.

Ms Gallagher acknowledged the “lifelong impact” of the practice of forcibly separating mothers from their children and “the grief, trauma, loss, disconnection and unwarranted shame, guilt and secrecy” this had caused.

“To those mothers who had their babies taken from them, who were denied the opportunity to care for their child, who were not informed of their rights, nor provided with the support that mothers need, we are deeply sorry for this injustice and all the harm it has caused,” Ms Gallagher said.

“To the adopted children who are now adults, and who were denied the opportunity to grow up with and be cared for by their parents and families, we offer you our sincere and unreserved apologies.

“To those ACT families past and present who were separated by an adoption that was forced upon them, the Assembly expresses its heartfelt sympathy and is sorry.”

It is estimated between 150,000 and a quarter of a million Australian women were forced to give up their children for adoption between the 1940s and the 1980s.

A Senate inquiry into the Commonwealth's role in former forced adoption policies last year heard accounts ranging from mothers being physically shackled to beds, to social workers failing to advise them of government payments that may have been available to support them to keep their child.

While any forced adoptions that occurred in the ACT pre-dated self-government, Ms Gallagher said it was important to acknowledge the impact of those past policy decisions.

Monash resident Marg Green, who was taken from her mother in Sydney when she was five weeks old, said she hoped the apology would comfort families and encourage them to talk about their experiences.

“[There are] mothers out there who are still living under that terrible shadow of 'you must never speak about this again',” she said.

“It’s really about acknowledging that this all happened, so much of it was illegal.

“My mother was 17 signing a paper to give me away – she wasn’t old enough to vote, she wasn’t old enough to go into a pub or club to drink alcohol, and yet she was asked to sign a paper to give away a baby.”

Flynn resident Thomas Graham was a victim of similar practices in South Africa.

He spent five years tracking down his birth mother and eventually found her in Germany.

“This was all pre-internet and pre-Google, I was given a name on a piece of paper,” he said.

“Adoption wasn’t just focused on Australia, whatever country of the former British Empire it was – Australia, South Africa…these kinds of practices happened in all of those countries at about the same time."

Mr Graham said the ACT Government’s apology would be felt by all victims of forced adoption practices, including those whose experiences occurred in other Australian states and territories, or overseas.

“Just to strip them at birth is very traumatic and both parties live with their trauma the rest of their life,” he said.

“I think today was great in terms of people acknowledging those past traumas and past hurts, it all contributes to the healing process.”