They want to see past injustices redressed, such as the expensive head tax and unscrupulous dictation tests forced on prospective Chinese immigrants to stem their flow.

Anti-Chinese policies began in the 19th century and lasted until 1973 with the abolition of the ''White Australia'' policy.

"The time has come for a number of Chinese-Australians to get rid of the last vestiges of white superiority," said Daphne Lowe Kelley, the president of the Chinese Heritage Association of Australia. "We want to be recognised for all our contributions."

Their call is part of a global movement by Chinese immigrants settled in Western countries. The New Zealand, Canadian and Californian state governments have issued formal apologies for Chinese-specific discriminatory policies in the past decade.

"Chinese families were split apart because of these policies," said Ms Lowe Kelley.

Arthur Garlock Chang, 90, from Forestville, came to Australia with his father, who had first arrived in the 1890s to seek gold. His father travelled between Australia and China 16 times until finally taking 13-year-old Arthur here with him. They left behind his mother and eight siblings because his father deemed Australia too harsh for immigrants like themselves.

Mr Chang's father promised his wife he would return their son safely to China in five years. "But I didn't see my mother for 27 years. Under the White Australia policy I couldn't leave at my own will."

Ms Lowe Kelley wants the Australian history curriculum taught in schools overhauled. "Students need to know about the role Chinese people played and have a deeper understanding of the Lambing Flat riots of 1861 [when European gold diggers drove Chinese from the goldfield]."

Dr Catriona Elder, a social policy expert from Sydney University, agreed. "There's a default history, like the Anzac legend, and an erasure of the history of others," she said.

She does not expect the apology to arrive soon.

Three per cent of Australians identify themselves as having Chinese ancestry, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

For Mr Chang, it's all about his posterity: "An apology would bring a lot of relief to people my age who for so long had to tell our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren [that] it was not the good old days, it was the bad old days."