A memorial was unveiled during an emotional ceremony attended by former residents of the Parramatta Girls home and their families.
The survivors, who call themselves 'Parragirls' want the memorial to be a place of recognition and healing and one that honours their ordeal.
Former resident, Whadjuk woman Tony Nichols told NITV News that three generations of her family had been through the home.
"What this memorial means to me is life and understanding, I grew up here in this place, and this place was terrible, and now it's full of everything, it's full of joy and love and everything now,” she said.
"My mother was here, and my four-generation grandmother and sister, they were here as well as me. I'm not just here for me, I'm here for them."
Event organiser and former 'Parragirl' Bonney Djuric from the Parramatta Female Factory, told NITV News that the former residents were "delighted" to be involved in the memorial and had hoped it was a reflection of the centre's history and their lived experience in it.
Image: Supplied Photographer: Jane Dempster
"Its physical presence is a public acknowledgment of what we went through in this place, it's making it visible... We will all pass away, but this will remain. Right here on this land in front of this building," she said.
"While healing is an individual process, I like to think that the memorial will heal the division between people, it acts as a bridge between those who have no experience of such things and those who do, it's a symbol of healing, bridging, and acceptance."
State Minister for Aboriginal Affairs Ben Franklin said for more than a century Aboriginal women and girls were taken to Parramatta Girls Home and have had to live through the trauma and cultural disconnection these past policies caused.
He acknowledged all of the women who spent time there.
"Those that made it home, those who are still on their journey and those that never made it home,” he said.
The memorial and an apology is part of the NSW Government’s response to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse after 16 former residents of Parramatta Girls gave evidence.
Image: Supplied Photographer: Jane Dempster
NSW Minister for Families and Communities Natasha Maclaren-Jones said,
“Parramatta Girls Home is a reminder of the mistakes of the past and I hope that this memorial can help us learn from those mistakes and acknowledge the pain experienced by so many who lived there.”
“I want all survivors and their families to know that they are loved and appreciated and this memorial is to express that the state is truly sorry for what they have been through," she said. '”
The memorial is located at the western Sydney site where the girls home operated between 1887 and 1974.
