Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will deliver the apology on February 13, more than 10 years since the Bringing Them Home human rights report recommended the government say sorry for the policy of removing indigenous children from their parents.

It will be the first item of business for the new parliament.

An Aboriginal welcome to country ceremony will take place as part of the opening proceedings for parliament the day before.

Announcing the timing, Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin said the apology was the "first, necessary step to move forward from the past".

"The apology will be made on behalf of the Australian government and does not attribute guilt to the current generation of Australian people," she said in a statement.

Ms Macklin has been consulting with indigenous groups and leaders since mid-December on the form and wording of the apology.

Those consultations are continuing, but Ms Macklin said she was confident the timing of the apology was appropriate.

Earlier, Mr Rudd said the symbolism of the apology was important.

"It´s building a bridge of respect which I think has been in some state of disrepair in recent decades," he told reporters.

Read the story in The Age