The National Apology Foundation was established as a not-for-profit Foundation with five core purposes:

1.   To perpetuate the spirit and the substance of the National Apology to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians to future generations of Australians once the events of 2008 fade from national memory;

2.  To sustain the bi-partisan support the Apology has had so far into the future;

3.  To monitor progress in “Closing the Gap” between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, as outlined in the 2008 Apology Statement, emphasising both positive progress as well as areas where the gap is not being closed;

4.  To support, in particular, closing the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians in education by raising funds and contributing those funds to existing non-government institutions engaged in this mission; and

5.  To support, where possible and appropriate, Indigenous peoples internationally and their efforts to achieve reconciliation in their own countries.