Descendants of those who had their items taken, from all over the world, have spent decades calling on the institution to return beloved artefacts to their homelands.
But it seems once something passes through the stately doors of the museum they seldom come back out.
In its collection, there are thought to be almost 8 million objects, but only 80,000 are on public display at any one time; just 1 per cent of its total collection.
From Indigenous Australia alone, there are thought to be more than 6,000 items.
