Single pregnant women came to institutions for the period of 'confinement' and their babies were usually born at a nearby hospital. Many unmarried mothers were separated from their children after their stay in a maternity home and hospital, and their children were adopted. Others found it impossible to care for their children and earn a living, with the result that children ended up in some form of out-of-home 'care'.
If a young woman who was a ward of the state in a children's institution became pregnant, she was likely to be transferred into a maternity home, usually one of the same denomination.
With the election of the Whitlam Government in 1972, and following the efforts of feminist activists, single mothers were finally entitled to receive the 'Supporting Mothers' Benefit' on the same basis as all other unsupported mothers (such as widows). This shift reflected a more accepting attitude from Australian society to single mothers. From the early 1970s, less children were available for adoption, and charitable services for single mothers and their children shifted away from maternity homes.
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The Find & Connect Support Service can help people who lived in orphanages and children's institutions look for their records.
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The Find & Connect Support Service can help people who lived in orphanages and children's institutions look for their records.
Last updated:
01 March 2016
Cite this: http://www.findandconnect.gov.au/guide/australia/FE00049
First published by the Find & Connect Web Resource Project for the Commonwealth of Australia, 2011
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