The Industrial School for Boys at Riverview was opened in 1898 as a boys' reformatory. In 1926 it was changed from a reformatory to a farm training school for immigrant boys and local youths. The Salvation Army was involved in child migration from Britain to Australia and in 1927 the Queensland Government agreed to contribute half the yearly cost of the reception and resettlement expenses of 100 boys. This was to assist the Salvation Army in providing agricultural training at the Riverview farm.
The reformatory work was transferred to the government-run home at Westbrook, however the Industrial School reopened in 1935. In 1950 extensions to the training farm were completed. During the 1950s the Salvation Army Training Home for Boys at Riverview admitted 77 boys under the child migrant scheme. Only "child migrants" over 14 years of age were accepted,on account of the type of work involved at the training farm.
The Riverview Training Farm was licensed under The Children's Services Act on 4 August 1966.
In 1998, former residents of Riverview Training Farm made submissions to the Commission of Inquiry into Abuse of Children in Queensland Institutions (widely known as the Forde Inquiry). The Committee reported on incidents of unsafe, improper and illegal treatment of children in Queensland institutions, including cases of sexual, physical, emotional and systems abuse. Its findings were detailed and explicit.
In January 2014, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse commenced a public hearing into response of the Salvation Army (Eastern Territory) to child sexual abuse in children's Homes in Queensland and New South Wales, including the Riverview Training Farm. The evidence to be heard was to have a particular focus to the years 1966-1977, although the Royal Commission stated it expected to hear allegations dating back to as early as 1936.
Last updated:
09 January 2023
Cite this: http://www.findandconnect.gov.au/guide/qld/QE00068
First published by the Find & Connect Web Resource Project for the Commonwealth of Australia, 2011
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