Industrial schools operated under the 1867 Industrial Schools Act which enabled volunteers to found homes for 'neglected' children. In theory, an industrial school accommodated 'neglected' children while training schools were for 'criminal' children. However, the lines between the two were often blurred.
Industrial schools accommodated wards of state, for which the government paid a small fee, or children whose parents had placed them there. In those instances, the parents paid the fee. There were four Industrial Schools - Hobart Girls' Industrial School, Kennerley Boys' Home, St Joseph's Orphanage, and Launceston Girls' Industrial School.
In the early days of the Neglected Children's Department, its Secretary, Frederick Seager, did not place children in Industrial Schools if he could help it because he believed that they fell 'far short of the requirements of childhood 'and that the 'motherly interest' of foster mothers made training more effective.
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Last updated:
02 August 2022
Cite this: http://www.findandconnect.gov.au/guide/tas/TE00184
First published by the Find & Connect Web Resource Project for the Commonwealth of Australia, 2011
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