Some people may find content on this website distressing. Read more
New South Wales - Organisation

Ellimatta (1945 - 1982)

  • Ellimatta and Ellimeek

    Ellimatta and Ellimeek, c. 1945, courtesy of United Protestant Association of NSW.
    Details

From
1945
To
1982
Categories
Children's Home, Home and Protestant

Ellimatta Home was established by the United Protestant Association of New South Wales at East Maitland in 1945. A girls' home, it was located next to Ellimeek, an adjoining house which was purchased at the same time. Ellimeek was initially used as flats and was later also turned into a girls home. Ellimatta closed in 1982.

Details

Ellimatta was officially opened on 24 November 1945 after the United Protestant Association [UPA] purchased two adjoining properties on Victoria Street in East Maitland. When it was closed in 1982 the properties were leased to the Metford Baptist Church and then sold in 1985. The UPA set up aged persons' care on a remnant portion of land.

In 2013, Joanne McCarthy published an article in the Sydney Morning Herald, stating that former residents of Woodlands had given distressing testimony to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and stated that an organised ring of paedophiles, including members of the Anglican and Catholic clergy, had sexually abused boys during a Christian programme held on Sundays at Woodlands in the 1970s. Additionally, a girl from Ellimatta was allegedly abused by a gardener.

In the article, the UPA issued an unreserved apology to children abused while they were living in the Woodlands and Ellimatta Homes, and acknowledged it had paid compensation to victims.

The UPA Board has since issued a further and full apology stating:

We sought to be trusted by children, parents, and the State, but we freely acknowledge that in many of our homes we failed to provide the safe and nurturing environment that children need to thrive. Emotional, physical and sexual abuse did occur in those homes. We are ashamed of those failures and offer our sincere and deep apology for the harm caused.

Location

1945 - 1982
Location - Ellimatta was situated next to Ellimeek at Victoria Road, East Maitland. Location: East Maitland

Related Organisations

Publications

Books

  • Agst, Thomas Urich [with Robert J Martin], The UPA Story, United Protestant Association of NSW Ltd, Wahroonga, n.d., 67 pp. Details
  • United Protestant Association of N.S.W., Souvenir pictorial of homes for children and pensioners / United Protestant Association of N.S.W., 1956. Details
  • United Protestant Association of N.S.W., Souvenir pictorial of homes for children and pensioners / United Protestant Association of N.S.W., 1963. Details

Journals

  • United Protestant Association of N.S.W. (ed.), The Protestant world : official organ of the United Protestant Association of New South Wales., 1921-1980. Details

Online Resources

Photos

Ellimatta Girls Home
Title
Ellimatta Girls Home
Type
Image
Date
1945
Source
Care Leavers Australaisa Network (CLAN)

Details

Ellimatta and Ellimeek
Title
Ellimatta and Ellimeek
Type
Image
Date
c. 1945
Source
United Protestant Association of NSW

Details

Sources used to compile this entry: Agst, Thomas Urich [with Robert J Martin], The UPA Story, United Protestant Association of NSW Ltd, Wahroonga, n.d., 67 pp; McCarthy, Joanne, 'Paedophile ring used boys home', The Sydney Morning Herald, 23 September 2013, http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/paedophile-ring-used-boys-home-20130922-2u7w6.html; Thinee, Kristy and Bradford, Tracy, Connecting Kin: Guide to Records, A guide to help people separated from their families search for their records [completed in 1998], New South Wales Department of Community Services, Sydney, New South Wales, 1998, https://clan.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/connectkin_guide.pdf; UPA Board, 'The Board of the UPA of NSW has issued the following apology', in UPA of NSW Ltd website, United Protestant Association of NSW Ltd, 2018, https://www.upa.org.au/former-children-upa-care/apology/.

Prepared by: Naomi Parry