Wolston Park Hospital (1969 - 2001)

Wolston Park Hospital Complex - Bostock, 2001, by Heritage Branch Staff, courtesy of Queensland Heritage Register, Department of Environment and Heritage Protection.
Details

From: 1969
To: 2001
Categories: Disability Institution, Government-run and Hospital

The Wolston Park Hospital, situated at Wacol, Queensland, was a State-run facility. Wolston Park Hospital was previously known as the Brisbane Special Hospital. It is known that children who were wards of the state were placed at Wolston Park during the 1960s-1980s.

It is estimated up to 60 wards of the state were sent to Wolston Park, usually after previously being in other placements in Homes.

Children placed at Wolston Park reported abuse of all kinds, isolation and neglect, use of chemical restraints and contact with adults with mental health issues.

In 2010, the Queensland Government issued an apology to those who, as children under the care of the state, were inappropriately placed in adult mental health facilities including Wolston Park.

In October 2017, the Queensland Government provided payouts to former state wards who had been placed in Wolston Park, in recognition of their wrongful detainment in an adult mental health facility.

Location

1969 - 2001: Location - Wolston Park Hospital was situated at Wacol. Location: Wacol

Publications

Newspaper Articles

Condon, Matthew, 'Wolston Park abuse victims: "We're finally free"', Courier Mail, 17 October 2017. Details
Condon, Matthew, 'Wolston Park hospital left to rot as former patients continue fight', Courier Mail, 8 March 2017. Details

Online Resources

'Submissions received by the committee as at 17/3/05', in Inquiry into Children in Institutional Care, Commonwealth of Australia, 2005, http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Community_Affairs/Completed_inquiries/2004-07/inst_care/submissions/sublist. Submission no 228. Details
'Submission No. 218 Commonwealth Contribution to Former Forced Adoption Policies and Practices', in Submissions received by the Committee, Commonwealth of Australia, 2012, 2012, http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Community_Affairs/Completed_inquiries/2010-13/commcontribformerforcedadoption/submissions. Details
Chynoweth, Adele, Goodna Girls: A History of Children in a Queensland Mental Asyum, ANU Press, 2020, https://press.anu.edu.au/publications/series/aboriginal-history/goodna-girls. Details
Finnane, Mark, Wolston Park Hospital 1865-2001: A Retrospect, Queensland Review, vol. 15 (2), University of Queensland Press, St Lucia, 2008, 39-58 pp, http://www98.griffith.edu.au/dspace/bitstream/handle/10072/22957/54722_1.pdf?sequence=1. Details
Reconciliation Plan: For children who as wards of the State were placed in adult mental health facilities, 2017, https://www.health.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0035/679913/reconciliation-plan.pdf. Details
Queensland Health, The road to recovery - a history of mental health services in Queensland 1859-2009, Queensland Government, 2013, https://www.health.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0028/444583/qld-mh-history.pdf. Details
Remeikis, Amy, 'Recitations of 'sorry' are no help to this survivor', Sydney Morning Herald, 19 August 2012, http://www.smh.com.au/national/recitations-of-sorry-are-no-help-to-this-survivor-20120818-24fqy.html. Details
Robertson, Joshua, ''It's been such a battle': Wolston Park survivors win shock payouts', The Guardian, 19 October 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/oct/19/its-been-such-a-battle-wolston-park-survivors-win-shock-payouts. Details
Taylor, Betty, Report to Queensland Government Reconciliation Plan Stage 1: for Child Placements by Qld Government in Adult Mental Health Facilities, 2017, http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/Documents/TableOffice/TabledPapers/2017/5517T2056.pdf. Details
Wolston Park Site History: Overview, 2013, https://web.archive.org/web/20230303082005/http://www.wpccricket.com.au/content.aspx?file=2022|46202t. Details

Photos

Title: Wolston Park Hospital Complex - Bostock
Type: Image
Date: 2001
Creator: Heritage Branch Staff
Source: Queensland Heritage Register, Department of Environment and Heritage Protection

Details

Title: Noble 2
Type: Image
Date: 2004
Creator: Heritage Branch Staff
Source: Queensland Heritage Register, Department of Environment and Heritage Protection

Details

Sources used to compile this entry: Finnane, Mark, Wolston Park Hospital 1865-2001: A Retrospect, Queensland Review, vol. 15 (2), University of Queensland Press, St Lucia, 2008, 39-58 pp, http://www98.griffith.edu.au/dspace/bitstream/handle/10072/22957/54722_1.pdf?sequence=1; Queensland Health, The road to recovery - a history of mental health services in Queensland 1859-2009, Queensland Government, 2013, https://www.health.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0028/444583/qld-mh-history.pdf; Robertson, Joshua, ''It's been such a battle': Wolston Park survivors win shock payouts', The Guardian, 19 October 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/oct/19/its-been-such-a-battle-wolston-park-survivors-win-shock-payouts; Taylor, Betty, Report to Queensland Government Reconciliation Plan Stage 1: for Child Placements by Qld Government in Adult Mental Health Facilities, 2017, http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/Documents/TableOffice/TabledPapers/2017/5517T2056.pdf.

Prepared by: Lee Butterworth

Created: 1 May 2013, Last modified: 12 September 2018

Wolston Park Hospital (1969 - 2001)