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South Australia - Organisation

Central Depot (1900 - 1965)

  • Gawler Place

    Gawler Place, 1965, courtesy of State Library of South Australia.
    Details

From
1900
To
1965
Categories
Government-run and Home

The Central Depot operated from 1900 as a government receiving home for State children. Situated on Victoria Place and then, in 1917, in Gawler Place, Adelaide, the Depot provided temporary shelter for children awaiting court appearance, transfer between institutions or foster care. From 1923 it was also a temporary detention Centre. Central Depot closed in 1965 when the Windana Remand Home opened.

Details

The Central Depot was first mentioned in Annual Reports of the State Children's Council in 1903, but according the 1965 report on its closure, operated from 1900. The Depot was initially housed in a section of the offices of the State Children's Council in Paddock Chambers, Victoria Place, Adelaide (a lane off Wakefield Street).

The Central Depot provided temporary shelter for State children awaiting transfer between institutions and/or other placements. Sometimes children who were not State wards were also accommodated at the Depot overnight, pending transfer to another home or situation. A matron and a number of travelling attendants made up the staff. The attendants accompanied female State children who were being boarded out or were returning from service placements.

In its 1916 Annual Report the Council stated that the offices for departmental staff and the facilities for children temporarily staying at the Depot, were 'altogether inadequate' and inappropriately located in an 'obscure lane'. The following year the Department purchased a cottage in Gawler Place, Adelaide and a vacant property adjoining it. The cottage was renovated to provide new quarters for the matron and her staff. Other parts of the existing building were refurbished to create what the Council referred to at the time as 'commodious detention rooms and wards' and extra bathrooms for children.

As well as temporarily housing children who were in transit, from 1923 the Depot also operated as a temporary detention centre for children under 18 years of age who were arrested by the police. They were detained in a section of the building separated from the other children, until their appearance before the Children's Court. From the 1930s the matron also took charge of a number of State girls who were admitted to the depot to be trained in domestic duties. This practice continued until 1963 with the girls taking on most of the cleaning, yard and laundry work for the Depot.

At the Depot, girls and boys were accommodated in separate wards and had their own dining and recreation areas. Religious instruction and listening to the radio were the main pastimes provided to the of children residing there.

In 1939 a government Inquiry into the treatment of 'Delinquent and other children in the care of the state' described the Central Depot as a 'most depressing' place where children were still detained in cells lit only by an outside light as they had been twenty years earlier.

Although the implementation of many of the recommendations of the Inquiry's report was delayed because of the outbreak of the Second World War, it suggestions about improving the physical appearance and atmosphere of institutions were taken up. The 1940 Annual report, in a clear response to the Inquiry's criticisms, detailed changes to the Central Depot as follows:

The dormitories and the matron's house at the central depot, including the girls' dining room have been painted, garden paths improved, new gas stove, attractive blue bedsteads, new mattresses, easy chairs, curtains, floor matting, and other facilities provided for the boys and girls. The bars have been removed from the windows and strong wire screens substituted.

The Central Depot continued to operate at the Gawler Place site until 24 May 1965 when its functions were transferred to the new Windana Remand Home at Glandore.

Location

1900 - 1917
Location - Central Depot was situated in Victoria Place, off Wakefield Street, Adelaide.. Location: Adelaide
1917 - 1965
Location - Central Depot was situated at Gawler Place, Adelaide. Location: Adelaide

Timeline

 1900 - 1965 Central Depot
       1965 - 1975 Windana Remand Home

Related Archival Series

Related Concepts

Related Glossary Terms

Publications

Reports

  • Report of the Committee appointed by the Government to inquire into Delinquent and other children in the care of the State, South Australian Parliamentary Papers 1939, Issue 75, State of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, 1939. Details

Online Resources

Photos

Gawler Place
Title
Gawler Place
Type
Image
Date
1965
Source
State Library of South Australia

Details

Sources used to compile this entry: Report of the Committee appointed by the Government to inquire into Delinquent and other children in the care of the State, South Australian Parliamentary Papers 1939, Issue 75, State of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, 1939; George, Karen, Finding your own way, Nunkuwarrin Yunti of South Australia Inc., 2005, http://nunku.org.au/resources/; GRG29/1 Annual Report of the State Children's Council 1916, State Records of South Australia; GRG29/1 Annual Report of the State Children's Council 1917, State Records of South Australia; GRG29/1 Annual Report of the Children's Welfare and Public Relief Board 1940, State Records of South Australia.

Prepared by: Karen George and Gary George