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Tasmania - Organisation

Kanangra Receiving Home (1958 - 1975)

  • The former Kanangra Receiving Home and Hostel

    The former Kanangra Receiving Home and Hostel, 2012, by Caroline Evans
    Details

From
1958
To
1975
Categories
Government-run, Home, Receiving Home and Temporary Care

Kanangra Receiving Home, run by the government, opened in Mount Stuart in 1958. It replaced the Hobart Receiving Home. The Home provided temporary accommodation for up to eight children who were wards of state or supervised in other ways by the Social Services Department and its successor, the Social Welfare Department. Kanangra closed in 1975.

Details

Kanangra Receiving Home provided accommodation for new wards of the state or children on remand from the courts until the Department found a more permanent placement for them. The Home also took in children requiring temporary accommodation under the Domestic Service Assistance Act and in transit between homes. The Department tended to place young children and babies at Kanangra. However, by 1971, more teenagers lived there.

A married woman, known as a Receiving Home Keeper, managed Kanangra with the assistance of her husband, who was in paid employment outside the Home. In return, they received free accommodation. When Kanangra opened, the Receiving Home Keeper from the Receiving Home, Hobart moved there and remained until about 1965.

The Social Services Department purchased Kanangra to replace the Receiving Home, Hobart. It was a two storey brick building with a slate roof which was replaced with glazed burnt clay tiles in 1969. The front door had lead light windows. Inside it had wooden floors and one internal staircase. It appears to have been in poor condition because, in 1962, an inspector said that the house was 'in very bad order'. It was also cold. According to a 1963 inspector's report, the babies' room was damp and cold because it did not get any sunlight. The boys' room was not so damp but it was cold. The Department installed heaters in both rooms. There was a Summer House. To reach it, the children walked across a steep lawn.

When the Receiving Home closed in 1975, Kanangra Hostel opened in the same building. It replaced Abermere Hostel which became a receiving Home that year.

Location

1958 - 1975
Location - Kanangra Receiving Home was in Mount Stuart Road, Mount Stuart. Location: Mount Stuart

Timeline

 1898 - 1958 Hobart Receiving Home
       1958 - 1975 Kanangra Receiving Home

Related Concepts

Related Organisations

Publications

Reports

  • Department of Social Welfare: report for the year ended 30th June 1965, Department of Social Welfare, Hobart, 1965. Details
  • Ombudsman Tasmania, Review of claims of abuse from adults in state care as children - Final Report - Phase 2, June 2006. Also available at https://stors.tas.gov.au/au-7-0057-00034. Details

Online Resources

Photos

The former Kanangra Receiving Home and Hostel
Title
The former Kanangra Receiving Home and Hostel
Type
Image
Date
2012

Details

The former Kanangra Receiving Home and Hostel
Title
The former Kanangra Receiving Home and Hostel
Type
Image
Date
2012

Details

The former Kanangra Receiving Home and Hostel
Title
The former Kanangra Receiving Home and Hostel
Type
Image
Date
2012

Details

The former Kanangra Receiving Home and Hostel
Title
The former Kanangra Receiving Home and Hostel
Type
Image
Date
2012

Details

Sources used to compile this entry: Department of Social Welfare: report for the year ended 30th June 1965, Department of Social Welfare, Hobart, 1965; Report of the Stolen Generations Assessor, Department of Premier and Cabinet, Tasmania, 2008, https://stors.tas.gov.au/au-7-0020-00382$stream; Ombudsman Tasmania, Review of claims of abuse from adults in state care as children - Final Report - Phase 2, June 2006. Also available at https://stors.tas.gov.au/au-7-0057-00034.

Prepared by: Caroline Evans