Some people may find content on this website distressing. Read more
Tasmania - Organisation

Omaru Community Youth Centre (1977 - c. 1995)

From
1977
To
c. 1995
Categories
Government-run and Youth Welfare Service

Omaru Community Youth Centre, run by the government, opened in 1977. It was in Launceston. The Centre provided non-residential support and supervision for children aged eight to seventeen. It closed around 1995.

Details

Omaru Community Youth Centre was in Union Street, Launceston. It started as a pilot project for teenage girls in May 1977. A program for boys and girls began in September 1977.

It employed three Child Welfare Officers. The Senior Child Welfare Officer took up a Churchill Fellowship in the United Kingdom in early 1978. During that time, the Centre closed temporarily.

The Centre was a part of the Social Welfare Department's new emphasis on preventing children from becoming wards of state. According to the Annual Report of 1979, it assisted children who needed help with 'personal, social and emotional development' because they had come before the courts or had difficulties at home, school or with housing. The Centre's approach was group discussions in which:

youngsters are encouraged to air their points of view and to assist each other with individual and group problems and interests in a constructive way.

The groups met after school or in the early evening. The Centre also ran holiday programs. Volunteers worked with the children and the local community provided financial and practical support.

Location

1977 - c. 1995
Location - Omaru Community Youth Centre was in Union Street, Launceston. Location: Launceston

Related Organisations

Prepared by: Caroline Evans