Government Industrial School for Boys and Girls, 1900, courtesy of Department for Child Protection and Family Support, Superintendent of Public Charities and Inspector of Industrial and Reformatory Schools, Report 1900, p.26.
Details
A Government Industrial School was established in 1893 at Claisebrook, and moved to Subiaco in 1897. It was originally for girls, and was then used for older children and for the 'temporary reception' of children awaiting other placements. By 1902 it was called the 'Government Industrial School and Receiving Depot' and by 1907 it was known as the 'Government Receiving Depot'.
A Government Industrial School was established in 1893, after the passage of the Industrial and Reformatory Schools Act 1893. Although originally intended for young girls, the Government Industrial School was soon admitting older children and was increasingly used for the temporary reception of children awaiting more permanent placements, or while parents were unable to care for them. This 'reception' function soon became part of the institution's title, persisting until 1980.
The 'Report by the Superintendent of Public Charities and Inspector of Industrial and Reformatory Schools, 1902' (p.16) noted that the 'younger destitute children formerly detained in the Home for Women' (Women's Home, Female Home) 'are now resident at Subiaco'.
By 1907, recognising that the institution that had begun as the Government Industrial School no longer functioned in that way, the words, 'Industrial School' were dropped from its title. The new name, Government Receiving Depot' recognised the institution's primary function as the temporary accommodation of children awaiting placement elsewhere.
1893 - 1907 Government Industrial School
1907 - 1935 Government Receiving Depot
1935 - 1952 Government Receiving Home
1953 - 1972 Child Welfare Reception Home
1973 - 1980 Mt Lawley Reception Home
1980 - 1984 Walcott Centre
Sources used to compile this entry: Report by the Superintendent of Relief and Inspector of Charitable Institutions for the year, Government Printer, Perth, 1897. p.9.; Report by the Inspector of Charitable Institutions, Government Printer, Perth, 1898. p.11.; Heritage Council of Western Australia, 'King Edward Memorial Hospital for Women', in inHerit, Western Australia State Heritage Office, Government of Western Australia, 8 February 2015, http://inherit.stateheritage.wa.gov.au/public/p/2438; Hetherington, Penelope, Paupers, Poor Relief and Poor Housing in Western Australia 1829 to 1910, UWA Publishiing, Crawley, Western Australia, 2009. pp.133, 142-143, 153. Hetherington gives the opening date for the Government Industrial School, Subiaco, as 1893, p.153.; Western Australia. Charities Department, Report by the Superintendent of Public Charities and Inspector of Industrial and Reformatory Schools, Government Printer, Perth, [W.A.], 1899-1907. 1902, 1907..
Prepared by: Debra Rosser
Created: 20 August 2013, Last modified: 23 June 2014
Last updated: 17 October 2023
Cite this: https://www.findandconnect.gov.au/ref/wa/biogs/WE01152b.htm
First published by the Find & Connect Web Resource Project for the Commonwealth of Australia, 2011
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