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Organisation Allambie Reception Centre (1961 - 1990)
Allambie Children's Home, Burwood, 1960
Details
- From
- 1961
- To
- 1990
- Categories
- Government-run, Home and Reception Centre
Summary
The Allambie Reception Centre opened in Burwood in 1961, on the former site of Kildonan Children's Home. It was the Victorian Government's main reception centre for children. Allambie could accommodate up to 90 children including (from 1964) babies and toddlers. Allambie closed in 1990.
Details
Allambie, a government-run reception centre for Victorian children, opened in Burwood in 1961, on the former site of Kildonan Children's Home.
Allambie became the Department's main 'reception, treatment, classification and transit centre'. It was established to alleviate overcrowding at Turana, Royal Park.
Children who were State Wards also came to Allambie following a breakdown in home release, foster care or a children's home placement.
Allambie could accommodate up to 90 children in four separate sections. Until the nursery opened at Allambie in 1964, it did not receive babies and toddlers (who were accommodated in the old nursery at Turana).
The Education Department operated a school in the grounds of Allambie although some children attended schools in the community.
A child's placement was decided upon by the Placement Committee, which met once a week. In 1962, the Committee comprised representatives of the Department (including the Director of Family Welfare) and Allambie staff (including the Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent, and Medical Officer).
In the 1970s, Allambie consisted of three large sections: Waratah, Kurrajong and Mimosa. These accommodated groups of mixed age and sex which enabled sibling groups to be placed together. The Nursery section accommodated babies. 'Tecoma' accommodated up to 10 school-age boys and 'Heath/Cassia' accommodated 22 adolescent girls.
By the mid 1970s the number of children placed at Allambie reached an all-time high. Overcrowding decreased as alternative reception and care programs were implemented by the Department. During the 1970s, changes in the structure of state-run facilities, including regionalisation of services, reduced the need for large-scale centralised reception centre like Allambie.
By the early 1980s, Allambie accommodated about 100 children. A review in 1985 recommended the closure of Allambie, and the redirection of funding to regional reception centres. The nursery at Allambie closed in 1986. Allambie Reception Centre closed in June 1990.
Location
- 1961 - 1990
- Allambie Reception Centre is situated in Elgar Road, Burwood. Location: Burwood
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Publications
Books
- Hamilton-Byrne, Sarah, Unseen, unheard, unknown, Penguin, Ringwood, 1995. Details
- Spivey, Margaret, Defying the gatekeeper: one girl's true story of resistance and rebellion, In this memoir, the author describes her experiences as a ward of the state in Victoria, in a number of institutions in the 1950s and 1960s., Jo Jo Publishing, Melbourne, 2010. Details
- Willich, Ray, Shadows of childhood, Widescope, Camberwell, Vic, 1978. Details
- Willich, Ray, The troubled ones: sexually and emotionally abused children, Hill of Content, Melbourne, 1979. Details
Journal Articles
- Bialestock, D., 'Neglected babies: a study of 289 babies admitted consecutively to a reception centre', Medical Journal of Australia, vol. 2, 1966, pp. 1129-1133. Details
Newspaper Articles
- 'Allambie Reception Centre at 70 Elgar Road, Burwood', The Age, 12 July 1990. Details
Reports
- Annual report: Social Welfare Department, Government Printer, Melbourne, 1961-1978. 1962. Details
- Community Services Victoria, Statewide Services Redevelopment Team, Discussion paper on the redevelopment of services for children and young people in Allambie, Baltara and Winlaton, Community Services Victoria, 1986. Details
- James Jenkinson Consulting, Guide to out-of-home care services, 1940-2000, Department of Human Services, Unpublished. Details
Online Resources
- 'Submission no 401', in Inquiry into Children in Institutional Care: Submissions received by the committee as at 17/3/05, http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate_Committees?url=clac_ctte/completed_inquiries/2004-07/inst_care/submissions/sublist.htm. Details
- 'Submission no 260', in Inquiry into Children in Institutional Care: Submissions received by the committee as at 17/3/05, Commonwealth of Australia, 2005, http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate_Committees?url=clac_ctte/completed_inquiries/2004-07/inst_care/submissions/sublist.htm. Details
- 'Submission no 239', in Inquiry into Children in Institutional Care: Submissions received by the committee as at 17/3/05, Commonwealth of Australia, 2005, http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate_Committees?url=clac_ctte/completed_inquiries/2004-07/inst_care/submissions/sublist.htm. Details
- Gordon, Michael, 'Sorry not enough for stolen generations', The Age, 13 February 2010, http://www.theage.com.au/national/sorry-not-enough-for-stolen-generations-20100212-nxkq.html. Details
- McKay, Darlene, 'Open letter to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd', in Inside: Life in Children's Homes exhibition blog, National Museum of Australia, Australian Government, 21 December 2009, http://nma.gov.au/blogs/inside/2009/12/21/open-letter-to-kevin-rudd/. Darlene McKay spent her childhood in many homes, including Allambie Reception Centre in Burwood, Victoria. Here she shares a letter she wrote to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. Details
- Slatterie, Patricia and Jeanette Blick, 'Our story', in Inside: Life in Children's Homes exhibition blog, Australian Government, 2010, http://nma.gov.au/blogs/inside/files/2010/10/suffer-little-children.pdf. Details
- Swain, Shurlee, 'Royal Park Depot', in eMelbourne: the city past and present, Encyclopedia of Melbourne online, The University of Melbourne, 2008, http://www.emelbourne.net.au/biogs/EM01283b.htm. Details
Gallery
- Title
- Typing is one of the school subjects for the older girls at Allambie
- Type
- Image
- Date
- c. 1975
- Title
- Enjoying privacy and quiet in Allambie's unit for adolescent girls
- Type
- Image
- Date
- c. 1975
Sources used to compile this entry: Annual report: Social Welfare Department, Government Printer, Melbourne, 1961-1978. 1962.; James Jenkinson Consulting, Guide to out-of-home care services, 1940-2000, Department of Human Services, Unpublished; Swain, Shurlee, 'Royal Park Depot', in eMelbourne: the city past and present, Encyclopedia of Melbourne online, The University of Melbourne, 2008, http://www.emelbourne.net.au/biogs/EM01283b.htm.
Prepared by: Cate O'Neill
Created: 20 November 2009, Last modified: 8 May 2013
Last updated: 8 May 2013
Cite this: http://www.findandconnect.gov.au/vic/biogs/E000152b.htm
First published by the Find & Connect Web Resource Project for the Commonwealth of Australia, 2011
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