The Victorian Children's Aid Society was based in Leonard Street, Parkville, at the children's Home which had been established in the early 1900s (by Selina Sutherland).
The Home was renamed Swinburne Lodge in 1957, after a former President of the Society, Pattie Deakin (wife of the former Prime Minister).
In 1966, the Society sold the Parkville property and moved to the suburb of Black Rock. As well as running what was now called Swinburne House, the Society operated a number of family group homes in bayside Melbourne, including in Bentleigh East and Parkdale.
In the 1980s, the Society expanded its operations into youth work, disability care and foster care. In 1987, the Society established the Alan Marshall centre for Disabled Children and Adolescents, located at 6 Seaview Crescent, Black Rock. It also ran the Norman Craig Lodge, a hostel in Black Rock for adolescents.
By 1984, all children in the care of the Society were in either group homes or foster care.
In 1991, the Victorian Children's Aid Society merged with Foster Care Westernport, to create a new organisation called Family Focus.
Last updated:
01 June 2023
Cite this: http://www.findandconnect.gov.au/guide/vic/E000278
First published by the Find & Connect Web Resource Project for the Commonwealth of Australia, 2011
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