The Department for Community Welfare was established in 1972, and was the key government organisation responsible for child welfare in Western Australia. It took over the Child Welfare Department and the responslbilities to Aboriginal children held by the Department of Native Welfare and Commissioner of Native Welfare. The Department for Community Welfare was replaced by…
The Child Welfare Department of Western Australia was responsible for the welfare of children in out of home care for much of the twentieth century. Known as the ‘CWD’ or ‘the welfare’, the department had an impact on the lives of many WA families. The CWD ran its own Children’s Homes, ‘placed’ children in other…
The Public Charities and State Children Department was established in 1908, following the passage of the State Children Act of 1907. This Act established the State Children’s Department which operated in conjunction with the Public Charities Department and was known as the Public Charities and State Children’s Department. Previously, child welfare had been the responsibility…
The Department for Community Development was formed on 1 October 1992, and was the key government organisation responsible for child welfare in Western Australia. It ceased on 1 July 1995 and was followed by the Department for Family and Children’s Services. There have been two ‘versions’ of the Department for Community Development in WA and…
The Department for Child Protection was the lead agency responsible for the care and protection of children in Western Australia. In October 2008, the Department for Child Protection ran 21 family group homes across the state. In May 2013 its name changed to the Department for Child Protection and Family Support. The State Records Office…
The House of Mercy was established in Perth in 1891 as a ‘non-denominational charity for single mothers’. It was run by a private management committee. Women were expected to work in the commercial laundry at the Home, which was funded by these activities and charitable donations. The name was changed to the Alexandra Home for…
The Ngal-a Mothercraft Home and Training Centre Inc (Ngala) was the new name given in 1956 to The Alexandra Home for Mothers and Babies (Inc) and Mothercraft Training School, in Highgate. In 1959 Ngala moved to Kensington. Ngala had three functions: a maternity home for mothers and babies; from 1959, the ‘reception centre’ for all…
Hillcrest Maternity Home in North Fremantle was opened by the Salvation Army in 1922. It continued the previous maternity home, which had been known as the ‘Open Door’ and ‘Hopetoun’. Young women who were wards of the state were admitted, and also private maternity patients. Many babies were adopted from Hillcrest. In 1974, maternity services…
The Alexandra Home for Women was the new name given in 1916 to the House of Mercy in Highgate, Perth. The Alexandra Home was run by a private committee of management and continued primarily as a maternity home for unmarried mothers, with some married women also admitted. By 1950, it was known as The Alexandra…
The Catholic Family Welfare Bureau opened in 1959. Its activities included contraception advice, marriage guidance, and adoption services. In 1977, it became Centacare Tasmania. The Roman Catholic Archbishop, Sir Guildford Young, established the Catholic Family Welfare Bureau for two reasons. Firstly, he aimed to dissociate the Roman Catholic Church from scientific contraception, recently endorsed by…
Dec 18, 2024
Nov 15, 2024
