The Immigrants’ Aid Society came into being in May 1853. A non-government organisation, its initial purpose was to provide relief and information only to new arrivals to the colony of Victoria, though its activities quickly expanded beyond providing aid to poor immigrants. Before the colonial government passed the Neglected and Criminal Children’s Act in 1864…
The Warrawong Kindergarten for Emergency Care in Ringwood East began to provide temporary emergency care in the 1960s. Run by the Graduates Association of the Melbourne Kindergarten Teachers College, it started off as a holiday home for children attending kindergartens affiliated with the Free Kindergarten Union. Opening in 1937, it was a “sister” institution to…
The Kindergarten Training College was established in 1922. Previously, kindergarten teachers were trained by the Free Kindergarten Union, established in 1908. In 1964, the Kindergarten Teachers College became a separate entity from the Free Kindergarten Union. In 1973 it became the Institute of Early Childhood Development. Graduates of the Melbourne Kindergarten Teachers College ran two holiday…
The Royal Women’s Hospital was established in 1856. Its first location was a two-storey house in East Melbourne, then in 1858 it moved to a site in Madeline St (now Swanston St) in the inner-Melbourne suburb of Carlton. Originally called the Melbourne Lying-In Hospital and Infirmary for Diseases of Women and Children, its name was…
Meli is an organisation created in April 2023, following a merger of Bethany and Barwon Child Youth & Family (BCYF). Meli’s office in Hamlyn Heights (Geelong) is on the former site of the Geelong Female Refuge, established in 1868, and Bethany Babies’ Home (1928-1977). BCYF’s originated with the Geelong Orphan Asylum (established 1854), later known…
The Human Rights Commission, ACT oversees issues of human rights and justice in the ACT, including ensuring that ACT government agencies are complying with human rights. As part of this work, it undertook an audit into the Quamby Youth Detention Centre in 2005.
The Canossian Daughters of Charity is a Catholic order founded in Italy in 1808. They first came to Australian in 1949, and arrived in Darwin in 1970 with the purpose of establishing a residential children’s home – Bakhita Village. They ran the children’s home from 1972 until late December 1974, when it was destroyed by…
The Department of Seniors, Disability Services and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships was established in late 2020. It amalgamated the recently abolished Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships with the Seniors and Disability Services functions of the former Department of Communities, Disability Services and Seniors. Within the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander…
The Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships was established in 2015. It replaced the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and Multicultural Affairs Department. The Department administered Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander policy, rights and culture. Within the Department, the Community and Personal Histories team helped people to trace their personal and family history,…
The Newcastle Shelter was established in 1906 as temporary accommodation for children awaiting hearings at the local Children’s Court, children who were on remand, or who were otherwise in the custody of the police. It operated from the private home of Miss King, who, along with her daughter, ran the shelter with support from the…
Nov 15, 2024
May 3, 2024
