Dalwood Children’s Home, at Seaforth, was a home for mothers and babies set up by the Food for Babies Fund in 1924. In 1931 it began to provide temporary accommodation for children. In 1989 Dalwood stopped operating as a children’s home. Non-residential programs continue on the site, in 2024 it is known as the Dalwood…
The Renwick Association was an organisation of people who were associated with the Mittagong cottage homes and Renwick, from 1885 to 1994. Its members included former residents (‘Govos’), former workers and house parents, as well as family members and local people who are interested in the history of this institution. The Renwick Association was incorporated…
The Renwick Hospital for Infants was opened at Summer Hill by the Benevolent Society in 1921. It replaced the previous Renwick Hospital for Infants at Thomas Street in Sydney and was a lying-in hospital and a hospital for children whose parents could not afford to pay for their medical care. Renwick Hospital at Summer Hill…
The Dunlea Centre was opened in Engadine in 2010. It had been called Boys’ Town Engadine, but became the Dunlea Centre when it included the Margaret residential unit for young women. In 2012 the Dunlea Centre provided a range of services to adolescent children and their families including life skills education and residential out of…
The Methodist Church preached its first services in New South Wales in 1812. In the 1880s, faced with a declining congregation in Sydney, the Methodist Conference resolved to try a new style of worship, and opened the Central City Mission. The new church was so popular that, although the Methodist faith survived, the activities of…
St Michael’s Church of England War Memorial Children’s Home was officially opened at Kelso, a suburb of Bathurst, on 4 May 1957, by the Anglican Youth Council and Children’s Home Council of the Bathurst Anglican Diocesan Synod. There were three homes in the complex: one was for children of kindergarten age, one for older boys…
The Aboriginal Child, Family and Community Care State Secretariat [AbSec] was formed to strengthen links between Aboriginal child and family service provider agencies and to support the organisations to provide effective and high quality services for children and young people. It has been funded by the Australian Government as the Peak Body for Aboriginal Out-of-Home…
The Colonial Secretary was an essential position in the New South Wales Government. During the Colonial era (1821 to 1856) the Colonial Secretary supported the NSW Governor and was responsible for advising and receiving instructions from the British Government. After NSW achieved self-governence in 1856 the Colonial Secretary, was responsible for a range of essential…
The Halloween Children’s Home, on Redmyre Road, Strathfield, was set up around 1926 by a private committee. It appears to have been a girls’ home but may have taken boys. In the mid-1930s state wards were sent to Halloween Children’s Home. It closed around the late 1930s. The Halloween Children’s Home was located in a…
The Department of Aboriginal Affairs in New South Wales is the custodian of the records of the Aborigines Welfare Board (formerly known as the Aborigines Protection Board) and the Chief Secretary. The Family Records Unit was established as a result of the New South Wales Government response to the Bringing Them Home Report to assist…