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MacKillop Family Services

MacKillop Family Services was established in 1997 to continue the services (foster care, residential care and specialised home-based care services) to children, young people and families previously undertaken by the Sisters of Mercy, the Christian Brothers, and the Sisters of St Joseph. It is a provider of services for children, young people and families in…

Outreach Incorporated

Outreach Incorporated was a voluntary organisation formed in Canberra in 1967. From 1968, it ran a hostel in Lyneham for adolescent boys and, from 1969, a hostel for girls in Curtin. Residents were supervised by ‘house parents’. During 1974-1975, Outreach Incorporated was dissolved and responsibility for the hostels was assumed by a committee under the…

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Services, Australian Capital Territory

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Services (ATSIS) is part of the Office for Children Youth and Family Support within the Community Services Directorate. The ATSIS unit was established in 2005. It administers a range of program initiatives and also provides advice on policy and procedural issues across the Office for Children Youth and Family Support…

Welfare Section, Australian Capital Territory

The Welfare Section of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Government was the agency responsible for the welfare of children in the ACT from 1968, though the Section was established in 1957. Before 1968, child welfare in the ACT was the responsibility of the Child Welfare Department of the New South Wales Government. In 1970 the…

Galilee Inc.

Galilee Inc. was established in the suburb of Pearce in around 1987. Its services included alternative education and living skills development programs, support, advocacy and assistance for young people dealing with homelessness. Galilee Inc. administered a foster care program for children and young people up to age 18. In 2011, Galilee Inc. merged with community…

Open Family Canberra

Open Family Canberra was founded in 1992. It provided foster care services, including a program specifically focussed on Indigenous children. In 2002 Open Family Canberra ceased operating in the Australian Capital Territory and its programs were incorporated into Galilee Inc.

Marlow Cottage

Marlow Cottage, Kaleen, was established in 1986 under the Children’s Services Act 1986. It was originally known as Kaleen Youth Shelter and was run by the Welfare Branch, and later the Housing and Community Services Bureau of the ACT Government. In November 1995, it transitioned to a non-government provider and has since operated under the…

Marymead Child and Family Centre

Marymead Child and Family Centre was established in 1967 in Narrabundah. It was run by the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, until the Catholic Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn took over responsibility in 1986. In 2018, Marymead continues to provide residential care for girls and boys aged 5 to 17, as well as foster care and…

Catholic Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn

The Catholic Diocese of Goulburn was established in 1862, later including the city of Canberra and surrounding areas. It became the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn in 1948.

Barnardos Children’s Family Centre

Barnardos Children’s Family Centre in Downer came into being in 1983 and replaced Barnardos House and Berwick House in Curtin. By the early 1990s Barnardos had shifted away from residential care to foster care and family support. From 1993 Barnardos Children’s Family Centre has run Find-a-Family ACT, a program organising permanent foster placements. Barnardos Children’s…