The Sisters of Mercy, Geelong Congregation, a Catholic religious order of women from Ireland, was established in 1859. The Sisters provided care for girls at St Augustine’s Boys’ Orphanage before opening Our Lady’s Orphanage and St Joseph’s Industrial School for girls. In 1907 the Sisters of Mercy started to consolidate the number of congregations across…
The Rutherglen Viticultural College, Chiltern Valley Road, Rutherglen, from 1904 accepted wards of the state deemed to be suitable for viticultural and general farm work as trainees. The Department for Neglected Children and Reformatory Schools and the Agricultural Department struck an agreement to facilitate this placement. The arrangement appears to have ceased by 1927. The…
The Friendly Brothers Society (1845-c.1880) was a lay Catholic association which played a leading role in providing for vulnerable children in Melbourne and Geelong. During the 1840s and 1850s members of the society arranged private boarding placements for children in need. From the late 1850s Catholic orphanages emerged as the Church’s preferred means of providing…
St Paul’s Discovery Centre was established in 1979 by the Reverend Ian Paxton of the Mission of St James and St John. It was located on the site of the former St Paul’s Home for Boys at Newhaven, Phillip Island. St Paul’s operated as holiday camp for ‘disadvantaged’ children. St Paul’s Discovery Centre opened in…
The Burwood Children’s Home was established in 1972. Previously known as the Burwood Boys’ Home, it changed its name when it began to accept girls from the early 1970s. The last child left the Home in 1986. It was around this time that the Home became the Child and Family Care Network. The Burwood Children’s…
The Child and Family Care Network came into being around 1986. It was known previously as the Burwood Children’s Home. The Network offered child and family welfare and educational programs. In 1996, it shifted its focus to children’s services and early intervention. In 2006, it changed its name to bestchance Child Family Care. The Child…
bestchance Child Family Care was established in 2006. Previously, it was known as Child and Family Care Network. The organisation dates back to 1895 and the establishment of the Burwood Boys’ Home. In 2006, bestchance opened its Child Care Centre in Glen Waverley which delivers a range of children’s services. Bestchance holds records from its…
North East Foster Care was established in around 1976. It was jointly auspiced by the Anglican Diocesan Mission to the Streets and Lanes and St John’s Homes for Boys and Girls. From 1989, North East Foster Care’s Greensborough office was auspiced by the Mission to the Streets and Lanes, and the Preston office remained under…
The South Western Community Care Association Inc. was formed in 1991, through the amalgamation of Glenelg Foster Care, Currawong House Hamilton, South Western Tenant Support Services and Warrnambool Community Legal Aid Service. From 1991 to 1995, South Western Community Care Association was auspiced by Lutheran Children’s Homes. In 1998, the organisation changed its name to…
Kilmany UnitingCare has major outlets in the Gippsland region of Victoria, including in the towns of Bairnsdale, Sale and Leongatha. Kilmany UnitingCare provides community based services including foster care, family counselling, family day care, youth work, family support and financial counselling. It was formerly known as Kilmany Family Care. In July 2010 this agency changed…