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Centacare Catholic Family Services

Centacare Catholic Family Services was formerly known as the Catholic Social Service Bureau. The name change, to reflect the organisation’s ‘commitment to families’ was announced by Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne George Pell in December 1998. The Department of Human Services funded Centacare’s Adoption and Permanent Care Service, which incorporated an information service about previous adoptions.

Our Lady of Sion Orphanage

The Our Lady of Sion Orphanage was established in 1913. It was run by the Sisters of Sion and situated in the town of Sale on the grounds of a college for girls. It generally accommodated girls aged from 4 to 15 years. It ceased to operate in 1947. The Orphanage was run by the…

Sisters of Sion

The Sisters of Sion first provided educational services in Victoria in 1890, in Gippsland. (In 1887, the first Catholic Bishop of Sale, Bishop Corbett, had travelled to Europe and returned with seven Sisters of Notre Dame and five priests.) The Sisters ran parish schools and boarding schools in towns including Sale, Bairnsdale and Warragul. The…

Padua Hall

Padua Hall was established by the Franciscan Friars in Kew in 1945. It provided a ‘halfway house’ for former residents of the Morning Star Youth Training Centre at Mt Eliza, and also Catholic ‘youths’ who were wards of state with indeterminate sentences. Padua Hall closed in 1960. Padua Hall was an institution in Kew run…

Franciscan Friars

The Franciscan Friars arrived in Victoria in 1839 and built two of the colony’s first churches. This Catholic Order, which dates back to Italy in 1209, has been working in Australia almost since the time of first European contact. In Victoria, the Franciscans ran the Morning Star Boys’ Home and Padua Hall.

St Joseph’s Home for Children, Christian Brothers

St Joseph’s Home for Children in Flemington came under the management of the Christian Brothers in 1991. Previously, it was run by the Sisters of St Joseph. In July 1997, St Joseph’s Home for Children became part of MacKillop Family Services.

Resurrection House

Resurrection House, Essendon was established in 1952 and run by the Sisters of the Resurrection. First intended for Polish migrants, it housed children from 1954, including some state wards. It ceased to be a children’s Home in 1971. In 2019 Resurrection House is a Catholic school. Resurrection House was situated at 6 Aberfeldie Street, Essendon….

Convent of the Good Shepherd, Oakleigh

The Convent of the Good Shepherd, Oakleigh, was established in 1883. It was also known as the Private Reformatory for Roman Catholic Girls. The Convent first received girls and women from about 14 years, but in later years it accommodated girls from the age of 11. The Convent of the Good Shepherd was demolished in…

St Anthony’s Children’s Home

St Anthony’s Children’s Home in Kew was established by the Sisters of St Joseph in around 1921. It provided care for mostly boys from kindergarten age to early primary school age, and helped to ease overcrowding at St Joseph’s Foundling Hospital in Broadmeadows. Its name changed in 1943 to St Anthony’s Home. St Anthony’s Children’s…