Parramatta Mental Hospital officially opened in 1849 under the name Parramatta Lunatic Asylum, on the site of the former Parramatta Female Factory. It was was run by the office of the Colonial Secretary before the Office of the Inspector General of the Insane was established in 1876 and took over it’s management. It had several…
Newcastle Mental Hospital was established in 1871 in buildings that had previously been the Newcastle Industrial School and Reformatory for Girls, and prior to that the government barracks. It was opened to ease overcrowding at asylums in Sydney, and intended to specifically accept patients with developmental disabilities (referred to at the time as “imbeciles” and…
Gladesville Mental Hospital officially opened in 1838 under the name Tarban Creek Lunatic Asylum. It was located in the Sydney suburb of Gladesville, and was run by the office of the Colonial Secretary before the Office of the Inspector General of the Insane was established in 1876 and took over it’s management. It had several…
Callan Park Hospital for the Insane was officially opened in 1878 at Lilyfield, Sydney. It was under the control of the New South Wales State Government office of the Inspector General of the Insane. It was opened to help relieve overcrowding at other mental health hospitals in New South Wales. In 1915 the name of…
Raelene Hostel was established by the St John of God Brothers in 1961. Originally, the hostel was started to house 7 boys of working age who had previously resided at the St John of God Training Centre in Cheltenham. During the 1960s, Raelene Hostel received subsidies from the Social Welfare Department (annual report, 1962-1963). The…
Ballarat Mental Hospital was opened by the Victorian Government at Ballarat in 1893. It was located on a site that had previously been the Ballarat Industrial School, an earlier iteration of the Ballarat Asylum from 1877 to 1879, and the Ballarat Boys’ Reformatory. It was initially known as the Ballarat Asylum, then from 1905 to…
Royal Park Receiving House was opened by the Victorian Government in 1907 at Royal Park. It was a facility for the short term diagnosis and treatment of people with mental illness or intellectual disability. Patients requiring more extensive treatment were transferred from the Receiving House to other mental health hospitals in Victoria. In 1909 the…
The Sunbury Mental Hospital was opened by the Victorian Government at Sunbury in 1879 on the site that had previously been used as the Sunbury Industrial School. It was initially known as the Sunbury Asylum, then from 1905 to 1934 as the Sunbury Hospital for Insane, then Sunbury Mental Hospital until 1962, then Sunbury Training…
The Beechworth Mental Hospital was opened by the Victorian Government at Beechworth in 1867. It was initially known as the Beechworth Asylum, then from 1905 to 1934 as the Beechworth Hospital for Insane, then Beechworth Mental Hospital until 1967, and finally as Mayday Hills Mental Hospital & Mayday Hills Psychiatric Hospital until its closure around…
Larundel Mental Hospital was officially established by the Victorian Mental Hygiene Branch in 1953. It was located on the same site as the Mont Park Mental Hospital, and had been constructed to ease overcrowding there and at other Victorian hospitals like the Kew Mental Hospital. Larundel was primarily a hospital for short and long-term adult…
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