Archives



Kew Children’s Cottages

Kew Children’s Cottages date back to 1887. They were located adjacent to the Kew Asylum and were also known as the ‘idiot ward’. They provided accommodation and education to children with intellectual disabilities. They were closed in 2008. Kew Children’s Cottages became known by that name from around 1929, although the Kew Asylum had housed…

Windsor Youth Welfare Service

The Windsor Youth Welfare Service was established in 1973. It included a residential unit, and provided support and supervision for approximately 100 young women per year aged 13 to 18 years. Young women were referred to the Windsor Youth Welfare Service from regional Centres; Winlaton, Allambie and the Children’s Court. The Service also operated a…

The Gables

The Gables was opened as a state-run children’s Home in 1962. It accommodated 25 children who were wards of the state, consisting of boys from 4 to 10 years of age and girls from 4 to 14 years of age. Most of the children accommodated at The Gables had either physical, behavioural or learning difficulties….

Aboriginal Youth Support Service

The Aboriginal Youth Support Service was a state-run youth welfare service, established in around 1973-74 in Brunswick.

Melbourne Youth Justice Centre

The Melbourne Youth Justice Centre is a high security centre commissioned by the state government in 1993. It is located in the Parkville Youth Justice Precinct, and replaced the Turana Youth Training Centre. The Justice Centre is a custodial facility for males aged 15 to approximately 18, who have been sentenced to a Youth Justice…

Nunawading Youth Residential Centre

The Nunawading Youth Residential Centre was established in 1991, on the former site of Winlaton. It accommodated young people from ten and fourteen years who had been sentenced to detention. It also provided youth training centre programs. According to the Finding Records website, Nunawading Youth Residential Centre was a large complex with different sections, including:…

Family Group Home Program

The Victorian Children’s Welfare Department began its Family Group Home Program in 1956. At first, each of the Department’s group homes accommodated eight children, under the care of a cottage mother (and often a cottage father too). By 1974 there were 40 Departmental homes housing 209 children in the inner and outer suburbs of Melbourne…

Lady Dugan Children’s Home

The Lady Dugan Children’s Home was established by the Social Welfare Department in 1970. It mostly housed children aged between two and five years, and their school age siblings. It had capacity for 34 children. The Home ceased to operate in April 1976, and its residents were transferred into family group homes and other placements….

Illoura Children’s Home

The Illoura Children’s Home, in Balwyn, Social Welfare Department was established in 1964. It housed up to 36 children including; boys from 5 to 9 years of age and girls from 5 to 15 years of age, many in sibling groups. From the 1970s it housed fewer children in residential units. Illoura closed in 1984….

Sutton Grange

Sutton Grange in Mornington was established by the Victorian Government in 1957. The Home accommodated wards of the state in sibling groups. By 1962 it accommodated 30 children: girls from 4 to 17 and boys from 4 to 8 years of age. The children attended local schools. Sutton Grange was closed in September 1977. The…