Archives



St Giles’ Home

St Giles Home, run by the Society for the Care of Crippled Children, opened in Newstead in 1937. It provided residential accommodation and schooling to children with physical disabilities, including wards of state. The Home closed in the 1990s. St Giles Home provided accommodation and treatment for children who had contracted polio during the 1937…

Mothercraft Home

The Mothercraft Home opened in New Town in 1925. The Child Welfare Association ran it until 1947 when the government took it over. Its main purpose was to give breast feeding advice to mothers but it also provided accommodation for children. In 1982, the Home moved to South Hobart. It closed around 1988. The Mothercraft…

Orana Retarded Children’s Home

Orana Retarded Children’s Home, run by the Northern Branch of the Retarded Children’s Welfare Association, opened in Newnham in 1968. It accommodated country children with intellectual disabilities, aged between 6 and 16, so that they could attend special schools in Launceston. State wards with intellectual disabilities also lived at the Home. Orana closed around 1990….

Glenhaven Family Care

Glenhaven Family Care, run by the Christian Brethren, replaced Glenhaven Children’s Homes in about 1988. It is located in Ulverstone and Launceston. In 2018, Glenhaven provides emergency, respite, and long term accommodation for children and young people in north and north-west Tasmania. It also offers a support service to families. According to its website, in…

Rosebank Cottage for Disabled Children

Rosebank Cottage for Disabled Children, run by the Tasmanian Spastics Association, opened in Moonah in 1979. It provided long and short term accommodation for up to seven wards of state and other children with physical disabilities aged between 6 and 16. Rosebank Cottage closed around 1994. Rosebank Cottage was located at 60 Central Avenue, Moonah….

Female Factory, Cascades

The Female Factory at Cascades opened in 1827. It was run by the Convict Department. As a place of secondary punishment for convict women, it housed the babies that they gave birth to there. The Factory closed in 1853. The Female Factory opened in Lowes Distillery, which had been converted for that purpose. Many of…

Abermere Receiving Home

Abermere Receiving Home, run by the government, opened in Mount Stuart in 1975. It provided temporary accommodation to children who were wards of state or supervised in other ways by the Social Welfare Department. In the early 1980s, Abermere Receiving Home became Abermere Family Group Home. A married woman, known as a Receiving Home Keeper,…

Home of Mercy

The Home of Mercy, run by the Anglican Church, opened in 1890. It was a rescue and maternity home for single mothers, some of whose babies were adopted from the Home. After a number of sites, the Home moved to New Town in 1905 where there was a small babies’ and children’s Home attached. The…

Northern Regional Resource Centre

The Northern Regional Resource Centre, opened in 1983 and based in Launceston, replaced the Omaru Youth Centre. It provided school holiday programs and after school activities, including swimming, judo and gymnastics, for state wards and other children for whom the Department was concerned. The Centre also ran an Independent Living Unit that taught wards of…

Lismore Receiving Home

Lismore Receiving Home, run by the government, opened in Lindisfarne in 1973. It provided temporary accommodation to children who were wards of state or supervised in other ways by the Social Welfare Department. Lismore closed in 1979. Lismore Receiving Home opened in May 1973. It was in Lindisfarne, a suburb of Hobart. The Home was…