Meerindoo Hostel was opened at Bairnsdale in 1972 as a hostel for Aboriginal students from regional communities in Eastern Victoria attending school in Bairnsdale. It had capacity for up to 12 students aged between 12 and 17 years old. At times children who were wards of the state we placed at Meerindoo. Many of the…
Aboriginal Hostels Limited (AHL) was established in June 1973 to provide hostel accommodation and related services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across Australia. AHL was established by the Commonwealth Government as a not-for-profit company, with the AHL board reporting to the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs. It ran at least one children’s home/hostel for…
Wirraminna Hostel was a family group home for Aboriginal boys opened by Aboriginal Hostels Limited at Essendon in 1973. Wirraminna was run by a married couple who acted as house parents to the boys who lived there. Typically there were five or six boys in residence at Wirraminna, although the hostel was reported to have…
Stubbs Terrace Children’s Home at 233 Stubbs Terrace, Shenton Park, was an inpatient unit for children and young people set up under the Mental Health Act. Residents could be aged between 4 and 17. Delphine Jamet writes that young people were admitted to Stubbs Terrace for temporary care, for a wide range of reasons: “Some were…
The Fairfield Home for Refugee Children was a children’s Home run by the Sydney Anglican Home Mission Society, via its Care Force unit. It was also known as the Fairfield Hostel for Refugees, and the Condell Park Home for Refugee Children (though it is not known if it was ever located at Condell Park). It…
Charlton Youth Services ran several Family Group Homes in the Sydney area from the mid 1970s to the mid 1980s. These were a half-way house at Summerhill (open 1976 to 1983), a half-way house for girls at Five Dock (open 1978 to 1984), and a Group Home for Boys at Canterbury (open March to November…
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…
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