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Hawthorn Youth Welfare Service

The Hawthorn Youth Welfare Service was established by the Victorian state government in 1970. It provided short term, non-residential care for approximately 100 14 -17 year old males each year. Young men were placed on probation to the Youth Welfare Service for six to twelve months. They attended the service under close supervision for three…

Miralee Reception Centre

Miralee Reception Centre was established in 1963 as the ‘Mildura Reception Centre’, and renamed ‘Miralee’ in 1967. Miralee accommodated approximately 10 to 12 children up to 14 years of age. In 1980 the Department built a new ‘Miralee’ Reception Centre. The Mildura Reception Centre was opened in July 1963. In 1967 the centre was named…

Melbourne Youth Residential Centre

The Melbourne Youth Residential Centre is the sole facility providing custodial accommodation for remanded or sentenced young women (up to the age of 21) in Victoria’s juvenile justice system. The 30-bed centre also accommodates young men aged 10 to 14 years on remand or sentence by the Children’s Court to a Youth Residential Order. The…

Bendigo Reception Centre

Bendigo Reception Centre was established by the state government in 1965. Unlike other reception centres such as Allambie and Baltara, the Bendigo Reception Centre was managed by a family. The demand for Bendigo Reception Centre was lower than anticipated, and it was closed in February 1966.

St Paul’s School for the Blind

St Paul’s School for the Blind opened in 1957 in Kew and was run by the Villa Maria Society. It admitted some wards of state, and operated two residential units in Kew and Alphington. For most of its history St Paul’s School was located at 6 Studley Park Road, Kew (also described as 13 Fernhurst…

Mission Rescue and Children’s Home, Canadian

The Mission Rescue and Children’s Home, Canadian was established in 1897 and run by the Ballarat Town and City Mission (Canadian is the name of an area in Ballarat). Wickham and Golding write that the Home was “pleasantly situated on rising ground at the east end of Clayton Street, near Sinclair’s Hill and Butts Street…

Brady House

Brady House was run by the Mission of St James and St John in partnership with the Church of England Men’s Society in Strathmore from 1964. It was a hostel for young men, including those recently released from prison. It closed in 1978. Brady House had a quota of reserved placements for young men recently…

The Gordon Homes for Boys and Girls

The Gordon Homes for Boys and Girls, Highett, was the new name given in 1969 to the Gordon Homes for Boys. By the early 1970s, the Homes operated eight family group homes, in six suburbs. In 2000, the organisation changed its name to GordonCare for Children. Notice of the change of name from Gordon Homes…

The Menzies Home for Boys

The Menzies Home for Boys was the new name given in 1943 to the Minton Boys’ Home. The Menzies Home for Boys was for “neglected” boys under the age of eighteen who had been recommended by the Children’s Welfare Department. The Home was often referred to as ‘The Home on the Hill’. The organisation also…

Gordon Homes for Boys

The Gordon Homes for Boys opened in Highett in 1951. Formerly, services had been provided at the Gordon Institute in Melbourne. The Homes accommodated boys aged between 5 and 14 in cottage homes. In 1969, the Home became the Gordon Homes for Boys and Girls. The Gordon Homes for Boys were located on the Nepean…