Centacare Catholic Family Services was formerly known as the Catholic Social Service Bureau. The name change, to reflect the organisation’s ‘commitment to families’ was announced by Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne George Pell in December 1998. The Department of Human Services funded Centacare’s Adoption and Permanent Care Service, which incorporated an information service about previous adoptions.
The Our Lady of Sion Orphanage was established in 1913. It was run by the Sisters of Sion and situated in the town of Sale on the grounds of a college for girls. It generally accommodated girls aged from 4 to 15 years. It ceased to operate in 1947. The Orphanage was run by the…
The Sisters of Sion first provided educational services in Victoria in 1890, in Gippsland. (In 1887, the first Catholic Bishop of Sale, Bishop Corbett, had travelled to Europe and returned with seven Sisters of Notre Dame and five priests.) The Sisters ran parish schools and boarding schools in towns including Sale, Bairnsdale and Warragul. The…
Padua Hall was established by the Franciscan Friars in Kew in 1945. It provided a ‘halfway house’ for former residents of the Morning Star Youth Training Centre at Mt Eliza, and also Catholic ‘youths’ who were wards of state with indeterminate sentences. Padua Hall closed in 1960. Padua Hall was an institution in Kew run…
The Franciscan Friars arrived in Victoria in 1839 and built two of the colony’s first churches. This Catholic Order, which dates back to Italy in 1209, has been working in Australia almost since the time of first European contact. In Victoria, the Franciscans ran the Morning Star Boys’ Home and Padua Hall.
The first branch of the Church of England Boys’ Society (CEBS) in Australia was established in around 1914 in Kew, Victoria. It was initially under the guidance of the Church of England Men’s Society. CEBS played a role in a number of children’s institutions in Victoria, sometimes delivering services in conjunction with St John’s Homes…
The Ballarat District Orphan Asylum was run by a non-denominational Committee of Management, comprising a President, two Vice-Presidents, five Trustees, a Treasurer and a Committee of Management of sixteen members. Each year it would meet to present the annual report and balance sheet, and to hold elections for officers. A House Committee of five people…
The George Street Children’s Home was established in 1916 and run by the Ballarat Town and City Mission. The Town and City Mission Visitor of 4 August 1916 appealed for more furniture to be donated to help the children at George Street settle in, and “make the place something like it ought to be”. In September 1916…
The Community of the Holy Name is a religious order founded in Melbourne, in 1888. The founder of the order, Emma Caroline Silcock (also known as Sister Esther), led the work of the Mission to the Streets and Lanes in Melbourne, and the two organisations had a close association. The order was not formally established…
Peninsula Family Services was established in 1980 by the Mission of St James and St John. The Andrew Kerr Memorial Home had been closed in 1978, with its residents being moved to family group homes in the Mornington Peninsula region. Peninsula Family Services was first located above a coffee shop in Main Street, Mornington. In…
Dec 18, 2024
Nov 15, 2024
