The Charitable Grants Department, also known as the office of the Administrator of Charitable Relief, was originally administered by the Colony of Tasmania. In 1901, following Australian federation, the newly formed state government took it over. The Department provided outdoor relief, that is, funds or food given to poor people not living in an institution….
Anglicare Tasmania began in 1977. It was originally called the Diocesan Social Welfare Committee, and was established in October 1977 by the Anglican Church of Tasmania Synod. From 1983 until 1988 the organisation was called the Anglican Family Care Service. In 1988 it officially changed its name to Anglicare. Anglicare Tasmania assists people who have…
The Tasmania Prison Service dates from 2000. It is located within the Department of Justice. In 2014, the Service manages the Risdon Prison Complex, Ron Barwick Minimum Security Prison, Mary Hutchinson Women’s Prison, Hayes Prison Farm, the Hobart Reception Centre, and the Launceston Reception Centre. It holds an incomplete collection of prison records.
Mental Health Services is a division within the Department of Health and Human Services. In 2014, it offers care and treatment to people with mental illness, assistance to people affected by drug and alcohol, promotes mental health and wellbeing, and provides primary mental health care in the prison system.
The Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment is involved in activities that concern the built heritage, the environment, agriculture, fisheries, aquaculture, and the management of property, titles, and maps. One of the Department’s predecessors, the Department of Environment and Planning, was sometimes involved in planning for the buildings occupied by children’s Homes.
Reeve House, run by the government, opened in about 1992 in Hadspen, near Launceston. As a family group Home, it provided temporary accommodation for children who were wards of state or supervised in other ways by the Department of Community Services and its successors. Reeve House was still open in 2011. A married woman managed…
Eastville Receiving Home opened in Rokeby in 1979. The Home provided temporary accommodation for children who were wards of state or supervised in other ways by the Social Welfare Department. It became Eastville Family Group Home in 1981. A married woman, known as a Receiving Home Keeper, managed Eastville with the assistance of her husband,…
The Overseas League was founded in London in 1910 by Sir Evelyn Wrench with the aim of strengthening relationships and fostering good will within the British Empire. It was based in England, and had branches across Australia. The Overseas League was involved in the migration of children from Britain to Australia, New Zealand, and Canada,…
The Young Men’s Christian Association arrived in Launceston in 1880 and Hobart in 1882. It promoted a Christian all round development of young men from all kinds of backgrounds. The Association considered bringing some British boys aged 14 to 16 to Tasmania in 1947. However, this does not appear to have happened. In 2014, the…
Beaufront, in Ross, between about 1949 and 1958, provided temporary accommodation to some children arriving in Tasmania under the Big Brother Movement’s and Fairbridge Society’s migration schemes. According to the National Trust of Australia (Tasmania), Beaufront had been built for Arthur Smith in 1837. He sold the property to Thomas Parramore in the 1870s. By…