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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…

Western Youth Welfare Service, State of Victoria

The Western Youth Welfare Service (WYWS) was established by the Victorian government in Ascot Vale in 1975. It provided residence and support for about 200 young people every year. The WYWS included a hostel that helped prepare residents return home or to live independently. It also ran day and evening programs to assist young people…

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…

Central Board for the Protection of Aborigines, Colony of Victoria

The Central Board for the Protection of Aborigines was established in 1869, under the provisions of the Aborigines Protection Act 1869. Previously, the Central Board Appointed to Watch Over the Interests of Aborigines had been operating in Victoria since 1860. The Board, which ran missions and reserve stations in Victoria, had significant statutory power over…

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…

Gippsland Family Services

Gippsland Family Services was established by the Mission of St James and John in 1979. The Mission had operated a family group home and ‘Thurana’, an adolescent residential unit, at Traralgon, since 1976. Gippsland Family Services ran a number of services for children in the Latrobe Valley, including The Manor in Morwell (crisis accommodation for…