Archives



Watson Lodge

Watson Lodge, in Perth, opened in 1967 as a government-run hostel that provided close supervision for up to 12 teenage girls, all of whom were wards of the State. From 1976, Watson Lodge was used as one of the community-based hostels attached to Nyandi detention centre. Watson Lodge’s residential program closed in 1984. It re-opened…

Shiloh

Shiloh, in Broomehill, south of Katanning, was a farm school for up to 16 boys who were wards of the State, referred by the Child Welfare Department. It was run independently by Mr and Mrs Beeck on their farm, ‘Langwell’. Boys went to school on the property. Shiloh’s aim was to reform ‘delinquent’ boys through…

Seaforth Salvation Army Boys’ Homes, Gosnells

The Seaforth Salvation Army Boys’ Home, Gosnells (Kelmscott) was established in 1920. Boys from the Salvation Army Homes at Collie were transferred to Seaforth, and lived in different ‘sections’, including a separate facility for boys and young men with intellectual disabilities (1922-1950). Seaforth Boys’ Home closed in 1955 and remaining boys were transferred to either…

Kalumburu Mission

Kalumburu Mission (also known as Drysdale River Mission until around 1950) provided dormitory style residential care for Aboriginal boys and girls aged from infancy to around 16 years of age. Kalumburu began as an ‘outstation’ of the Drysdale River Mission in 1932 and became the main ‘Mission Station’ in 1937. Kalumburu Mission was managed by…

Carnarvon Teens Hostel

Carnarvon Teens Hostel was a hostel for around ten young people (male and female) in Carnarvon. It opened in 1968, and was part of the Carnarvon Mission that was run the Churches of Christ Federal Aborigines Mission Board (Inc). The hostel aimed to give young people from Carnarvon Mission (later, Ingada Village) an opportunity to…

Australian Aboriginal Evangelical Mission Hostel

The Australian Aboriginal Evangelical Mission (AAEM) Hostel in Esperance, Western Australia was established in 1966. It was an Aboriginal Education and Employment Hostel, providing accommodation, supervision and full board for Aboriginal boys aged 15 years and older who were working in the district. It was open until at least 1980. The Australian Aboriginal Evangelical Mission…

Mosley Family Group Home

Mosley Family Group Home, run by the government, replaced Mosley Receiving Home in about 1981. It was in New Town. The Home provided temporary accommodation to children who were wards of state or supervised in other ways by the Social Welfare Department and its successors. Mosley closed in 1991. A married woman managed Mosley Family…

Kalyra Sanatorium

The Kalyra Sanatorium opened in Gloucester Avenue, Belair, in 1894 as a Home for people suffering from tuberculosis. It was run by the James Brown Memorial Trust which opened Estcourt House in the same year. The first patients were admitted to the sanatorium in 1895. A new wing with 12 private rooms was added in…

Families SA, Department for Education and Child Development

Families SA was transferred from the former Department for Families and Communities to the new Department for Education and Child Development in 2011. Families SA continues to provide child protection and family support services. The Youth Justice function of Families SA is now part of the Department for Communities and Social Inclusion. In 2016, Families…

Elizabeth Downs Cottage

Elizabeth Downs Cottage was opened by the Adelaide Central Methodist Mission at Elizabeth Downs in 1976. In the mid to late 1970s, as a response to the government’s push to close large congregate care institutions and replace them with smaller group care, the Methodist Church closed Lentara and established a number of Cottage Homes in…