Fairhaven Hostel

Fairhaven Hostel in Esperance, was established by the Churches of Christ Federal Aborigines Mission Board Inc. (now known as Global Mission Partners) in 1965. Its purpose was to provide accommodation for Aboriginal girls aged 14-17 years while they undertook education, training and employment in Esperance.

The Fairhaven Hostel was run by the Churches of Christ Federal Aborigines Mission Board (Inc). It was an Aboriginal education and employment hostel, providing accommodation and a practical skills curriculum for Aboriginal girls aged 14 to 17 years who came from the Goldfields and Western Desert communities, Norseman Mission and Cundeelee Mission. The young people came to Fairhaven at the request of the Commonwealth Department of Education, their parents, or through the Western Australian child welfare system.

As time went by, Fairhaven was expanded to accommodate more young women. The upstairs verandahs were enclosed, and an extension was built to the rear of the property. This had a laundry and bathroom, a large activity room for film nights (every Saturday night), and living quarters for older girls. The extension was separated from the main house by a covered breezeway with a big fireplace, table tennis table and lounges. Missionaries remember the girls spending a lot of time in the breezeway, and that Fairhaven acted as a social hub for young Aboriginal people who came to Esperance from Churches of Christ and other Missions, and from outback communities with ties to the church. Young men from the AAEM Hostel and the Condingup Hostel were regular visitors.

Girls were taken to and picked up from their place of employment while they were living at Fairhaven and there was a school bus for the high school girls. The girls and young women living at Fairhaven participated in local sports teams, musical festivals and the Esperance Eisteddfod. They made artworks which they could sell in the local community, keeping the money from their sales.

Fairhaven closed in December 1987. The building was sold in 1988, and was subsequently restored by the new owner.

National Redress Scheme for people who have experienced institutional child sexual abuse

The Western Australian government has agreed to be a funder of last resort for this institution. This means that although the institution is now defunct, it is participating in the National Redress Scheme, and the government has agreed to pay the institution’s share of costs of providing redress to a person (as long as the government is found to be equally responsible for the abuse a person experienced).