Mandates committing children to the custody of the Department, Social Welfare Department and Predecessors

This series consists of the legal documents which committed children to an Industrial or Reformatory School, and was the first step in them becoming a ward of the State. They contain information including the child’s name, the name of the institution they were placed in, the date of their placement, general biographical information including about their parents and siblings, and notes on the reasons for their wardship. Unfortunately not all mandates have been retained by the department, and some have been destroyed. Only 5% of the mandates created between 1940 and 1970 survive. From 1972 mandates were instead placed on a child’s individual file, and were not aggregated into this series.

Access Conditions

Access to some of the records in this series is restricted for 100 years in order to protect personal privacy. Those records over 100 years old are open and can be accessed by any member of the public. People mentioned in these records have a right to access information about themselves. To request access to these records please contact the Department for Child Protection Freedom of Information team. To arrange access to open records please contact State Records of South Australia.

Records

An index listing the names of children mentioned in this series has been digitised and is available at the State Records of South Australia website via the following URL: https://www.archives.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/1104578/GRG29-121-Index-to-1924.pdf. The index groups the names of siblings together, and shows the date ranges for their files and the unit number where the records about them can be found in this series

Contents – Mandate forms change marginally over the date range but normally include a form titled Report of Circumstances of ____________(name of child) sentenced to _____________(name of reformatory) on __________(date). This form records the following information: (1) Date when born and age when committed; (2) Religious persuasion; (3) Names of parents in full – Mother/Father; (4) Address in full, occupation and average weekly earnings; (5) Number of children – Over 13 years/Under 13 years; (6) Character and previous conduct of child so far as known; (7) Full particulars as to circumstances, character, whether sober or otherwise, of both parents; (8) Date; (9) Signature. Notes on contents – Mandates sometimes include other forms noting circumstances of admission, confirmation and date of admission signed by the Matron of the Reformatory/Home. Some include references to State Children’s Department Correspondence Dockets on which correspondence related to the child’s case is filed.