Meerindoo Hostel was opened at Bairnsdale in 1972 as a hostel for Aboriginal students from regional communities in Eastern Victoria attending school in Bairnsdale. It had capacity for up to 12 students aged between 12 and 17 years old. At times children who were wards of the state we placed at Meerindoo. Many of the children who lived at Meerindoo Hostel came from the Lake Tyers Aboriginal Community and the Lakes Entrance area.
From approximately 1974 Meerindoo Hostel was operated by Aboriginal Hostels Limited (AHL) in partnership with Gippsland and East Gippsland Aboriginal Cooperative. Aboriginal Hostels Limited ceased operating Meerindoo as a student hostel in late 1982 due to very low occupancy, however it continued to provide funding to the Gippsland and East Gippsland Aboriginal Cooperative to run Meerindoo as a transient hostel for Aboriginal people visiting the area. Meerindoo still had some students in residence at this time, and in 1983 the Victorian Government declared Meerindoo an approved children’s home.
In 1989 Meerindoo Hostel changed functions again from a transient hostel to a hostel for homeless youth, and became known as Meerindoo Youth Accommodation Service. According to the Aboriginal Hostels Limited 2006-07 annual report, AHL ceased providing funding support for Meerindoo at the end of 2006 due to “operational concerns”. Gippsland and East Gippsland Aboriginal Cooperative continued to operate Meerindoo until 2014, when it was replaced with the Nungurra Youth Crisis Accommodation Centre.
From
1972
To
2014
Alternative Names
Meerindoo Youth Accommodation Service
Merindoo Hostel
c.1990 -
Meerindoo Hostel was located at 104 Day Street, Bairnsdale (Building Still standing)
c.1987 - c.1990
Meerindoo Hostel was located at 67 Francis Street, Bairnsdale (Building Still standing)
1972 - c.1987
Merindoo Hostel was located at 10 Day Street, Bairnsdale (Building Still standing)