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Adoption Act 1984, Victoria

The 1984 Adoption Act (No. 10150) was a significant shift in adoption policy in Victoria. The Adoption Act 1984 focused on the needs of adopted children, and enshrined a child’s right to access information about his or her family of origin. In 1978 the Victorian Government had commissioned a review of the 1964 Adoption Act….

Tracy Dutton House

Tracy Dutton House was a family group home in Mitcham run by the Carry On Club Victoria from 1964. The home focused on short term care of the children of ex-servicemen and women, aged between 4 and 13. Carry On closed the Home in 1970. Tracy Dutton House was located at 10 Harrison Street, Mitcham….

Seaside Garden Home for Boys

The Seaside Garden Home for Boys was established in around 1921 in Newhaven, on Phillip Island and run by non-denominational committee of management. When the Seaside Garden Home opened in around 1921, it was an approved ‘institution to whose care neglected children may be committed’, under the terms of the Children’s Welfare Act 1915. In…

Hurlingham

Hurlingham was established by The Carry On Club Victoria in Brighton in 1946. It accommodated ‘under-privileged boys aged 10-16 who were the sons of ex-servicemen and women’, including some wards of state. Hurlingham was closed in 1963. In 1955, the Carry On Club of Victoria applied for the ‘Carry On Club Home “Hurlingham”‘ to be…

Royal Commission into Charitable Institutions, Victoria

On 1 August 1870, a Royal Commission was appointed to enquire into the conditions and management of the charitable institutions of the Colony, and generally into all matters connected therewith. The Report of Royal Commission into Charitable Institutions with Minutes of Evidence and Appendices was tabled in Parliament in 1871. The findings were generally very…

Child Wellbeing and Safety Act 2005, Victoria

The Child Wellbeing and Safety Act 2005 (No. 83/2005) was enacted on 1 June 2006. This legislation established the Office of the Child Safety Commissioner. The Act provides an overarching legislative framework designed to encourage and support a shared commitment towards children in Victoria.

Convention on the Rights of the Child

The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is an international convention, setting out the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of children. The General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child on 20 November 1989 (the 30th anniversary of the Declaration of the Rights of…

The Try Society

The Try Society came into being in the early 1880s, when William Mark Foster and William Groom formed a number of ‘Try Excelsior’ groups in different suburbs around Melbourne. The clubs established by the Try Boys’ Societies aimed to lead boys away from the path that led to ‘larrikinism’. The Try Society emerged as a…

Berry Street Incorporated

Berry Street Incorporated came into being in 1992. It was previously known as Berry Street – Child and Family Care. In 1994, a decision was made to amalgamate with Sutherland Child Youth and Family Services. The merger became official on 6 September 1994. The new organisation retained the name Berry Street. Regarding the amalgamation of…

Orphan

An orphan is a child whose mother or father or both has died. Historically, in the context of institutional ‘care’, the term ‘orphan’ did not necessarily mean a child whose parents had died. It was most often used to describe a child whose parent/s were (or were judged to be) unable, for many different reasons,…