Benevolent Society of New South Wales

The Benevolent Society of New South Wales was established on 8 May 1813 to provide assistance to the destitute, needy, sick and vulnerable aged people, women and children. For much of the nineteenth century it effectively functioned as the social welfare arm of the New South Wales Government, which paid the Society to provide residential care and deliver aid to the poor across Sydney and beyond.

The Society’s first residential institution, the Benevolent Asylum, was opened in 1821 by Governor Lachlan Macquarie. Located on the corner of Pitt and Devonshire Streets, Sydney – on the present site of Central Railway Station – the asylum operated until 1901, when the New South Wales Government reclaimed the land to build the station. Using the compensation they received, the Society bought ‘Flinton’ in Paddington and established the Royal Hospital for Women, which operated from 1901 until 1992.

The Society also operated the Liverpool Asylum from 1851 to 1862. In 1904, it opened the Thomas Street Asylum in Ultimo, which in 1911 became the Renwick Hospital for Infants, Thomas Street. This closed in 1920 and was replaced in 1921 by The Renwick Hospital for Infants in Summer Hill.

From 1917 until 1986, the Society ran Scarba House, a children’s home in Bondi. In 2004, the Benevolent Society apologised “unreservedly for any abuse, mistreatment or harm experienced by children in our care” in their Statement of apology to Forgotten Australians.

In 2011, it formally apologised for past adoption practices. Stating “The Benevolent Society apologises unreservedly for any pain, unresolved grief or suffering experienced by mothers, fathers, adoptees, adoptive parents and their families as a result of the past adoption practices of The Benevolent Society, the Royal Hospital for Women or Scarba Welfare House for Children.” They run the Post Adoption Resource Centre in New South Wales, and after expanding its services to Queensland in 2007, the Society operates the Post Adoption Support Queensland. These services offer information, counselling, and assistance to those affected by adoption. When the Benevolent Society’s adoption agency closed in the 1970s, adoption records were transferred to the predecessor of the NSW Department of Family and Community Services.

The Benevolent Asylum records from 1857-1900 have been indexed and the index is available online.

In 2000, the Benevolent Society of New South Wales became known as The Benevolent Society. The Benevolent Society continues its work, providing aged care, disability and family services across New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory and Queensland.