Please contact Barnardos Australia (Aftercare Office):
Postal Address: Barnardos After Care, GPO Box 9996, Sydney NSW 2001
Phone: (02) 9281 2300
Email: aftercare@barnardos.org.au
These records are held by Barnardos Australia (c. 1995 - current).
This collection titled ‘Dr. Barnardo’s in Australia, records’ includes records relating to children’s progress in home and work placements placement between 1921 and 1980s. These records particularly focus on Former Child Migrants and largely consist of individual care leavers files, which record personal information such as names, dates of birth and/or details of admission or migration. The types of records include a mixture of handwritten and typed records, photographs and other memorabilia.
Barnardos Australia provides a service for people who have lived in Barnardos care to assist them accessing their files.
Barnardos Australia will only release records to Care Leavers or to their next of kin. The next of kin will be required to show proof of relationship and permission from the Care Leaver to access the records or provide proof of death. By agreement with Barnardos Old Boys and Girls, child migrant records will only be released to the child migrant except with their express written permission.
These records were held by the State Library of New South Wales from 1978 and their ‘call number’ is MLMSS 3467 (MLK 756-MLK 955). The records were transferred back to Barnardos Australia in 2020.
These records were surveyed and indexed as part of the Records Access Documentation Grants in 2019.
These records focus on documenting children’s progress in their work or home placements. The contents of the records changed over time, and as understandings of the purpose of out-of-home care changed, the nature of the records changed to highlight the social and emotional development of the children. Information often includes details of school performance, behaviour at home and work placements, day book records, copies of correspondence between the office and the child or their family. Files on child migrants often also include copies of information sent to or received from the Barnardos UK office, and admission or medical information prior to migration.