Holy Cross Home (1965 - 1973)

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The Holy Cross Home was licensed under the Children's Services Act 1965 on 4 August 1966.

According to the 1999 report of the Commission of Inquiry into Abuse of Children in Queensland Institutions, Holy Cross Home was one of 3 denominational (ie non-government) institutions for the reception of 'delinquent girls' in the 1960s and 1970s.

Reflecting on these institutions, the report concluded:

'For much of their histories, the denominational training schools were large, impersonal institutions where the labour demanded of the girls was both arduous and monotonous, and not likely to significantly enhance their future employment prospects, and where solitary confinement was used to discipline recalcitrant inmates. The emphasis was on punishment, with little or no effort made to assist in the rehabilitation of the girls. However, these were institutions that received little government funding, which made it virtually impossible to implement a more individually focused treatment program or to employ staff more attuned to the problems and sensitivities of the girls. These institutions were components of a wider system that survived on a limited budget, and had done so for many years, and they quickly became redundant as essential improvements were made to that system in the 1970s. It is not surprising that many of the residents believed they were damaged by their experiences at these institutions (pp.148-149).'