Orana UnitingCare Records (1888 - 2011)

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Access Conditions

Former residents (and their families) should contact the Uniting Heritage Service to find information, and access personal files. The Uniting Heritage Service is a free service that helps individuals access information about them or family members, as well as access appropriate support should they choose. Heritage Service staff prefer to release records to past residents or their family members in person, where possible, in order to give greater meaning and context to the information.

Records

Orana UnitingCare Records dates from 1888 to 2011 and include the records of Orana Homes, Livingstone House and the Methodist Homes for Children, Burwood.

Some of these records were name indexed as part of the Records Access Documentation Grants in 2019 to improve access to these records. These include:

• Three registers, 1888-1935, 1920-1944 and 1935-1995, containing the names of children, basic details and their movements have been indexed.
• Visitor books, 1945-1953, the names of children have been indexed.

The degree of detail on the client records at Orana varies. Information contained in the client records may consist of the following:

• Admission and discharge details
• School reports
• Dental and general health records
• General and personal correspondence
• A log of significant events in the child's life
• A log of visits from family, friends and carers
• Photographs
• Details of institutions the child may have come from or gone to
• Circumstances regarding the child's placement in care
• Personal details about the child, their parents, family and friends
• Police/court information
• Adoption information

Other Orana records that may be of interest to former residents include Minute Books, Ladies Committee Minute Books, Annual Reports, Superintendents Log Book, Maps and Plans, and General Correspondence Files.

Finding Aids

For ease of access, security, and the preservation of the collection, client files and registers have been imaged as PDF files. A copy is stored in secure premises off-site. Original paper based client records are also stored off-site in an Approved Public Record Office Storage Supplier (APROSS) facility. In 2009, work began on the creation of a detailed List of Record Holdings; including the cataloguing of a very comprehensive photographic collection.