Administration - DCW Instruction Manual [Department for Community Welfare] (1972 - 1972)

Less

Access Conditions

Open

Records

This file appears to be the final draft or master of an instruction manual written in 1972 for Field Officers in the Department for Community Welfare. The file contains typewritten, foolscap pages with amendments written in blue pencil and typed corrections glued in. The signature of the Director of the Department, Keith Maine, has been glued under the Foreword. The manual is comprehensive. It is arranged in terms of activities a field officer might be involved in but also contains some background about major institutions and departmental functions.

The contents of the DCW Instruction Manual include information and/or instructions about:

• The history, structure and functions of the Department in relation to its statutory responsibilities and operational practices
• The role of key departmental officers, including the Director, social workers, psychologist, field officers and the records branch
• The purpose, admission criteria and practices within Departmental institutions
• Admitting children and young people to non-Departmental institutions, or moving them from those places
• Admitting children and young people to foster homes, or moving them from those placements
• The history, role and practices of the Children's Court and the role of departmental officers in relation to that court and the children appearing before it
• Entitlements and practices relating to children who were Wards or under another form departmental supervision, including access to medical and dental treatment (a list of approved dentists is included)
• Particular practices and/or policies that apply to Aboriginal children who were in 'care'
• General departmental clerical and record-keeping functions.

This manual also has a list of suburbs and towns that shows the departmental office responsible. This information may help people find correspondence, as it will show which office would have been likely to deal with a matter, based on the town or suburb where you lived.