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Museums of History NSW (State Archives) holds a large collection of records relating to patients admitted to Parramatta Mental Hospital. Many of the records contain information about patients at Parramatta, and may include information about children and young people who were admitted to the hospital. The records include admission and discharge registers, case files, post-morten records, daily report books, correspondence files, inspector’s reports, and administrative records. Some later records in this collection have not been fully processed by Museums of History – there may be more recent records in this collection than are mentioned here. Access Conditions Access to records in this series is restricted for 110 years in order to protect personal privacy. People mentioned in these records have a right to access information about themselves. Records over 110 years old are open and may be accessed by any member of the public. To request access to restricted records please c

Please contact the Cumberland Hospital Health Information and Record Service: Phone: (02) 8890 4767 Email: WSLHD-ROI@health.nsw.gov.au Website: https://www.nsw.gov.au/departments-and-agencies/wslhd/about-us/right-to-information  

Parramatta Mental Hospital officially opened in 1849 under the name Parramatta Lunatic Asylum, on the site of the former Parramatta Female Factory. It was was run by the office of the Colonial Secretary before the Office of the Inspector General of the Insane was established in 1876 and took over it’s management. It had several different names throughout it’s operation, changing to Parramatta Hospital for the Insane in 1869, then Parramatta Mental Hospital in 1915, then Parramatta Psychiatric Centre from around 1958, and finally changing to Cumberland Hospital in 1983. Cumberland Hospital is still operating as an in-patient mental health service in 2026. Parramatta Mental Hospital is known to have provided ‘care’ to young people under the age of 18 from at least 1871. The Correspondence Files of the Colonial Secretary includes letters relating to the admission o

Anglicare is the urban mission and community care arm of the Anglican Diocese of Sydney. Previously, it was the Home Mission Society of the Anglican Diocese of Sydney. Anglicare provides a wide range of community services and programs across the Sydney metropolitan and Illawarra regions of New South Wales. Anglicare manages the records of a number of children’s Homes and other institutions, including those Homes run by the Home Mission Society. The historical records relating to Care Leavers and children’s Homes held by Anglicare relate to the activities of the Anglican (or Church of England) Diocese of Sydney, which developed and supported a number of committees that ran children’s Homes and programmes in the Sydney metropolitan area from the late 19th century until the present. The main committees running children’s homes with the support of the Anglican Diocese were Church of England Homes and the Anglican Home Mission Society (which became Anglicare in 1997). Anglicare Welfar

Colebrook Home was opened in Quorn in 1927 by the United Aborigines Mission as an institution for Aboriginal children. The Matron and 12 children from Oodnadatta Children’s Home were the first residents. In 1944 the Home moved to Eden Hills where it accommodated up to 50 children. In 1961 children from Gerard Mission Children’s Dormitory moved to Colebrook. In the mid 1960s, 20 to 30 children lived at the Home. This number dropped to five in late 1971. Colebrook Home moved to Blackwood in 1972 and closed in 1981. The first Children’s home run by the UAM had been established three years earlier in Oodnadatta by missionary, Miss Annie Lock. Initially housed in an iron shed, the children were then moved to a small cottage purchased by the UAM in 1926. The following year the twelve children resident in the home were brought to Quorn, along with Matron Ruby Hyde who had been caring for the children since 1925. The children were relocated in order to remove them from the influence of thei

The Kardinia Children’s Home in Belmont (Geelong) was established in 1947 and was run by the Salvation Army. Originally it opened as a toddler’s home and accommodated children aged between two and five with children sent to Salvation Army children’s homes in Melbourne upon reaching school age. Later on it provided for children of all ages and children often attended the local Belmont Primary School. From 1965 cottage homes were opened on the Kardinia grounds to enable siblings to stay together and the institution was also known as Kardinia Child Care and Family Services Centre. A former resident from the early 1970s remembered there being the main building and three cottages, called Paringa, Wallara and Kyewong (Pascoe, 1997). In 1983, the residential units declared as approved children’s homes at Kardinia Child Care and Family Services Centre were Paringa Cottage, Attunga Unit, Wallara Cottage, Birralee Unit and Kyewong Cottage. All residential care of children ended at Kardinia on

Newcastle Mental Hospital was established in 1871 in buildings that had previously been the Newcastle Industrial School and Reformatory for Girls, and prior to that the government barracks. It was opened to ease overcrowding at asylums in Sydney, and intended to specifically accept patients with developmental disabilities (referred to at the time as “imbeciles” and “idiots”), as opposed to those with acute psychiatric conditions or mental illnesses that onset later in life. Its establishment was somewhat hasty and under-planned, taking advantage of the opportunity presented by the vacant buildings when the Girls Reformatory was moved from the site. It first operated under the name of the Newcastle Asylum for Imbeciles and Idiots, and was run first by the Colonial Secretary, and then by the Inspec

This is a photograph of the women’s dormitory block at Newcastle Hospital for the Insane, taken by Ralph Snowball in 1888. It shows a long two-storey building with wrap-around verandahs, with formal gardens and a water fountain sitting in front of it. Various buildings in the streets of Newcastle are visible behind the dormitory block.

Gladesville Mental Hospital officially opened in 1838 under the name Tarban Creek Lunatic Asylum. It was located in the Sydney suburb of Gladesville, and was run by the office of the Colonial Secretary before the Office of the Inspector General of the Insane was established in 1876 and took over it’s management. It had several different names thorugh it’s operation, changing to Hospital for the Insane, Tarban Creek in 1868, the Hospital for the Insane, Gladesville in 1869, then Gladesville Mental Hospital in 1915, and from the mid 1960s to Gladesville Hospital. It closed in 1993, and its services were merged with Macquarie Hospital to become the Gladesville Macquarie Hospital. Gladesville Mental Hospital is known to have provided ‘care’ to young people under the age of 18 from at least 1872. The Correspondence Files of the Colonial Secretary includes letters relatin

Museums of History NSW (State Archives) holds a large collection of records relating to patients admitted to Newcastle Mental Hospital. Many of the records contain information about patients at Newcastle, and may include information about children and young people who were admitted to the hospital. The records include admission and discharge registers, case files, school attendance books,  daily report books, visitors’ books, inspection records, and administrative records. Some later records in this collection have not been fully processed by Museums of History – there may be more recent records in this collection than are mentioned here. Access Conditions Access to records in this series is restricted for 110 years in order to protect personal privacy. People mentioned in these records have a right to access information about themselves. Records over 110 years old are open and may be accessed by any member of the public. To request access to restricted records please conta

Please contact the Medico-Legal Clerk of Hunter New England Health Service: Postal address: PO Box 833 Newcastle, 2300 Phone: (02) 4014 3793  

Fairbridge Society and Fairbridge Farm School Pinjarra, Records is a collection of records of the Fairbridge Society and the Fairbridge Farm School, Pinjarra, held in the Battye Library’s Private Archives Collection at the State Library of Western Australia. It includes personal records relating to children sent to Fairbridge Pinjarra between 1912 and 1983, as well as administrative records. This collection is identified by the manuscript number MN 62. Access Conditions Access to these records is restricted to protect the privacy of individuals. To apply for access to these records please contact the State Library of Western Australia. Records The Battye Library has created finding aids (known as Manuscript Notes or MNs) to assist people to access information in this collection. The finding aid MN 62 shows that the following information is held in the Fairbridge Society collection of records: Accounts 1950-1967; Balance Sheets 1946-1974; Estimates 195

The Old Fairbridgians Association (OFA) was established in the 1930s to provide aftercare assistance for young people leaving Fairbridge Farm at Pinjarra. The website of the OFA was re-badged as ‘fairbridgekids’. The website was developed for people who spent some of their childhood or youth at Fairbridge Farm. People were encouraged to ‘walk down memory lane’ and share their own memories and photos. The OFA holds events for members and others, and issued a regular newsletter. The fairbridgekids website welcomed enquiries about Fairbridge people, the Fairbridge Village and history. The Old Fairbridgians Association continues to operate in 2026.

The Apostolic Church of Australia was established in 1930. It is a form of Pentecostalism that has its roots in the Welsh Revival church of the early 1900s. It originated in Perth, and by 1935 congregations had been established in South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, and Tasmania. Features of Apostolic Church services include energetic singing, speaking in tongues, healings, prophecies, and performance of miracles. Tithing of financial donations to a central church fund is compulsory for members. The Apostolic Church local districts and areas are governed by preachers known as apostles, who report to the national church headquarters in Melbourne. At some point in the 21st Century the name of the Apostolic Church was changed to Acts Global Church. The Apostolic Church of Australian ran the Aborigines Rescue Mission at Jigalong, Western Australia, from 1946 to 1969.

Museums of History NSW (State Archives) holds a large collection of records relating to patients admitted to Gladesville Mental Hospital. Many of the records contain information about patients at Gladesville, and may include information about children and young people who were admitted to the hospital. The records include admission and discharge registers, case files, photographs, daily report books, registers of patients next-of-kin and friends, letters from patients, letters about patients, medical records, post-mortem registers, and administrative records. Access Conditions Access to records in this series is restricted for 110 years in order to protect personal privacy. People mentioned in these records have a right to access information about themselves. Records over 110 years old are open and may be accessed by any member of the public. To request access to restricted records please contact

This Series contains the majority of correspondence received by the New South Wales Colonial Secretary’s Office (also known as the Chief Secretary’s Office) between 1826 and 1982. It includes letters that name children admitted to Industrial Schools, Reformatory Schools, Orphan Schools, Infant’s and Children’s Homes, and mental health hospitals, as well as letters that refer to general operational matters at the institutions. Museums of History have published an online index for this series where the names of people or institutions can be searched: Colonial Secretary Letters Received 1826-1894 Index. Access Conditions This series is open access and may be viewed by any member of the public. To identify items of interest in this series use the online index. To access these records please contact Museums of History.

Callan Park Hospital for the Insane was officially opened in 1878 at Lilyfield, Sydney. It was under the control of the New South Wales State Government office of the Inspector General of the Insane. It was opened to help relieve overcrowding at other mental health hospitals in New South Wales. In 1915 the name of the Hospital was changed to the Callan Park Mental Hospital, then again in 1976 to the Callan Park Hospital, and finally in 1994 to the Rozelle Hospital. Rozelle Hospital closed in 2008. Callan Park Hospital is known to have provided ‘care’ to young people under the age of 18 from at least 1888. The Correspondence Files of the Colonial Secretary includes letters relating to the admission of children as young as 11 years old to Callan Park, some of whom had been transferred from other mental health hospitals, and a few who had been transferred from children’s h

This is a photograph showing buildings surrounding an internal courtyard at Gladesville Mental Hospital. It shows a courtyard with a large jacaranda tree and a stone fountain in the middle, surrounded on three sides by two-storey sandstone buildings. Along the side of each of the buildings is a small sheltered walkway with bench seats placed throughout. This photograph is one of several taken by the Government Printing Office and held by Museums of History NSW that show images of Gladesville Mental Hospital.

Please contact the NSW Ministry of Health Records and Library Services: Postal Address: Locked Bag 2030 St Leonards, NSW, 1590 Phone: (02) 9424 5736 Email: moh-recordsunit@health.nsw.gov.au Website: https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/gipaa/Pages/default.aspx 

Please contact Macquarie Hospital Health Information Service: Postal Address: PO Box 169, North Ryde, NSW, 1670 Phone: (02) 8877 4380 Email: NSLHD-MCQ-HIS@health.nsw.gov.au Website: https://www.nslhd.health.nsw.gov.au/AboutUs/Pages/HIS-contacts.aspx

Stonehaven, run by the Sydney City Mission, was located at Park Road, Springwood in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, and was opened in 1929. Initially occupied by girls, it became a boys’ home. From 1942-1945 the children were sent to Cronulla Children’s Home and Stonehaven was occupied by the Defence Forces. In 1951 Stonehaven closed. Boys were sent to Haddon Hall. Stonehaven was, according to the Sydney City Mission, a home for undernourished boys from congested areas of the city. The aim of the home was to build the children up physically and give them moral, religious training. The boys were expected to do household and gardening chores and the discipline was what could be described as harsh. Children attended Springwood Public School and went to the Methodist church every morning and afternoon. Most boys stayed for three months, but some stayed longer. The home had capacity for 21 boys. Blue Mountains historian Shirley Evans advertised in The Sydney Morning Herald

Please contact the Family Records Service, Aboriginal Affairs NSW: Postal Address: PO Box 207, Mascot NSW 1460 Phone: 1800 019 998 Email: familyhistory@aboriginalaffairs.nsw.gov.au Website: https://www.nsw.gov.au/living-nsw/aboriginal-outcomes/healing/family-records-service

Museums of History NSW (State Archives) holds a large collection of records relating to patients admitted to Callan Park Mental Hospital. Many of the records contain information about patients at Callan Park, and may include information about children and young people who were admitted to the hospital. The records include admission and discharge registers, case files, daily report books, letters from patients, letters about patients, medical records, and administrative records. Access Conditions Access to records in this series is restricted for 110 years in order to protect personal privacy. People mentioned in these records have a right to access information about themselves. Records over 110 years old are open and may be accessed by any member of the public. To request access to restricted records please contact Concord Repatriation General Hospital ROI Section, Health Information and Record Services. To access open records please contact Museums of History NSW.  

For records about Callan Park Hospital and Rozelle Hospital, please contact Concord Repatriation General Hospital ROI Section, Health Information and Record Services: Postal address: Building 86, Hospital Rd, CONCORD NSW 2139 Phone: (02) 9767 5451 Email: SLHD-ConcordReleaseofInformation@health.nsw.gov.au Website: https://slhd.health.nsw.gov.au/patients-visitors/right-information

This is a photograph of Callan Park Mental Hospital. It shows the front of a large sandstone building with a front porch supported by columns. The building is part of a complex of several sandstone buildings which are surrounded by gardens, and a driveway leading to the main entrance. This photograph is part of a collection of 94 photographs of Callan Park Mental Hospital taken in 1903 that are held by the State Library of New South Wales. Other images in this collection show further buildings, gardens, staff and patients at the hospital, interior scenes such as hospital wards, craft workshops, recreation rooms, dining rooms, etc.

This is a collection of Oral History recordings created by Roslyn Burge and Ann-Therese King and eight former patients and staff of Rozelle Hospital (formerly known as Callan Park Hospital) who lived or worked at the hospital between 1935 and 2008. The collection includes sixteen interview files, as well as accompanying transcripts and  photographs. Interviewees include Caroline Bray, Audrey Church, Graeme Curry, Monika Da Rocha, Jill Faddy, Paul Gilchrist, Julie Glover, Peter Gray, Dr Neil Jeyasingam, Jess Learing, Dr Jean Lennane, Vickie Melanson, Randall Millington, Gary Rowley, John Snowdon, and June Spiers. At least one interviewee, Paul Grey, was admitted to Callan Park as a teenager. Access Conditions These recordings, transcripts, and photographs are open access and can be accessed by and member of the public. To access these records please contact the State Library of New South Wales.

The Aborigines Rescue Mission, Jigalong was a mission established at Jigalong in central Western Australia by the Apostolic Church in 1946. Dormitories and a school operated at the mission. The mission closed in 1969 and the Australian Government took ownership of the land, returning it to the Martu people in 1974. The Aborigines Rescue Mission initially took over responsibility from the Department of Native Affairs for the supervision of providing rations to the Aboriginal inhabitants of the area. It soon established a school and dormitories for children. Gardens, church, workshops, a nursing post, an airstrip, pastoral station, mission store, a post office and bank agency were also established at the mission during it’s operation. In 1947 there were 47 children living at the mission. In 1954 the mission received funding from the Department of Native Welfare for the building of two cottages and four dormitories to allow for expansion. At that time the population of the missio

The Gordon Institute, Melbourne, was established in 1886. It offered boys classes and a place to socialise. The Institute aimed to find boys work placements in the country, but did accommodate some boys aged 5 to 14. In 1951, new facilities were opened in Highett, and the institution became known as the Gordon Home for Boys. The Gordon Institute was established in 1886, but was founded formally on 17 May 1888. It was located in Bowen Street, Melbourne, ‘not far from the Working Men’s College’. The Institute’s object was ‘to rescue children from criminal ways by attracting them from evil associations and pastimes to the premises’. The Institute was established following the efforts of William Mark Forster (who was also a key figure in the establishment of the Try Society). In 1889, Forster and Charles Deynes Barber were approved under s.62 of the Neglected Children’s Act 1887 ‘as persons to whose care neglected children may be committed’. Barber was the superintendent at the Go

Kingsbury Farm Reformatory was a training farm for Protestant boys that opened in Newstead in April 1893. It was operated on the ‘family system’, run by a married couple, and had capacity for six boys. Boys were sent to Kingsbury from other reformatories in order to learn practical farm skills, such as land clearing, dam-making, planting, tending to and harvesting crops, as well as assisting with house work. The boys also received school lessons five nights a week. Once boys were deemed to be sufficiently skilled and ‘reformed’ they were sent out to work on privately-owned farms. Boys placed at Kingsbury typically spent six months there before being sent out to service. Kingsbury Farm Reformatory closed on 1st July 1912. Kingsbury was a farm that was originally intended to be a winery, but became an orchard (Leader, 10 November 1906). It received its first “lad” in April 1893. The department’s annual report stated that Mr Brebner, the superintendent, preferred to begin in thi

Straight View Farm Reformatory School was established in Harcourt, Victoria in 1895. It accommodated Roman Catholic boys from the ages of 11 to 17. It closed in 1919. The Straight View Farm Reformatory School was a private reformatory established to accommodate Roman Catholic boys at Harcourt. The School was privately run by Mr McMahon (the Superintendent), but was deemed to be an approved Reformatory School by the Department of Reformatory Schools under the Juvenile Offenders Act of 1887. The Department sent state wards to the school, and provided financial support for each boy sent there. The Superintendent provided annual reports to the Department, and the school was periodically inspected by government inspectors. The housing of the boys at this small cottage farm school, where there was an attempt to replicate the conditions of home life, ‘amid country surroundings and occupations and a

Major events and legislation in the history of child welfare in Australia

The Victorian Premier, Jacinta Allen, delivered the State Apology to the First Peoples of Victoria on 9 December 2025. The Apology was shaped by the findings of the Yoorrook Justice Commission, and was part of the Treaty negotiated and signed in November 2025.

Mount Paradise Reformatory for Boys at Pakenham opened in 1896 to accommodate approximately five Roman Catholic boys. It was a private reformatory, established by Mr James Joseph Millane and run by him, his mother, and his siblings. It experienced problems with those who attempted to abscond and by 1911 no boys were accommodated there. Mount Paradise Reformatory was deemed to be an approved Reformatory School by the Department for Reformatory Schools under the Juvenile Offenders Act of 1887. The Department sent state wards to the school, and provided financial support for each boy sent there. The Superintendent, James Millane, provided annual reports to the Department, and the school was periodically inspected by government inspectors. Boys at Mount Paradise performed farm work at the reformatory, including ploughing fields, fencing, cutting hay, growing and harvesting fruit and vegetables,

We understand that people are concerned about their privacy, and we abide by the 13 Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) of the Commonwealth Privacy Act 1988 (Privacy Act). For details of these Principles, see the Australian Privacy Principles on the Australian Government’s Office of the Australian Information Commissioner website. The Find & Connect program includes the Find & Connect support services and the Find & Connect web team. Our contact forms require you to enter your name and email address so that the Find & Connect program can respond to your enquiry. When you submit a contact form, your name, email address and message will be directed to the Find & Connect support service in the state where you live now. The Find & Connect web team will also retain