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Gippsland and East Gippsland Aboriginal Cooperative Ltd is a community controlled not-for-profit organisation that was established in 1972 to respond to poor health and housing outcomes for Aboriginal people in Gippsland, Victoria. It opened the Meerindoo Hostel for Aboriginal students at Bairnsdale in 1972, and ran it (with support from Aboriginal Hostels Ltd) until 2014, when Meerindoo was replaced by the Nungurra Youth Crisis Accommodation Centre. The Cooperative was founded as the East Gippsland Aboriginal Women’s Group, then in 1975 changed its name to the East Gippsland Aboriginal Medical Services Cooperative Limited, and from 1978 has been known as Gippsland and East Gippsland Aboriginal Cooperative Limited.

Aboriginal Hostels Limited (AHL) was established in June 1973 to provide hostel accommodation and related services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across Australia. AHL was established by the Commonwealth Government as a not-for-profit company, with the AHL board reporting to the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs. It ran at least one children’s home/hostel for state wards – the Wirraminna Hostel in Essendon, Melbourne. AHL has likely provided accommodation to some state wards in its primary and secondary education hostels, including at the Merindoo Hostel in Gippsland (Victoria), Kirinari Hostel in Sydney, and the Nindee and Luprina Hostels in Adelaide. AHL has also provided funding to several other children’s homes and organisations accommodating state wards through it’s third-party funding program. Aboriginal Hostels Limited has run primary, secondary, and tertiary education hostels, employment and training hostels, hostels for single parents and their children, host

The Oodnadatta Hostel, also known as the Kanyini Hostel, opened in Oodnadatta in 1970. It had capacity for up to 24 primary-school aged children. It was funded by the Commonwealth Government via Aborignal Hostels Limited, and run by the Save the Children Fund in consultation with the Department of Aboriginal Affairs. The former superintendent of the United Aborigines Mission (UAM) Oodnadatta Children’s Home became the superintendent of the new hostel. The majority of children in the Hostel were transferred from the UAM Children’s Home at Oodnadatta. In 1985 Aboriginal Hostels Limited took over management of the Hostel from the Save the Children Fund. The Hostel closed around 1986.

Meerindoo Hostel was opened at Bairnsdale in 1972 as a hostel for Aboriginal students from regional communities in Eastern Victoria attending school in Bairnsdale. It had capacity for up to 12 students aged between 12 and 17 years old. At times children who were wards of the state we placed at Meerindoo. Many of the children who lived at Meerindoo Hostel came from the Lake Tyers Aboriginal Community and the Lakes Entrance area. From approximately 1974 Meerindoo Hostel was operated by Aboriginal Hostels Limited (AHL) in partnership with Gippsland and East Gippsland Aboriginal Cooperative. Aboriginal Hostels Limited ceased operating Meerindoo as a student hostel in late 1982 due to very low occupancy, however it continued to provide funding to the Gippsland and East Gippsland Aboriginal Cooperative to run Meerindoo as a transient hostel for Aboriginal people visiting the area. Meerindoo still had some students in residence at this time, and in 1983 the Victorian Government declared Me

This is a youtube video that contains approximately one minute of footage of Turana from the early 1980s.

Glenn’s story is a short film by Arnold Zable from 1979. It features the story of 15 year old Glenn Broome who was in the maximum security section of Turana. In the film, Glenn also mentions his time in foster care, and the institutions Allambie and Baltara. Some of the scenes were shot at Turana.

Wirraminna Hostel was a family group home for Aboriginal boys opened by Aboriginal Hostels Limited at Essendon in 1973. Wirraminna was run by a married couple who acted as house parents to the boys who lived there. Typically there were five or six boys in residence at Wirraminna, although the hostel was reported to have capacity for up to 9 children. The children were aged between 5 and 15 years old. Many of them were wards of the state who had been placed at Wirraminna by the State Departments for . They attended local primary and high schools, and, according to annual reports published by Aboriginal Hostels Limited, participated in local sports groups. Wirraminna Hostel was run by Aboriginal Hostels Limited with assistance from the Victorian Departments for Community/Social Welfare, and the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency (VACCA). It closed in late 1986 or early 1987.

This is a photo of the Wirraminna Hostel, run by Aboriginal Hostels Limited, at Essendon, Melbourne. It shows a brick suburban cottage with white bay windows at the front. This image was published in the 1980 Aboriginal Hostels Limited annual report.

Riverbank, in Caversham, was established in 1960 by the Child Welfare Department as a secure detention facility with a work-skills focus for up to 33 teenage boys. By 1970, 43 boys could be accommodated and by 1979 over 1,000 boys had been admitted to Riverbank for an average of nine months. After discharge, boys were placed in supervised after-care (similar to parole). In 1993, Riverbank was transferred to the Ministry of Justice. Riverbank closed in 1996 and was re-commissioned as an adult prison in 1998. Riverbank was opened in 1960 by the Child Welfare Department (CWD). It had been some years in the planning, and was described in the CWD’s annual report (1958, in Signposts 2004, p.436) to be Australia’s first purpose-built maximum security reformatory for boys. Riverbank was to address the two tensions in youth offending: the welfare needs of young offenders, and their offending behaviours. The CWD aimed to have a ‘reformatory’ effect on the boys committed to Riverbank an

Nollamara Cottage was established around 1973 as a temporary Home for children transferred from Mogumber to Perth for schooling and other reasons, such as access to medical treatment in Perth. It was run by Mogumber until 1974, then the Mogumber Training Centre until 1980 and then Sister Kate’s Child and Family Care Services. Nollamara Cottage closed in 1985. Nollamara Cottage began around 1973, at 50 Carcoola Street, Nollamara, possibly on land that had been purchased by the Department of Native Welfare in 1972. Nollamara Cottage was run by a number of Methodist (and, after 1977), Uniting Church agencies under agreement with the Department of Community Welfare. In 1974, after Mogumber closed, the Mogumber Training Centre (MTC) took over from the Methodist Overseas Mission and in 1980 Sister Kate’s Child and Family Care Services took over from the MTC. Additional government funding was provided to Nollamara Cottage via Aboriginal Hostels Ltd. It is possible that many of the child

This is a copy of a photograph of boys in a dormitory at Castledare in Western Australia. It was published on a webpage about Castledare Boys’ Home.

Stubbs Terrace Children’s Home at 233 Stubbs Terrace, Shenton Park, was an inpatient unit for children and young people set up under the Mental Health Act. Residents could be aged between 4 and 17. Delphine Jamet writes that young people were admitted to Stubbs Terrace for temporary care, for a wide range of reasons: “Some were in crisis, some required medical or psychological assessment and others were waiting for foster care, residential placement or a return home. Many had developmental or behavioural needs, including autism, though diagnoses at the time were often recorded using broad or outdated terms” (Perth History Database). In 1991, it was reported that there were 15 beds at Stubbs Terrace; in 2000, there were 10 beds (Parliament of Western Australia Hansard, 23 October 1991; 7 June 2000). In 2025, there were news reports about Stubbs Terrace treating 8 children aged under 12 for “gender identity disor

This is a copy of a photograph of Stubbs Terrace children’s psychiatric hospital, published in an article on the ABC News website in 2025.

Download a PDF version of the Find & Connect Image policy (147kb PDF). Objective Scope Rationale Policy Feedback, takedown and complaints Appendices Version: 2.0 Policy Steward: Find & Connect web resource Program Manager Approved on: January 30, 2017 Effective date: January 30, 2017 Policy Approver: Program Operational and Research Team (PORT) Status: Published Objective The Find & Connect web resource aims to facilitate access to records and information relating to the history

Download a PDF version of the Find & Connect Language Policy (137kb PDF). Objective Scope Rationale Policy Feedback, takedown and complaints Appendices Version: 1.0 Policy Steward: Find & Connect web resource Program Manager Approved on: August 11, 2017 Effective date: August 11, 2017 Policy Approver: Program Operational and Research Team (PORT) Status: Published Objective The Find & Connect web resource aims to facilitate access to information and records relating to the

The Find & Connect web resource aims to assist people who were in care in Australia between 1920 and 1989 access records about themselves, as well as some information about the institutions that held children in out of home care. We aim to collaborate with people who experienced care in creating and providing this information, and to centre their voices wherever possible. We also rely on historical documents, which reflect the values of the day. We recognise that the forced removal of Aboriginal children from their family and culture, racist policies and procedures that governed their lives, and the ongoing impacts of colonisation must be acknowledged in content relating to them. Whilst it is important to provide context of institutional care in Australia, we recognise that that context can be offensive, racist and traumatic. In order to ensure the site is safe for people who experienced trauma in care, we have

The establishment of the Bungalow in Alice Springs in 1913 initiated the forcible removal of Aboriginal children in Central Australia under the Aboriginals Ordinance 1911. At this time, the NT government policy was to “breed out the colour” (Knightley 2001), in part through the forced assimilation of Aboriginal children who were believed to have white parentage.  Ostensibly developed as a home to allow white passing Aboriginal children to gain an education, it resulted in the forced removal of children in order to gain funding for the establishment of a school in the tow

National Redress Scheme Closes 30 June 2027 The National Redress Scheme was established following recommendations from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, for people who experienced institutional child sexual abuse. If you are thinking of making an application for Redress, the Find & Connect web resource holds information about the institutions you were in, and how to apply for any records that may exist about your time in ‘care’. For more information about Redress, and the free and confidential Redress Support Services, please visit the National Redress Scheme website or call the National Redress Information Line on 1800 737 377. Territories Stolen Generations Redress Scheme Closes 28 February 2026 The Territories Stolen Generations Redress Scheme is a financial and wellbe

Please contact Mandy Brown at Colebrook Tji Tji Tjuta: Phone: 0459 845 989 Email: mandy.brown@countryarts.org.au

Please contact BUSHkids Postal address: 16 Morley Street, Toowoomba, QLD 4066 Phone: (07) 3870 7288 Email: info@bushkids.org.au Website: www.bushkids.org.au/contact/access-to-information/

The Parramatta Girls Training Home was the name given in 1912 to the former Parramatta Girls Industrial School. It accommodated around 160 to 200 older girls at a time. The girls had been charged with crimes, or committed by welfare organisations. In 1946, after a public controversy, its name changed again to the Parramatta Girls Training School. Girls were placed in Parramatta for a variety of reasons: they had been committed by welfare organisations; had been charged with crimes; were on remand or because they had not settled into foster placements or other institutions. For most of its existence, Parramatta combined the functions of training school, for girls in the welfare stream, and reformatory, for girls on criminal charges. Until 1928 it received girls as young as two years of age. The institution at Parramatta has a long history including several name changes from 1887 to 1975. It has been estimated that up to 30,000 girls passed through Parramatta over this time; it is

Caption taken from YouTube: Abandon All Hope is the first documented history of the Parramatta Girls Home – a project made possible through the Parrastories Heritage and Stories fund, Parramatta City Council. Until now the story of this State operated welfare institution has remained relatively unknown. The document examines the site’s archaeological heritage together with an overview of the statutory and societal forces and the individual and collective experiences of the young people who once resided within its walls.

  Lawson Rural Centre, in Lawson in the Blue Mountains, was a children’s home established by the Homes and Hostels Committee of the Home Mission Society, part of the Church of England’s Sydney Diocese, in 1944, after the property was offered to the Anglican church. It was the only small home run by the Anglican Home Mission Society. The staff included a matron and a farm manager (Sydney Morning Herald, 14 December 1945). In 1945, the chairman of the Church of England Homes Committee, Bishop Hilliard, said that the house in Lawson was “deemed an excellent and healthy spot … We entertained high hopes for it and we still do” (Sydney Morning Herald, 3 September 1945).

The Home Mission Society of the Anglican Diocese of Sydney, also known as the Church of England Home Mission Society,  was established in Sydney in 1856. It was originally called the Church Society before its name was changed to the Home Mission Society in 1911. It ran several children’s Homes through its Homes and Hostels Committee, and also provided chaplaincy at the children’s courts. Both Care Force and Charlton Youth Services developed from the Home Mission Society. In 1997 the Home Mission Society changed its name to Anglicare. The society’s main objective was to help needy parishes by building new churches, rectories and schools, paying clergy, and evangelising and bringing more people to the church. The Society began to increase its social welfare work in the

The Sacred Heart Orphanage was established in 1940 at Crystal Brook. Run by the Good Samaritan Sisters, it originally catered for children in need whose fathers had been killed during World War II. In the 1970s the orphanage accommodated children between 4 and 15 years of age. The institution closed as an orphanage in 1979. Sacred Heart Orphanage was originally established by the Catholic Church to cater for children in need whose fathers had been killed during World War II. It was run by the Order of the Good Samaritan Sisters. Other than the children’s home at the Umeewarra Mission near Port Augusta, it was the only home in the north of the state. In the 1970s an agreement was signed with the Department of Community Welfare and government assistance was provided to the institution. This funding allowed the orphanage to accommodate any boys and girls between the ages of 4 and 15 who needed short or long term care. It normally catered for up to twenty children under the care of t

This is a copy of a photograph of the exterior of Lawson Rural Centre which was published in an article in the Truth newspaper in December 1945.

Deaf Children Australia is a national organisation advocating and providing services and resources for deaf children and their families in Australia. It was formed as a national body in 2004, but had previously operated as the management body for the Victorian College for the Deaf. Deaf Children Australia hold a collection of records and heritage items relating to the Victorian College for the Deaf and its predecessors, the Victorian School for Deaf Children and the Victorian Deaf and Dumb Institution.

Girls’ High School, Kalgoorlie, was established in 1903 by the Sisters of the Church as a boarding and day school for girls. The first students were nine girls aged 8-11 years who had been brought by the Sisters in 1901 from the Orphanage of Mercy, Kilburn in England. These girls lived at Kalgoorlie for some years and completed their schooling at Perth College. From 1908, Girls’ High School, Kalgoorlie was run by the Community of the Sisters of the Church until it ceased operating the school in 1916. On 13 March 1903, Sister Sarah and nine of the English orphan girls moved from Perth College to Kalgoorlie where the Sisters had, in 1902, taken over a school in a makeshift building about half an hour’s walk from Hannan Street. This was known (Battye, p.79) as Girls’ High School, Kalgoorlie and it had originally been established in 1898, according to Doncaster (1998). It seems that the girls and Sisters boarded first at Mrs Watson’s Boarding House (which was also known as St John’s Lod