Latest Updates

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

This is a copy of a photograph of Padua Hall, in A’Beckett Street, Kew.

This is a video which shows some staff and residents of Padua Hall in Kew. The video is undated but is likely to be from after 1960 when Padua Hall ceased operation as a hostel for former residents of Morning Star and other wards of state. Padua House later became Baraga House, a Slovenian Catholic Mission’s Religious and Cultural Centre Hostel, and was the “first stop” for many Slovenian men migrating to Melbourne.

The Stolen Generations are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who, when they were children, were taken away from their families and communities as the result of past government policies. Children were removed by governments, churches and welfare bodies to be brought up in institutions, fostered out or adopted by white families. The removal of Aboriginal children took place from the early days of British colonisation in Australia. It broke important cultural, spiritual and family ties and has left a lasting and intergenerational impact on the lives and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Government policies concerning Aboriginal people were implemented under different laws in the different states and territories of Australia. These laws meant that the lives of Indigenous people were controlled by government: marriages, work, wages, housing, children and access to health care. Records about the Stolen Generations and their families were kept by gove

Voluntary placement is a term to describe the practice of parents or relatives putting a child into a Home, outside of child welfare legislation. These children (sometimes referred to as ‘voluntary wards’, ‘non wards’, or ‘private children’) came into ‘care’ under informal arrangements, often due to economic difficulties or a family crisis that made it extremely difficult to look after the child in the family home. For example, a child could be placed in a Home during times of illness (particularly if the mother was sick and the father had to work) or when marriages broke down, or when parents had to move to the country to work and didn’t have family accommodation available. A child in such a situation was sometimes referred to as a voluntary ward. As Joanna Penglase points out, for the majority of families, ‘there was little about it that was voluntary when there were so few other options available’ (Penglase, 2005, p.67). Children were ‘voluntarily’ placed in institutions for a va

Padua Hall was established by the Franciscan Friars in Kew in 1945. It provided a ‘halfway house’ for former residents of the Morning Star Youth Training Centre at Mt Eliza, and also Catholic ‘youths’ who were wards of state with indeterminate sentences. Padua Hall closed in 1960. According to ‘A piece of the story’ (1999), it provided a ‘halfway house between the Morning Star Youth Training Centre at Mt Eliza and complete rehabilitation for Catholic youths who, under the then Victorian legislation, had been committed by the courts to the Centre as Wards of State with indeterminate sentences’. The first residents arrived in March 1945. As well as the boys, there were 2 priests and 2 matrons at Padua Hall (Advocate, 24 April 1946). Padua Hall was listed as a government subsidised hostel in the 1953 annual report of the Children’s Welfare Department and Department for Reformatory Schools. At a ceremony to mark the

The Morning Star Boys’ Home in Mount Eliza (Mornington ) was established in 1932, and run by the Franciscan Brothers. It was a training centre for young offending boys. Morning Star ceased operation in September 1975. In 1932, the Archbishop of Melbourne received a bequest, part of the purpose of which was ‘to found a farm to train delinquent or orphan boys to country life’. The legacy was given to the St Vincent de Paul Society of Victoria which used it to acquire a property on the Mornington Peninsula. The Franciscan Friars entered into an agreement with the St Vincent de Paul Society, to provide educational, correctional and residential care services at Morning Star. The Society retained control and ownership of the property and its finances, and was responsible for its maintenance. Later, the Society returned the property to the Archdiocese, with which the Franciscans continued the original agreement. Research conducted by the Care Leavers Australia Network (CLAN) in 2012

Methodist Church of Australia – Care of children (Croker Island Mission) Part 1 is a file held by the National Archives of Australia. Its contents relate to Croker Island Mission. Access Conditions Open.

The full title of this file is: “St Mary’s Hostel – Alice Springs – Australian Board of Missions – Institution for half-caste children”. It is a file containing documents related to the beginnings of the St Mary’s Home for Children in 1946. The Home was also referred to as St Mary’s Hostel and, when it was first established, as the Mount Blatherskite Hostel or Institution. Access Conditions Open. This record is open for access and a digitised version is available for viewing through the National Archives search engine, Recordsearch. Information about how to access records through Recordsearch is also available on the website. Records This file relates to the beginning of St Mary’s Hostel in 1946. It also refers to the Mount Blatherskite Hostel which was the name for St Mary’s when it was first established. The file also contains information about the return of children evacuated from the Northern Territory to Mulgoa in New South Wales during the World War II

This file’s original title is: “Maintenance of quadroon and other children at Darwin Convent”. It is a file of government correspondence relating to the placement and maintenance of a number of Aboriginal children at the Darwin Convent. The letters include the names of a number of children and provide insights into welfare policies of the time. Access Conditions Open. This record is open for access and a digitised version is available for viewing through Recordsearch. Information about how to access records through Recordsearch is also available on the website.

Phillip College was established at Gosford by the Department of Youth and Community Services in 1977. It was a residential home for up to 24 school-age boys and girls who were wards of the state. The children attended primary and secondary schools in the area and lived in family groups. In 1988 the building was taken over by Gosford City Family Support Service.

This is a photograph of the loungeroom at Phillip Cottage. It shows a large room filled with armchairs, small tables, and dining chairs, with a television in the corner. This photograph is part of a collection of photographs from children’s Homes and Institutions held by the NSW Department of Community Justice.

This is a photograph of a dormitory at Phillip Cottage. It shows two cubicles in a larger room each with a bed, wardrobe, and a small set of drawers and shelves. This photograph is part of a collection of photographs from children’s Homes and Institutions held by the NSW Department of Community Justice.

This is a photograph of Phillip Cottage. It shows a brick house with someone standing on a small verandah along the side. This photo was used on the cover of a 1978 NSW Treasury report into the costs of building and maintaining NSW Child Welfare Department buildings. It is part of a collection of photographs from children’s Homes and Institutions held by the NSW Department of Community Justice.

This is a photograph of three boys on horseback herding sheep at St Heliers. This photograph is part of a collection of photographs from children’s Homes and Institutions held by the NSW Department of Community Justice.

This archival file concerns medical surveys of evacuees from the Northern Territory during World War II. It mentions children temporarily accomodated at the Convent of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in Carrieton, South Australia. Access Conditions Open. This record is open for access and a digitised version is available for viewing through Recordsearch. Information about how to access records through Recordsearch is also available on the website.

St Heliers was established at Muswellbrook by the Child Welfare Department in 1945. It was a rural training home, organised on the cottage system, on 700 acres. Some children were transferred from the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and placed in this Home. It was initially for boys aged 14 to 18 years who were thought to benefit from, and prefer, training for rural and farm work. In 1973 the property became a care facility for both boys and girls, housing 92 children. St Heliers closed in 1986 and in 1989 was converted to an adult correctional facility. According to NSW Corrective Services, St Heliers was part of the original St Heliers property, which was settled by Lieutenant Colonel Henry Dumaresq and named after a town on the Isle of Jersey. The property passed through several owners before being bought by the State Government in 1945. It was used as a child welfare institution until its closure in 1986. There were at least two, and later, five cottages as St Heliers, eac

This is a photograph of the vegetable patch at St Heliers. It shows a field full of cabbages, broad beans, and onions, behind a high brick wall. The town of Muswellbrook is visible in the background. This photograph is part of a collection of photographs from children’s Homes and Institutions held by the NSW Department of Community Justice.

This is a photograph of St Heliers  from an elevated view. It shows several long brick buildings with rows of garden beds in a central area. This photograph is part of a collection of photographs from children’s Homes and Institutions held by the NSW Department of Community Justice.

The Society of the Sacred Advent is an Anglican religious order founded in Brisbane, Australia, in 1892. The Society ran children’s homes, industrial schools and schools in Queensland, and later, briefly in Western Australia. The Society of the Sacred Advent arrived in Perth in 1933 to manage the Parkerville Children’s Home after the Community of the Sisters of the Church left. The Society managed Parkerville Children’s Home until they were recalled to Queensland and the Community of the Sisters of the Church again took over its management in 1941.

This is a photograph showing five long, brick buildings at St Heliers, shot from across a dam and a cow paddock. This photograph is part of a collection of photographs from children’s Homes and Institutions held by the NSW Department of Community Justice.

This is a photograph of three boys working in the gardens at St Heliers. This photograph is part of a collection of photographs from children’s Homes and Institutions held by the NSW Department of Community Justice.

The Sisters of the Church were an Anglican religious order of women who arrived in Australia, from England, in September 1892. The Sisters focused on religious education and out-of-home care establishing schools in Adelaide and Hobart and a school and orphanage in Sydney. Arriving in Perth in 1901, they established children’s homes, schools and a crèche in Western Australia. The Sisters of the Church, also known as the Kilburn Sisters, was a Church of England religious order of women, headquartered at St Michael’s Convent in Richmond, England. They operated the Orphanage of Mercy in Kilburn, England. In 1892 a group of Sisters departed for Australia. As quoted in the South Australian Register (15 July 1893) from the Sisters’ 1892 annual report “…seven Sisters, two ladyworkers, and five orphans embarked for Australasia.” The Sisters arrived into Hobart and separated between Adelaide, Hobart and Sydney and it is not known where the orphans went. In 1893, th

The Church of England Orphanage was established in Surry Hills in 1893 by the Sisters of the Church. It initially girls and provided them with basic education and domestic training. Prior to 1905, the orphanage moved locations regularly, operating in rented properties in Surry Hills, Waverley, Chatswood and Paddington before moving permanently to Burwood. In 1907 a Committee took over running the orphanage and the Sisters ceased their involvement. After much fundraising, in 1912, the Orphanage moved to a purpose-built building on Weldon Street, Burwood. In 1918 the orphanage expanded, opening a Boys’ Home next door on Wyatt Avenue. In 1927, the Orphanage was incorporated under the Companies Act as The Church of England Children’s Homes, Burwood, creating a new institution. In early 1893, the Sisters of the Church opened the Church of England Orphanage at their premises in Bourke Street, Surry Hills, which was bein