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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. The Lawson Rural Centre is mentioned in a Sydney Morning Herald article about children’s homes run by the Home Mission Society. According to this article the property was given to the Church of England by the owners and was still in development as a small home in 1945. A five year old boy placed at the Lawson Rural Centre by his father in April 1945 died in August of that year. Subsequently the matron of the Home was charged under the Child Welfare Act with failure to procure medical attention for the child, and sentenced to 12 months’ hard labour. The tragic death resulted in a number of newspaper articles, notably in the Truth, raising questions about the Church of England Home Mission Society’s supervision and management of children’s Homes.

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

Kingswood Lodge, in Berrinba, was operated by the Churches of Christ. It opened in 1989 and closed in 2016. Kingswood Lodge was a residential facility for adolescents.

Outreach House was established in 1976 and was run by the Richmond Fellowship of the ACT Inc. It provided housing for young people aged 11 to 18 years who were unable to live at home. The program promoted educational opportunities and participation in social and recreational activities. The House closed around 2015.

Marlow Cottage, Kaleen, was established in 1986 under the Children’s Services Act 1986 and closed around 2016. It was originally known as Kaleen Youth Shelter and was run by the Welfare Branch, and later the Housing and Community Services Bureau of the ACT Government. It was established to provide accommodation for 12- to 17-year-olds who were on court orders deemed at risk of abuse or neglect, or because they must reside as directed as a condition of bail. In 1995 the Government decided to privatise the operations of the Shelter and tenders were advertised in September 1995. Public outcry ensued, with concerns that the transition from a public sector service was a sign that the government did not want to provide services for the community, that it was a cost-cutting measure, and would potentially put the local community at risk. A motion in the Legislative Assembly narrowly failed to pause the transfer of ownership with the intention to keep it in the public sector. One tender was

Victorian College for the Deaf was the new name given in 1995 to the Victorian School for Deaf Children. The college is located on the corner of High St and St Kilda Rd, Prahran. Some students reside during the week at a family group home in the south-eastern suburbs.

Understanding the background of state and territory welfare systems can make it easier to find records. For example, in South Australia there was a centralised government department that was usually involved in organising a child’s placement in ‘care’ so it makes sense to start with government records; in Victoria, until the 1950s many placements were likely to be arranged more informally by churches or charities (known as “voluntary” or “private placements”). Records may not be held by government archives, but with the past provider, or organisation that holds their records. Australian Capital Territory | New South Wales | Northern Territory | Queensland | South Australia |

Charles Perkins Hostel in Halls Creek began in 1962 as a government-run hostel for school-age children, on the site of the old Australian Inland Mission. By 1995, its role had changed to child protection placements. Around 2000, its name was changed to the Yurag-Man-Gu Taam-Purru Placement and Support Centre. Charles Perkins Hostel in Halls Creek, opened in March 1962 as a government-run hostel for school-age children, on the site of the old Australian Inland Mission. It was an Aboriginal education and employment hostel, named after Charles Perkins, who had been a Minister for Native Welfare. By the end of its first year of operation, 44 Aboriginal children were living there. Until 1963, these children were under the guardianship of the Commissioner of Native Welfare. By 1971, there were seven staff looking after 90 boys and girls of primary-school age who went to school in Halls Creek. In 1972, the Department for Community Welfare (DCW) took over the child welfare responsibil

Yurag-Man-Gu Taam-Purru Placement and Support Centre was the new name given to the government-run Charles Perkins Hostel in Halls Creek around 2000. Children who could not live at home with family were accommodated there. In 2007, it became known as the Yurag-Man-Taam-Purru hostel.

Yurag-Man-Gu Taam-Purru Hostel was the new name given to the government-run Yurag-Man-Gu Taam-Purru Placement and Support Centre, Halls Creek, in 2007. Children who could not live at home with family were accommodated there. By around 2013, it was more commonly known as the Yurag-Man-Taam-Purru Group Home. Hodgkins, Crawford and Budiselik explain “‘Yurag-Man-Gu Taam-Purra’, the name selected for the residential child care facility, means ‘a good place for kids’ and is a phrase from two East Kimberley languages: Djaru and Kitja.” Yurag-Man-Taam-Purru Hostel was called a few different names in Government reports including Yurang-Man-Gu-Taam-Purru Hostel in Department for Child Protection Annual Report 2007-08 (p.44) and Halls Creek Hostel in Department for Child Protection Annual Report 2008-09 (p.36). It was also commonly referred to as just Yurag-Man-Gu Taam-Purru.

The Mareeba Babies’ Hospital was established in Woodville in 1917. It took over the role of the St Peters Babies’ Hospital caring for sick infants under the age of two. Originally under the control of the Inspector General of Hospitals, with the Babies Hospital Association acting in an advisory role, it came under the control of the Adelaide Children’s Hospital Board in 1951. In 1960 it became the Mareeba Children’s Annex of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. The Mareeba Babies’ Hospital was established at 19-21 Belmore Terrace, Woodville in 1917 in a large building that had been used as accommodation for sick soldiers but was no longer required by the military authorities. It took over the care of infants under the age of two, predominantly with digestive ailments, from the Babies’ Hospital at St Peters which was established by the Babies’ Hospital Association in 1915. The Babies’ Hospital Association committee was made up of philanthropic women and prominent Adelaide doctors. Its first

The New South Wales Department of Child Welfare (and its predecessor and successor departments) created a wide range of records about state wards. These records contain personal information about former wards of the state, and include case files, ward history cards, foster parent files, registers and indexes of children in certain types of institutions, after-care files, and records relating to the operation of Homes and institutions for young people. The majority of these records are held by Museums of History NSW (State Archives), although more modern records from the 1980s onwards remain in the custody of the Department of Family and Community Services. Access Conditions Access to these records is restricted. In New South Wales, records relating to individuals, such as case files and correspondence are closed to public access for 100 years. Records such as registers and indexes are closed to public access for 80 years. Care Leavers wishing to access records about thems

Meribah was opened by the Methodist Homes for Children at St James in 1972. It provided residential care for six school age boys and girls in a home-like setting. Meribah closed some time around 1986.

The Silky Oaks Haven for Children, in Manly West, was operated by the Open Brethren and the Council of Silky Oaks Children’s Haven. It was established at Toowong in 1940 and moved to Manly in 1946, and was licensed as a foster home. The first State children were admitted to Silky Oaks in April 1950. From the 1970s, Silky Oaks established a number of cottage homes. Silky Oaks Haven for Children was licensed under The lnfant Life Protection Act 1905 on 6 September 1940. Silky Oaks was licensed as a residential facility under The State Children Act 1911 on 30 March 1957. The first family group cottage was completed in 1965/66 and licensed under The Children’s Services Act 1965 on 4 August 1966. The name Silky Oaks was adopted because the kitchen at the Cross Street residence at Toowong was made from Silky Oak timber. The original home is over 100 years old. It provided the first dormitory style accommodation for the children. In 1946 Silky Oaks moved to M

Cooinda, in Mount Lawley, was established in 1966 by Methodist Homes for Children at the request of the Department of Native Welfare as hostel to accommodate Aboriginal teenage girls working in Perth. The Heritage Council documentation states “Although managed by the Methodist Church, the Department of Native Welfare remained responsible for the placement and location of employment for residents at Cooinda.” Up to fourteen girls could be accommodated at the hostel. By December 1974, Cooinda is described in The ‘Homes’ Herald as caring for ten teenage girls who are either working or studying, and are usually state wards. From 1977 it was run by the agencies of the Uniting Church, later known as Mofflyn, and in 1987 it was transferred to the Department for Community Services. Cooinda remained a departmental facility for Aboriginal student accommodation until it closed in December 2020. It is reported in the Heritage Council documentation that prior to its closure Cooinda

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. All residential care of children ended at Kardinia on 31 January 1986. 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. In around 2003 when the property was being “cleaned out”, the personal files of children who had been at the Home were destroyed. I

From the 1930’s to the 1980’s newborn babies were removed from their unmarried mothers immediately after birth, often without any contact or even sight of the child, to be placed with a married couple. The shame and stigma of pregnancy outside of marriage was such that maternity homes were established where families could send their daughters to have their children to be adopted out, with or without her consent. There were few options for unwed mothers to keep their baby. Little financial support was available to single mothers, and many more institutions were engaged in what we now know as forced adoptions than there were safe places for a single mother to take care of her baby. Mothers were subject to abuse in maternity homes, sometimes shackled to the bed during birth until their baby was removed, drugged and forced to sign papers consenting to adoption, or misled by social workers about financial support

Nicklin Cottage Family Group Home, in Aspley, opened in 1960 and closed in 1984. It was run by the Methodist Church until 1977 when management of the home was transferred to the Uniting Church. Nicklin Cottage Family Group Home was licensed under the State Children Act 1911 on 27 October 1960 and then the Children’s Services Act 1965 on 4 August 1966. The home reopened in early 2011 and in 2014 was operating as a residential home for young people between the ages of 12 and 17 years. It closed again in 2016.  

The Cobar War Memorial Children’s Hostel, also known as Cobar Memorial Home for Boys, opened in 1951. It accommodated up to 48 children from a large portion of the Western District Division in an area extending up to 200 miles from Cobar, so they could attend school in in the town. Cobar War Memorial Children’s Hostel was built as a war memorial in 1950. It was opened by the Minister for Education, RJ Heffron in 1951, and run by a private committee. The funds to build it were raised from residents of the town and district, who subscribed the £17,000 cost. Bursaries and fees assistance for children from poorer families were provided by various funds and organisations, including Cobar RSL. In 1966, ongoing financial difficulties resulted in the closure of the Hostel on August 25th, at the end of the school term. The closure left little alternative accommodation for the 30 children who had boarded at the Hostel. However, this closure appears to have been temporary, as the Cobar Mem

Camp Toukley, located on the Central Coast of New South Wales, was established in 1954 as a holiday camp for children living at Lutanda Children’s Home. Operated by Lutanda Children’s Services, the camp was built on 57 acres of land. Over time its main purpose changed to running holiday camps for groups of children, family group camps, and religious retreats, however it continued to operate camps for children in out-of-home care. In 2019, Lutanda Camps was renamed CCC Camps, and Camp Toukley became known as CCC Central Coast. According to its website, as of 2026 CCC Camps continues to operate out-of-home care camps for “primary-aged children in foster care”.

Louise Place was the new name given to St Joseph’s Refuge at Fullarton in 2001. It operated under the management of Centacare and provided accommodation and services for young pregnant women, new parents and their children. Louise Place was still operating in 2018.

The Cherbourg Aboriginal Settlement was located on the lands of the Wakka Wakka people, near the town of Murgon in south eastern Queensland. The Salvation Army missionary William J Thompson established a mission at Barambah in 1899. Initially it was sponsored by the Ipswich Aboriginal Protection Society. In 1904-1905 the Queensland government took over management of the Barambah Aboriginal Settlement, as Cherbourg was also known at that time. In 1986, Cherbourg became a DOGIT (Deed of Grant in Trust) and the community began managing its own affairs. The Cherbourg Aboriginal Settlement was located in the South Burnett district of south east Queensland. In 1899, William J Thompson of the Salvation Army began negotiations with the Queensland government to establish an Aboriginal mission – 1280 acres of land at Barambah was gazetted as an Aboriginal reserve in March 1900. Thompson was the first superintendent and the mission was sponsored by the Ipswich Aboriginal Protection Society.

Beemar Yumba Aboriginal Children’s Hostel was a residential care service at Cherbourg funded by the Queensland Department of Child Safety from around 1984 to 2010. It accommodated children between the ages of 5 years and 15 years, who required out of home care due to statutory intervention or parental agreement. All children and young people were referred to Beemar Yumba Hostel by the Department of Child Safety. The hostel opened after the boys’ dormitory at Cherbourg was closed in 1982. The “run-down” hostel building was replaced with a new $1.1m 12-bed shelter in 2005 (ABC news, 2004). In 2009, it became part of the Cherbourg Historical Precinct (Cherbourg Memory website). Beemar Yumba Hostel Aboriginal Corporation, which ran the hostel, was deregistered in November 2010. The new building, funded by the Queensland State Government in 2004 accommodated 12 children. The facility also incorporated a carers’ residence and adminis

The Blue Mountains Handicapped Children’s Centre was formed in Springwood in 1961 to provide accommodation, education, employment and training for children with disabilities. At first its services were for children but this was extended to adults over time. The Centre was known as Eloura from 1963 to 2014, when it became DARE Disability services.

This is a copy of a photograph of the Beemar Yumba Children’s Shelter from around 1980. It shows the front of the building with a sign that reads, “Beemar Yumba: Maud Phillips Memorial Children’s Shelter”.

The Church Rescue Home was established in 1885 and run by a committee associated with the Church of England Temperance Society. It opened as a Home for the “rescue” of “intemperate”, “inebriate”, and “fallen” women (‘Church Home for the Intemperate and the Fallen’, published in The Sydney Morning Herald, 13 September 1884), including teenage girls. While the Home was associated with the Church of England, it accepted women from any denomination. The Home was officially opened in an eight-roomed rented house at 242 Forbes Street, Darlinghurst, on the 6th March 1885, with 14 women in residence, and capacity for up to 20. This house quickly proved to be too small for the number of women in residence – by the end of March that year there were 25 women living there. On 5th May 1886 the Home officially opened in a larger building on the corner of Crown and Albion streets, Surry Hills (a building which was later used for the

Perth College was established in 1902 by the Sisters of the Church, an Anglican religious order, as a boarding and day school. From 1902 to around 1910, the college also accommodated girls aged 6-10 years who had been brought by the Sisters in 1901 from the Orphanage of Mercy, Kilburn in England. ‘Destitute’ babies were also housed at the college until 1903, when they were transferred to the Waif’s Home, Parkerville and temporarily, in 1903, some orphan boys lodged at Perth College when Tower House closed. In 2014, Perth College continues to operate as a day and boarding school. Perth College, in the ‘Hawkesbury’ building in Perth, was established in 1902 by the Sisters of the Church, an Anglican religious order that was later named the Community of the Sisters of the Church. Perth College was established as a boarding and day school for local girls, but the college also accommodated girls aged 6-10 years who had been brought by the Sisters in 1901 from the Orphanage of Mercy, Kilbu

This image is also available in the State Library of New South Wales. The description in from the State Library of NSW states: First service held at Goulburn Island, Arnhem Land, 1916. Image shows 4 missionaries giving a service to Indigenous Australians on Jesus walking on the sea. In 2026 a relative of one of the missionaries in the photo contacted us to confirm this was taken in 1916, by Edward Reichenbach, also known as Ted Ryko.

St Margaret’s Hospital was established in Strawberry Hills [Surry Hills] in 1894 as a lying-in home, by a religious community led by Gertrude Abbott. It grew and became a maternity hospital, lying in home and provided midwifery nursing training. In 1910, St Margaret’s moved to Darlinghurst. From 1937 was run by the Sisters of St Joseph . St Margaret’s was an adoption agency and an obstetric teaching hospital for the University of Sydney. St Margaret’s Public Hospital operated as part of the hospital from 1946-1993 and St Margaret’s Children’s Hospital operated from 1967-1979. St Margaret’s closed in 1998. St Margaret’s Hospital was started in 1894 by a group of women living in an informal Catholic religious community in ‘Lorraine Terrace’, 561 Elizabeth Street, Strawberry Hills (Surry Hills), on the corner of Cleveland Street. The leader of this community was Gertrude Abbott, who had been a Josephite nun in Adelaide (formerly Mary Jane O’Brien, then Sister Ignatius of Jesus). Gertru

Please contact the Care Leaver Records Service: Phone: (03) 9096 8449 Email: clrs@dffh.vic.gov.au Website: https://www.dffh.vic.gov.au/making-freedom-information-request

Karril Cottage was a government-run Home for school-aged boys and girls. It had opened by 1973 and was located in the suburb of Kellyville. Karril Cottage closed in the late 1980s. Although a NSW government guide to records, Connecting Kin (1998), stated that Karril Cottage was a boy’s Home, it was a Home for boys and girls. Boyle (1996) refers to 14 girls coming to Karril Cottage from Thornbury Lodge in 1973. Emails from former residents to the Find & Connect resource also confirm that girls and boys lived at Karril Cottage in the 1970s and early 1980s. A newspaper article from 2005 refers to Karril Cottage being “a boys’ home in Kellyville in the late 1980s” (Sydney Morning Herald, 24 November 2005). In 2006 a former private music teacher who taught boys from Karril Cottage was convicted of sexually abusing students, including at least one from Karril Cottage.

The Historical Abuse Network provides support for people who have experienced abuse in institutions, foster care and detention in Queensland. The Historical Abuse Network can be contacted at Lotus Place. The aims of the Historical Abuse Network are: to maintain a voice so as to continue dialogue regarding the recommendations from the Queensland Government’s Forde Inquiry to share and disseminate information to support each other to reconnect and create support groups for ex-residents of each institution and former children in care as required to promote affirmative action and ensure recognition of the continued discrimination and disadvantage of ex-residents and former children in care. Membership of the Historical Abuse Network is open to anyone: who lived in an institution

The Fairfield Home for Refugee Children was a children’s Home run by the Sydney Anglican Home Mission Society, via its Care Force unit. It was also known as the Fairfield Hostel for Refugees, and the Condell Park Home for Refugee Children (though it is not known if it was ever located at Condell Park). It was opened at Tasman Parade Fairfield in 1980, and moved to Hamilton Road, Fairfield, in 1986 until it was closed in 1988. At this time no more information about this home is known. If you have more information about this home please get in touch with Find & Connect.

Koolyangarra Fostering Agency (Nowra) was a New South Wales Aboriginal Children’s Services organisation funded by the New South Wales Department of Community Services.

This page is a resource to help people understand the words and abbreviations commonly found on child welfare records. It contains explanations and definitions for many words, terms and abbreviations. Please be aware that this page contains language and terms that are derogatory and offensive. The records from a child or young person’s time in institutional ‘care’ can be difficult to understand and interpret – files from government departments and past providers often contain abbreviations and acronyms, unfamiliar terms and jargon. Access to Records by Forgotten Australians and Former Child Migrants (Department of Social Services, 2016) recommends that record-holding organisations prov

The Find & Connect Support Services can help Forgotten Australians, Former Child Migrants and others who spent time in out of home care between 1920 and 1990 find family members.   Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people separated from their families under the past laws, practices and policies of Australian governments can get help to locate family with Link-Up services: http://aiatsis.gov.au/research/finding-your-family/link-services. People affected by forced adoption can find organisations that can help here: