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These are records created by Morialta Protestant Children’s Home that are held by State Records of South Australia. The records contain information about children living at the Home, and include children’s files, photographs, adoption forms, annual reports, a film made about the Home, visitor’s books, and administrative records such as reports, meeting minutes and regulations. Access Conditions Access to these records is restricted for 100 years in order to protect personal privacy. Some of these records are still restricted, while others over 100 years old are open and can be viewed by any member of the public. People mentioned in these records have a right to access information about themselves. To request access to restricted records please contact the Department for Child Protection Freedom of Information team. To arrange access to open records please contact State Records of South Australia. Records The following records in this collection contain infor

As of October 2025 the Sisters of Charity archives are un-staffed, and are closed for personal research enquiries. They are only able to assist with urgent legal enquiries at this time.   Please contact the Archives Manager, Sisters of Charity: Postal address: PO Box 21, Potts Point NSW 1335 Phone: (02) 9138 0840 Email: archives@rscoffice.com Website: https://www.sistersofcharity.org.au/our-story/congregational-archives

Queensland State Archives (QSA) is the lead agency for record keeping across Queensland’s public authorities. QSA manages a comprehensive recordkeeping policy framework to ensure the consistent creation, management, disposal, storage, preservation and retrieval of government information.

The Jones Family Cutting Book consists of press cuttings and correspondence collected by Thomas Jones, former Superintendent of Westbrook Reformatory School for Boys and Farm Home for Boys, Westbrook. The cutting book was presented to the Westbrook Youth Centre in 1987.The original is held at John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. There is a photocopy held at Queensland State Archives. Access Conditions This record is on open access and is available for viewing by the general public.

The Lutheran Mission Block was established in Alice Springs in 1938 by the Lutheran Church. In the 1950s Aboriginal children were cared for by an Aboriginal woman in a residential house on the block. In 1963 two cottages were opened. Each accommodated up to 12 children under the supervision of house mothers. Children attending school in Alice Springs and children under the care of the Welfare Branch lived in the cottages. The cottages closed in 1982. The Lutheran Mission Block was obtained in June 1938 by Pastor Albrecht from the Hermannsburg Mission. This block of six acres of land was located at 49 Gap Road in Alice Springs and became known locally as Mission Block. A small church was built on the site in December 1938. During the 1940s Pastor Albrecht visited fortnightly to provide church services and spiritual teaching. Trained Aboriginal lay ministers continued the work in between his visits. In 1942 the Acting Director of Native Affairs, Mr V J White noted that 50 adults and 1

Lake Condah Mission Station was established in 1867 as a Church of England Mission, approximately three kilometres from the Lake. The Lake Condah area in south western Victoria was home to the Kerrupjmara people prior to European occupation. The station was closed in 1919 after the government assumed control. The Lake Condah Station comprised a missionary cottage and kitchen, schoolhouse, children’s dormitory and store. A number of the buildings were weatherboard and in good condition. They also used local stone to build houses. There were 26 buildings in total. The church was built out of bluestone in 1883, but it was demolished in 1957. The Reserve was on 2,000 acres, of which 15 were under cultivation. The residents of Lake Condah were subject to a severe and strict regime. Missionary Stahle refused to support work certificates for residents to work on neighbouring farms – upsetting both the local farmers and Mission residents; he refused requests for family members to move on

La Grange Mission, at La Grange Bay south of Broome, was established in 1955 when the La Grange Bay Ration Depot was transferred to the Pious Society of Missions (Pallottines). A school was established by the Pallotines in 1957, and until 1963 children at La Grange were under the guardianship of the Commissioner of Native Welfare. In 1968 there were more than 100 children under 16 years old. In 1984 La Grange Mission became the Bidyadanga Aboriginal Community La Grange Inc and its role in institutional out-of-home care ceased. La Grange Mission, 200 kilometres south of Broome, was established on 1 January 1955 when the La Grange Bay Ration Depot was transferred from the Department of Native Welfare to the Pious Society of Missions (Pallottines) for a mission. It was intended to train and employ Aboriginal youth and adults on a self-sustaining station. In 1957, the Sisters of St John of God came to La Grange to teach at the school and from 1959, lay missionaries also helped in the

This page lists all of the United Aborigines Mission (UAM) archival records known to have existed and been in the organisation’s custody. The UAM was “deeply complicit in removal of First Nation children from their parents” (Bishop, 2024) and ran over 20 missions and institutions in New South Wales, South Australia and Western Australia. This information was compiled from publicly available sources, including published directories of archives, citations by researchers, and records in the National Archives of Australia. The whereabouts of the records that we describe on this page is, in October 2025, unknown, as is whether these records still exist at all. In 2023, the UAM advised the Yoorrook Justice Commission that flooding in around July 2020 had led to the destruction of its historical records, which were in storage in Williamstown, Victoria.

The United Aborigines Mission (UAM) was established in 1929. Formerly, it was known as the Australian Aborigines Mission. Its missionaries were active in New South Wales, South Australia and Western Australia, where the UAM established missions as well as institutions for children. All UAM children’s Homes had been shut down by the early 1980s. The UAM was wound up at the end of 2020. The UAM and its antecedents understood mission as the conversion to Christianity of Aboriginal people (Longworth, p.5). In the second half of the twentieth century, the shift in Australian government policy towards assimilation led to challenges for UAM and its institutions. The UAM was “deeply complicit in removal of First Nation children from their parents” (Bishop, 2024). Even after the closure of the last of its children’s institutions, the UAM continued to exist, the corporate body (also known as UAM Ministries) was based in the state of Victoria, as

This page is unlike others on Find & Connect describing archival collections, in that it lists records known to have existed at some point in the past, but the whereabouts and very existence of which are currently not known. The United Aborigines Mission (UAM) was wound up at the end of 2020. In 2022, the Find & Connect web resource was advised by Sharrock Pitman lawyers that the following  postal address was now the only contact information for UAM Ministries. PO Box 172 Vermont, Victoria, 3133 David Reid, Minister of Religion and Accountant and former director of the UAM, swore an affidavit for the Yoorrook Justice Commission on 2 November 2023 which stated that the historical records of UAM, which were in storage in Williamstown, Victoria, were all destroyed following flooding in around July 2020, which was said to have resulte

The Australian Aborigines’ Mission dates back to around 1894, in New South Wales. It was originally known as the La Perouse Aborigines’ Christian Endeavour Society, established in June 1894. The interdenominational Christian society was active in the Sydney beachside area of La Perouse, establishing a mission to work with the Aboriginal people, and opening its first church there in November 1894. The name of the group changed to the La Perouse Aborigines Mission Committee in July 1895. In September 1899, it became the New South Wales Aborigines Mission, the new name better reflecting its intention to expand across the state of New South Wales. In 1907 the Mission commenced work in other states and changed its name again to the Australian Aborigines’ Mission. A state council in Western Australia was formed in 1908. The Mission became active in South Australia from around 1919, starting in Oodnadatta. The AAM established a council in Adelaide, South Australia, in 1924. The AAM establishe

Bomaderry Aboriginal Children’s Home, located near Nowra, was established in 1908 by the Australian Aborigines’ Mission (which became the United Aborigines Mission. in 1929). It was a home for children aged under 10 and ran until 1988. As the longest-running Aboriginal Children’s Home in NSW and the first Home to be established for Aboriginal children in NSW, it has been called “the birthplace” of the Stolen Generations in NSW. Bomaderry was started to receive seven Aboriginal children, six orphans and one baby rescued by Miss Thompson, a missionary working with Aboriginal people. A cottage was provided by Colebrook, the editor of the Bomaderry Mission’s paper. The home developed until it had four cottages, the last of which was opened on 29 May 1924. Up to 47 children were resident at the Home at any one time. In 1929, M.F. Morton, MLA. gave five acres of land to the home, bringing the total area of the property to nine acres. Although Bomaderry was always independent of the Ab

Please contact the Heritage and Background Information Service, Berry Street : Postal address: PO Box 2171, Richmond 3121 Phone: (03) 9429 9266 Email: heritage@berrystreet.org.au Website: https://www.berrystreet.org.au/what-we-do/supporting-past-care-leavers

Please contact the Professional Standards Office Records Service of the Catholic Church: Postal Address: Catholic Diocesan Centre, 39 Wakefield Street, Adelaide SA 5000 Phone: (08) 8210 8275 or 1800 139 020 Email: receptionprofstandards@adelaide.catholic.org.au Website: https://adelaide.catholic.org.au/our-works-and-community/record-services-and-archives

United Aborigines Mission, records deposited with State Library of South Australia is an archival collection that came into the custody of the State Library of South Australia in late 2022. It comprises some records from the United Aborigines Mission archives, relating to Homes in South Australia, and the Bomaderry Aboriginal Children’s Home in New South Wales. Access Conditions The State Library of South Australia is in consultation with former residents and their families regarding access, the consultation process is expected to be concluded by the end of 2023, to be included in this consultation please contact the State Library. Records In December 2022, a representative of the defunct organisation, United Aborigines Mission, transferred records to the custody of the State Library of South Australia. Details of the records are provided below. The records deposited with the State Library of South Australia relate to Colebrook Home, Tanderra Girls’ Home, Oodna

The Babies’ Home at Walkerville was established by the Church of England in Walkerville in 1912. It cared for, and often adopted out, babies born at the House of Mercy, a refuge for unmarried mothers. After the home closed in 1945, babies were placed at St Mary’s Mission of Hope. The Babies’ Home at Walkerville was established in 1912 by the Church of England at Gawler Terrace, Walkerville. It cared for babies born at the House of Mercy which operated in the same suburb. While the House of Mercy was a refuge for unmarried mothers, The Babies’ Home focused on after-care of their babies as well as other infants. The House of Mercy management committee ran the home until a separate committee was formed in 1915. The leading figure in its administration was Miss Nellie Barker. In 1914 the home was caring for 14 babies. The existing cottage was replaced in the early 1920s. In 1929 it was further extended to include a new annex named the Barker wing after Nellie Barker and her mother wh

Babies’ Home Walkerville Records is a collection of records created between 1912-1968 by staff of The Babies’ Home Walkerville. The records collection for the Home includes financial records, annual reports, minutes and correspondence. Access Conditions Former residents of the children’s Homes of the Anglican Diocese of Adelaide and Church of England, or members of their families, can apply to the Diocesan Archivist to be provided with information and/or copies of records relevant to their time in care. Physical access to the historical records of the children’s Homes or the church’s Social Welfare Bureau is not permitted due to the fragility of the material and the need to protect the privacy of third parties. Records Record keeping practices varied significantly from one Home to another and from one time period to another, with respect to the quantity and types of records that were created and preserved. Many of the following records are fragmentary or incomplet

Katanning Group Home (also known ‘Oxley Road’ or ‘Marribank Group Home’) was established in 1978, by the Baptist Union, to accommodate Aboriginal children from Marribank, possibly while they went to school in Katanning. By 1984, it was providing short-term and emergency care for up to six children. It had closed by 1989.

Please contact the Right to Information Team, Department for Education, Children and Young People: Postal Address: Right to Information Department for Education, Children and Young People GPO Box 169 Hobart, Tasmania, 7001 Phone: (03) 6166 0422 Email: RTI.PIP@decyp.tas.gov.au Website: Right to Information – Department for Education, Children and Young People

This is a copy of a photograph held by the National Archives of Australia in Series A8739, Aboriginal Affairs photographic negatives. It shows the exterior of Kiah Hostel in 1974.

The Hammond Island Mission Orphanage, on Hammond Island, was run by the the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart. It opened in 1929 and closed in January 1942, when the residents were evacuated to Cooyar. A boys’ dormitory housed the children. The orphanage reopened in 1948, ‘for only a short time’ (Deere, 1994). Hammond Island was originally declared a government reserve in 1881. The inhabitants were forcibly removed to Moa Island (also known as Banks Island) in 1922. In 1929, Father Doyle from the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, took about 15 ‘needy half-caste boys’ from the Thursday Island Catholic Orphanage to establish an orphanage on Hammond Island. They were originally housed in a galvanised iron house near the beach. The Church had built a new boys’ dormitory by 1932. A convent was built in 1935 and two Sacred Heart Mission Sisters went to live there at the beginning of 1936. The Sisters took over the school and became responsible for the domestic management of the pr

Kinchela Training Home, near Kempsey, was built in 1923 by the Aborigines’ Protection Board. It was intended to offer training in farm labouring to older boys who had been removed from their families under the Protection Board’s policies of apprenticing Aboriginal youths. Later it became a home for school-aged boys who had been removed from their families by the Aborigines Protection Board, the Aborigines Welfare Board or the Child Welfare Department. There were between 30 and 50 boys at the home at any given time. It was transferred to the Child Welfare Department in 1969 and closed in 1970. Kinchela Boys’ Home was modelled on Cootamundra Girls’ Home and was intended to offer ‘training’. The property included a dairy and farm and boys did all the labouring. There was a school, but farm training was the main focus of activities. There were many investigations into Kinchela Home during the 1920s and 1930s. At least one manager during this period was a violent alcoholic who physica

Aboriginal Affairs photographic negatives is a series held by the National Archives of Australia. It consists of black and white 35mm and 6 x 6cm negatives and three 5 x 4″ (12.5 x 10cm) colour internegatives from the Department of Aboriginal Affairs. These items document events relating to Aboriginal Affairs. It includes photographs of institutions such as hostels. Access Conditions Open Digital copies of the photographs are available on the website of the National Archives of Australia.

The Ebenezer Mission was established in 1859 on the banks of the Wimmera River, the land of the Wotjobaluk people, approximately 70 kilometres north-west of Horsham. Two Moravian missionaries, F W Spieseke and Friedrich Hagenauer took on its management. The Mission was gazetted in 1861 as the Lake Hindmarsh Aboriginal Reserve. It closed in 1904. The main aim of the Mission was to ‘civilise’ and Christianise the Aboriginal inhabitants of the area. Rations were provided to the Aboriginal residents on condition they attended church services and school. At Ebenezer the residents attended three church services on Sunday, two for prayer and one for singing. The women and girls also attended Sunday school after each service. Children were commonly separated from their parents and lived in dormitories attached to the mission manager’s home or the schoolhouse. The managers undertook disciplining the children, even when it was directly against the wishes of the parents. The buildings

Ebenezer Home was established in 1968 in a private home and has since expanded to a number of homes in the northern suburbs of Perth, including Tuart Hill (Balcatta), Girrawheen, Marangaroo, and Balga. At first, it was an Aboriginal Education and Employment Hostel. In 1995 it provided emergency accommodation to up to 18 young women. In 2001 it offered supported crisis and medium-term accommodation for young people aged 15-25 years.

Cundeelee mission and school, located approximately 40km north of Zanthus on the Nullabor, was established by the Australian Aborigines’ Evangelical Mission in 1949. It was run by interdenominational churches until 1982, when it became an Aboriginal Community. Cundeelee accommodated children up to primary school age as well as families. Cundeelee was established by the Australian Aborigines’ Evangelical Mission (AAEM) in 1949. From around 1939 to 1948 there had been a government ‘feeding depot’ for Aboriginal people on the site. When the AAEM offered to establish a mission, they were actively encouraged by the Department of Native Affairs. Cundeelee was reportedly established to discourage Aboriginal people from ‘begging’ on the trans-Australian railway line. However, many Anangu people, from Spinifex Country in the Central Western Desert, were also relocated to Cundeelee when their lands become uninhabitable due to radioactive fallout from nuclear testing in the area. In 1952, a

Cornwell Group Home was a family group home established at North Epping in 1968, and moved to Blacktown in 1979. It was run by Church of England Homes as a temporary family group home for children. It closed in June 2000. In 1984, in its newsletter Care, Church of England Homes described the purpose of its group homes: Cornwall [Cornwell], Buckland, Havilah and Marella are our Group Homes which provide longer term care. Perhaps the children aren’t getting normal care at home. Maybe they have missed out on it for a long time. These homes provide a kind of holding situation. But one which avoids damaging them still further by providing them with a good model of a positive family-type experience. Meanwhile, everything possible is being done through the counselling service to restore family relationships. Hopefully, after six months, usually sooner, the family can get back together or foster placement can be arranged. Two of our homes are for Aboriginal children. The

The Seaside Garden Home for Boys was established in around 1921 in Newhaven, on Phillip Island and run by non-denominational committee of management. When the Seaside Garden Home opened in around 1921, it was an approved ‘institution to whose care neglected children may be committed’, under the terms of the Children’s Welfare Act 1915. In October 1923, the Argus newspaper reported that the management committee of the Home was seeking to expand its premises. At that time, there were 55 boys at Seaside Garden Home, and others awaiting admittance. The committee wished to build an extra dormitory and buy land to use for providing training in farm work. The Superintendent and Secretary of the Home in 1923 was William Henry Baye. The Argus reported in November 1923 that the Seaside Garden Home had managed to purchase this additional land. A newspaper article from 1926 mentioned that applications for admittance to the Seaside Garden Home were received at its city off

Armadale Youth Accommodation Service opened in 1989 to provide emergency accommodation services for young people, run by an independent management committee which ceased in 2002. It was funded through the Youth Supported Accommodation Program (YSAAP). Some young people may have been referred by child welfare authorities, but self-referrals were possible. It was later run by Anglicare (September 2002-October 2003) and by Great Mates from November 2003. National Redress Scheme for people who have experienced institutional child sexual abuse The Western Australian government has agreed to be a funder of last resort for this institution. This means that although the institution is now defunct, it is participating in the National Redress Scheme, and the government has agreed to pay the institution’s share of costs of providing redress to a person (as long as the government is found to be equally responsible for the abuse a person experienced

Catherine House, Broome, opened in December 1975 to provide accommodation for Aboriginal children. It replaced the Aboriginal Girls’ Hostel, and was managed by the same two staff members as the Hostel. Catherine House was run by an independent management committee, but financed by the Department of Community Welfare. It could accommodate up to eight children from pre-primary to primary school age. Some, but not all, children were wards of the State. It is not known when Catherine House’s residential facility closed, possibly by 1991. From 1991, the building was used as a non-residential placement and support centre by the child welfare authorities. Catherine House primarily provided short-term care for children, although in some cases children lived at the Home for several years. Many children accommodated at Catherine House were placed there by the Department of Community Welfare, but private placements were also made, providing approval had been given by the Department first. The

Roelands Village was run by the Churches of Christ Federal Aborigines Mission Board Inc from 1975, as cottage homes for school-age Aboriginal children from all around the State. Children and young people at Roelands included those placed privately by parents and those who were state wards. Roelands closed in 1984. Children and young people from Roelands Village went to primary schools in Roelands, Brunswick and Bunbury; and high schools in Bunbury and Harvey. During the school holidays, children who could not go home to family accompanied missionaries to the Roelands Campsite, on Caves Road between Busselton and Dunsborough. Weekend camps were also held there. This campsite was part of the Roelands assets. Eventually, the campsite was released by the Shire of Busselton to a local Aboriginal consortium. Churches of Christ historians have advised that there were some young men living and working at Roelands Village who were known as ‘working boys’ (how some missionaries described y

Bamburra Hostel opened in 1970 in Yokine. It was for Aboriginal teenage girls from remote areas attending high school and other education and training, although from 1994 (or possibly earlier) boys were also admitted. Bamburra was run by the Churches of Christ Federal Aborigines Mission Board from 1970 to 1984. Bamburra Hostel was an Aboriginal Education and Employment Hostel. It opened in 1970 in Yokine for Aboriginal teenage girls from remote areas to stay during the school year so they could attend high school and other education and training. The Churches of Christ Federal Aborigines Mission Board ran Bamburra under a formal agreement with the Department of Community Welfare. In 1975, Bamburra Hostel was described as providing short term care for ‘secondary school girls in a hostel-like setting’, the average length of stay being nine months. The hostel at this time was reported as being a brick building that was ‘integrated into the community’. Bamburra Hostel had a garden w

A Scatter Cottage was a model of out of home ‘care’ where a group of children lived in a cottage with houseparents. Scatter cottages were run by institutions but were not located on the same property as main institutional buildings. Click here to see the full Find & Connect glossary

Norseman Mission was a ‘children’s mission’ established in 1935 by members of the Churches of Christ and then run from 1942 by the Churches of Christ Federal Aborigines Mission Board Inc. Its purpose was to provide accommodation, education and vocational training for children and young people aged 2-15 years. The number of children at the mission varied over time, with fewer than 30 children in some years (1948, 1965) and up to 70 in others (1958, 1970). Norseman Mission closed in 1985 and the pastoral lease was transferred to a local Aboriginal Community. Norseman Mission began as a dormitory for children, set up in 1935 by two members of the Churches of Christ, Miss Eadie and Miss Bentley, on the Native Reserve 2.5 kilometres from the Norseman township. In 1942, they asked the newly-formed Churches of Christ Federal Aborigines Mission Board (Inc) (CCFAMB) to take over the management of Norseman Mission. The CCFAMB appointed a superintendent in November 1942. In January 1943, th

Fairhaven Hostel in Esperance, was established by the Churches of Christ Federal Aborigines Mission Board Inc. (now known as Global Mission Partners) in 1965. Its purpose was to provide accommodation for Aboriginal girls aged 14-17 years while they undertook education, training and employment in Esperance. The Fairhaven Hostel was run by the Churches of Christ Federal Aborigines Mission Board (Inc). It was an Aboriginal education and employment hostel, providing accommodation and a practical skills curriculum for Aboriginal girls aged 14 to 17 years who came from the Goldfields and Western Desert communities, Norseman Mission and Cundeelee Mission. The young people came to Fairhaven at the request of the Commonwealth Department of Education, their parents, or through the Western Australian child welfare system. As time went by, Fairhaven was expanded to accommodate more young women. The upstairs verandahs were enclosed, and an extension was built to the rear of the property. This

The Carnarvon Mission was established by the Churches of Christ Federal Aborigines Mission Board Inc. in 1945. It provided accommodation for Aboriginal families and access to education and training for Aboriginal children. There were 138 children in 1959. The Mission’s name was changed to Ingada Village around 1975 and numbers of children fell from 84 in 1979 to 32 in 1983. By this time, there were four ‘scatter cottages’ in the Carnarvon township as well as at the Mission site. The Carnarvon Mission began as a missionary service by people associated with the Churches of Christ in Carnarvon. Land was purchased by the Churches of Christ Federal Aborigines Mission Board Inc. (CCFAMB) to develop a mission facility. A lot of children lived at the mission: 31 children in 1948; 98 children in 1954; 138 children in 1959. In his annual report for 1959, the Commissioner of Native Welfare noted that the Carnarvon Mission was ‘over-crowded and is unable to cope with children from the outer

The Albany Boys’ Hostel, also known as the Pallottine Boys’ Hostel, was an Aboriginal Education and Employment Hostel that admitted male Aboriginal teenagers from south western Australia, from approximately 1970. It was intended to house young adolescents to further their education and training, and enable them to obtain suitable employment in the south west. There were 11 boys in residence when responsibility for the hostel was transferred from the Pallottines to the Catholic Diocese of Bunbury in 1978. According to the State Solicitor’s Office in Western Australia (Guide to Institutions Attended by Aboriginal People in Western Australia 2005, p.108), the Pallottine’s Boys’ Hostel, Albany was run by the Catholic male religious order, the Society of the Catholic Apostolates (Pallottines) at the request of the Commissioner of Native Welfare. In 1968, development of the hostel began, with funds contributed by the government, the Lotteries Commission and the Pallottines. The

The Alice Springs Gaol was the new name given to the Stuart Town Gaol in 1933 when the town of Stuart was officially renamed Alice Springs. Located at 8 Parsons Street, Alice Springs, and run by the government, the Gaol housed male and female, adult and juvenile prisoners. In 1938 the Alice Springs Gaol was closed. It was replaced by HM Gaol and Labour Prison, Alice Springs. In March 1942, after Darwin was bombed by the Japanese and the whole of the Northern Territory administration moved to Alice Springs, the Stuart Town Gaol was taken over by the Commonwealth Bank. When the bank moved out it was used by local police as a storage facility. In the 1960s it became an unofficial police club. In the 1970s the government decided to pull the gaol down and build a new police station and law courts where it stood. A small group of local residents, lead by Mrs Doreen Braitling, saved the building from demolition. It was then taken over by the National Trust. It is now a small museum. The

Wongutha Mission Training Farm, near Esperance, was established in 1954 by RW (Rod) Schenk. It was for Aboriginal boys aged over 14 and, by the 1960s, girls. There was training in farming and Christian leadership. Wongutha was run by a local board of management. In 1990, the Christian Aboriginal Parent-Directed School Inc (CAPS) from Coolgardie took over the program and in 1993 all the land and assets at Wongutha were deeded to CAPS. On 24 December 1954, a permit to establish the Wongutha Farm Training Mission School at Esperance was granted to RW (Rod) Schenk, who was the son of RM Schenk, the founder of Mount Margaret Mission. In his 1959 Annual Report (p.9), the Commissioner of Native Welfare noted that the ‘junior’ Mr Schenk was a graduate of the Victorian Agricultural College. Wongutha was governed by a local Board which included farmers, business people, church and Aboriginal leaders, mostly from the Esperance area. The Train

The Australian Aboriginal Evangelical Mission (AAEM) Hostel in Esperance, Western Australia was established in 1966. It was an Aboriginal Education and Employment Hostel. It provided accommodation, supervision and full board for Aboriginal boys aged 15 years and older who were working in the district. It was open until at least 1980. The AAEM Hostel was largely independent of the Department of Native Welfare, but some financial assistance was received for particular building projects. It appears that the hostel was run by John Pedler (also known as Pedlar) for some years, possibly from 1966. It is not known how long Mr Pedler ran the hostel, but it was likely to have been until at least into the 1970s, when he went up to Kalgoorlie to run the Millen Street Hostel. The AAEM Hostel continued until at least 1980. Boys who lived at AAEM were aged over 15 years. It is possible that some boys were wards of the State. During the 1970s, the