In May 1982, an inquiry began by the Senate Standing Committee on Social Welfare. The result of this inquiry was the report, ‘Children in Institutional and Other Forms of Care: a national perspective’ (1985). The Committee noted that little work had been done to date in this area, on a national basis. The Committee’s terms of reference included an examination of the changing direction of and attitudes towards institutional care. One factor behind the inquiry was the finding by a previous committee in 1982 that many youth with a background of institutional care subsequently became homeless.