The Metropolitan Boys’ Shelter was established as part of the Children’s Court at Albion Street, Surry Hills in 1911. It was a remand home and shelter for boys who were awaiting Children’s Court hearings. In 1974 boys aged 18 to 20 were transferred to Minda. The Children’s Court and the Metropolitan Boys’ Shelter closed in 1983.
The Shelter was established at The Children’s Court on the corner of Albion and Commonwealth Streets, Surry Hills, in 1911. Although the instigator of the Children’s Court, Sir Charles K Mackellar, had great hopes that the new court would be airy and light and would reflect the humane intention of the new policies. However the Albion Street building, designed by Government Architect Walter Liberty Vernon, was much the same as other New South Wales Government courthouses. It was attractive on the outside, but gloomy inside. Mackellar was upset that there was no space for children awaiting court hearings to be separated from adults who were being tried in the court for offences against children that ranged from desertion to neglect and abuse.
The accommodation for the boys, which was under the building, was noted to be particularly unsuitable for reformative purposes.
A newspaper article from 1975 that featured interviews with young people living in a refuge included a comment by Henry, who was asked what was the worst place he’d ever been in. His answer was “Albion Street. Because it was the hardest to ‘piss off’ from. The only thing you want to do when you’re in such a place is ‘piss off'” (Tribune, 29 July 1975).
The courthouse and the shelter closed in 1983. The buildings are now used by a range of social services providers.
From
1911
To
1983
Alternative Names
Metropolitan Boys' Remand Home
Albion Street Shelter
1911 - 1983
Metropolitan Boys' Shelter was situated on the corner of Commonwealth Street and Albion Street, Surry Hills, New South Wales (Building Still standing)
