Ward Maintenance Files (sometimes referred to as 'M' files) relate to action taken to obtain maintenance (i.e. payments) - by agreement or by court proceedings - in respect to children and young persons up to eighteen years of age admitted or committed to the care of the Minister to be dealt with as State wards or committed to departmental institutions.
Access to these records is currently 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 themselves will need to complete a Care Leaver Records Access Application Form (downloadable from the Care Leaver Records Access Unit website or available at a Community Services Centre). Completed application forms with proof of identity can be sent to the Care Leaver Records Access Unit, or lodged with a Community Services Centre. For further information please contact the Care Leaver Records Access Unit.
According to Connecting Kin (1998), these files are not indexed. In order to access them, the relevant file number has to be obtained from another source such as the State Ward ('B') file.
Quantity: 51 boxes
Sources used to compile this entry: Thinee, Kristy and Bradford, Tracy, Connecting Kin: Guide to Records, A guide to help people separated from their families search for their records [completed in 1998], New South Wales Department of Community Services, Sydney, New South Wales, 1998, https://clan.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/connectkin_guide.pdf.
Prepared by: Melissa Downing
Created: 10 August 2011, Last modified: 15 June 2023
Last updated: 4 August 2023
Cite this: https://www.findandconnect.gov.au/ref/nsw/biogs/NE00749b.htm
First published by the Find & Connect Web Resource Project for the Commonwealth of Australia, 2011
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