Existing driveway and entry showing western wing, 2011, courtesy of Louise Thom.
Details
Bimbadeen Girls Home in Cootamundra was established in 1969 by the New South Wales Department of Child Welfare in the buildings that had been used by the Cootamundra Girls Training Home. It housed Aboriginal girls, including some who had lived in Cootamundra Girls Training Home, and also some non-Aboriginal girls. Bimbadeen Girls Home closed in 1974.
Bimbadeen Girls Home was established in 1969 when the Aborigines Welfare Board was shut down and the Cootamundra Girls Training Home was closed. It was first run by the New South Wales Child Welfare Department, which later became the Department of Child Welfare and Social Welfare and then was called the Department of Youth and Community Services.
Some girls who had been in Cootamundra Girls Training Home remained on site at Bimbadeen, under the care of the Child Welfare Department. Non-Aboriginal girls were also sent to Bimbadeen. The institution closed when the government reviewed residential accommodation for children.
Bimbadeen is owned by the Young Aboriginal Land Council and since 1979 has been run by the Aboriginal Evangelical Fellowship as a training centre.
1911 - 1969 Cootamundra Training Home
1969 - 1974 Bimbadeen Girls Home
Sources used to compile this entry: 'Cootamundra Aboriginal Girls' Training Home', in State Heritage Register, Heritage Council, NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, 2012, https://www.hms.heritage.nsw.gov.au/App/Item/ViewItem?itemId=5061346.
Prepared by: Naomi Parry
Created: 11 April 2012, Last modified: 18 July 2018
Last updated: 4 August 2023
Cite this: https://www.findandconnect.gov.au/ref/nsw/biogs/NE01119b.htm
First published by the Find & Connect Web Resource Project for the Commonwealth of Australia, 2011
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