Pine Creek Home

The Pine Creek Home, which had operated from 1931 to 1932, was reopened by the government in 1940 as a place for Aboriginal children who were being transferred from government institutions to various Missions. In late 1940, 70 children were in residence in the Home. Pine Creek Home only operated for a matter of months and closed in 1941. Records suggest that the Pine Creek Home may also have been used during 1942 as temporary accommodation for people being evacuated from the Northern Territory during World War II.

In 1939 the new Native Affairs Branch, on a recommendation from the then Chief Medical Officer and Protector of Aborigines, Dr Cecil Cook, began negotiations with various religious organisations to have each denomination take charge of their own so called ‘half-caste’ children. When the agreement was reached many children from The Bungalow and Myilly Point Home were moved out to the Missions.

The Pine Creek Home at Pine Creek, approximately 200km south east of Darwin, had originally operated between 1931 and 1933 to accommodate children from the over-crowded Myilly Point Home for Aboriginal children who were considered at that time to be ‘half-caste’. In 1940 the government reopened the Home to accommodate the Aboriginal children who were on their way from the government institutions to the various Missions. According to newspaper reports there were 70 children in residence at the Home when it was damaged by a cyclone in November 1940.

The Pine Creek Home only operated for a matter of months and closed in 1941. Records, however, suggest that the Pine Creek Home may also have been used during 1942 as temporary accommodation for people being evacuated from the Northern Territory during World War II.