Bethel Home, Dalby, c. 1982, courtesy of The Forde Foundation.
Details
Bethel Home, Dalby was operated by the Association of Bethel Home. It was established in 1952 by Alan Back, a Baptist pastor in Dalby, as a Christian home for children who were wards of the state. It functioned as a boarding facility for children from country areas attending school or sheltered workshop facilities in Dalby. It closed in May 1982.
Bethel Home was first licensed under The Infant Life Protection Act 1905, then The State Children Act 1911.
The property housing the Bethel Home was donated to the National Indigenous Training Association (NITA). NITA was founded by Graham Paulson, Queensland's first ordained Indigenous Baptist minister. Accommodation consisted of individual cottages known as Back House, Morris Cottage, Bethesda House and Westaway House.
The Secretary of the Bethel Home Committee advised that they have not been able to locate any client records.
In 2021, the Queensland government has agreed to be a funder of last resort for this institution. This means that although the institution is now defunct, it is participating in the National Redress Scheme, and the government has agreed to pay the institution's share of costs of providing redress to a person (as long as the government is found to be equally responsible for the abuse a person experienced).
Sources used to compile this entry: Department of Families, Missing pieces: information to assist former residents of children's institutions to access records, State of Queensland, 2001. p.34..
Prepared by: Lee Butterworth
Created: 7 June 2011, Last modified: 5 November 2021
Last updated: 7 August 2023
Cite this: https://www.findandconnect.gov.au/ref/qld/biogs/QE00053b.htm
First published by the Find & Connect Web Resource Project for the Commonwealth of Australia, 2011
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