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Queensland - Organisation

Beulah Home (1960 - 1974)

  • Beulah Home

    Beulah Home, c. 1975, courtesy of Archives at St Aidan's Anglican Girls' School, Corinda.
    Details

From
1960
To
7 September 1974
Categories
Home and Protestant
Alternative Names
  • United Protestant Association Home (Also known as)

Beulah Home, in Corinda, was run by the United Protestant Association of Queensland. Previously known as the United Protestant Association Home, it housed children between 2 and 16 years. Its licence was cancelled in September 1974 after the Department of Children's Services raised concerns about the management of the Home.

Details

Beulah Home was licensed as an institution on 4 June 1971. Previously it was licensed as a Foster Home.

The Home housed around 20 girls, mainly state wards, in dormitories containing two to five beds.

The circumstances surrounding the closure of the Home in 1974 were the subject of a Ministerial Statement in the Legislative Assembly on 3 September 1974. The Minister for Tourism, Sport and Welfare Services, Mr Herbert, reported to the Parliament that he had given authority for Beulah Home's licence to be cancelled as from 7 September 1974, pursuant to section 39 of the Children's Services Act.

The Minister stated that the Department of Children's Services had 'for some time' been 'most dissatisfied with the general control and maintenance of the institution'. In June 1974, the Department had called upon the United Protestant Association of Queensland (which ran the Home) to show case why Beulah Home should not cease to be a licensed institution.

The grounds for the Department's dissatisfaction included disobedience on the part of the Matron, Mrs More, the failure of several children to attend school, and the Department's 'grave suspicion' that 'girl children' at the Home were likely to be 'exposed to moral danger'. It was reported that one girl had become pregnant while living at Beulah Home.

It would seem that the closure of the Home in September 1974 resulted in children having to be moved at short notice from Beulah to other residential facilities in Queensland.

National Redress Scheme for people who have experienced institutional child sexual abuse

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).

Location

4 June 1971 - 7 September 1974
Address - Beulah Home was situated at 18 Ruthven Street, Corinda. Location: Corinda

Publications

Books

  • Department of Families, Missing pieces: information to assist former residents of children's institutions to access records, State of Queensland, 2001. p.35. Details

Online Resources

Photos

Residents of Beulah Home 1960s
Title
Residents of Beulah Home 1960s
Type
Image
Date
1960s
Source
Former resident of Beulah Home

Details

Children ready for school, Beulah Home 1960s
Title
Children ready for school, Beulah Home 1960s
Type
Image
Date
1960s
Source
Former resident of Beulah Home

Details

Beulah Home
Title
Beulah Home
Type
Image
Date
c. 1975
Source
Archives at St Aidan's Anglican Girls' School, Corinda

Details

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.35.; 'Ministerial Statement: closure of the 'Beulah' Girls' Home, Corinda', in Queensland Parliamentary Debates [Hansard], Legislative Assembly, 3 September 1974, https://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/documents/hansard/1974/1974_09_03.pdf; Social Work Staff, Faculty of Education, University of Queensland, Directory of Social Services Queensland, University of Queensland Press, St Lucia, 1958, http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/eserv/UQ:241555/HV474_Q44D57_1958.pdf; Conversation with past resident of Beulah Home, 7 July 2012. Email correspondence with Graeme Hercus, UPA of NSW Limited, August 2015.

Prepared by: Lee Butterworth