Registers of Nursing Homes (1906 - 1918)

Access Conditions

Access to some of these records is restricted to protect personal privacy.

Records

The Queensland State Archives website states:

Under the Infant Life Protection Act of 1905, houses could be registered as Nursing Homes for the purposes of nursing and caring for children under the age of three years. Every registered person was required to keep a roll at the Nursing Home to record details of each child, including biographical information, parent, relative or guardian information, payment details, discharge and death information and reporting and inspection details. Administration and inspection of Nursing Homes was carried out by the Commissioner of Police until these powers and duties were transferred to the Director, State Children Department under the Infant Life Protection Act Amendment Act of 1918. Under the Infant Life Protection Acts Amendment Act of 1935, the age of children in this type of care was raised from three years to six years.

This register from the Rockhampton Receiving Depot lists the name of the occupier of the nursing home, the sex of the occupier, whether married, single, widower or widow, and occupation. The street address of the home is listed, and any particulars regarding the house, such as what material it is built from, the number of rooms and the area of land comprised in the premises; as well as the maximum number of infants permitted to be kept, the date of registration, the date of renewal and any remarks (eg. Registration not renewed, transfer of certificate, who certified the home). The alphabetical index at the front of the register also gives the names of the infants at the different nursing homes and dates for their removal, date of death etc. Attached to the page at the front of the index is a typed list of nursing homes from 1925 - 1937.