Please contact the State Records Research Centre:
Postal Address: GPO Box 464, Adelaide SA 5001
Phone: 08 7322 7077
Quote this number to access your records: State Records of South Australia Series ID, GRG29/1
These records are part of Records of the Social Welfare Department and predecessors (1849 - c. 1987).
The Archival Series, Annual Reports of the State Children’s Council and the Children’s Welfare and Public Relief Department, is made up of yearly reports containing updates on developments at Homes under the control of the State Children’s Council and its successor, the Children’s Welfare and Public Relief Board. Some information on Cottage Homes can also be found in these reports including some photographs. Quantity: 9 bound volumes.
A Research Centre Members card, obtainable at the Archives, is required to research records held at State Records.
Although some very early records relating to children in care in South Australia are open for access, most records relating to children are subject to a 100 year restriction, particularly those which contain personal information about individuals. Written permission must be obtained from the government agency which created the record in order to access restricted material. To obtain permission a Freedom of Information (FOI) request form must be submitted to the relevant government department. State Records staff will be able to assist you with this.
Numbers of children accommodated in the Homes under the control of the State Children’s Council and the Children’s Welfare and Public Relief Department are included but the reports contain no personal information. Cottage Homes – Early reports contain brief updates on the development of all cottage homes under a general heading of Cottage Homes. Later reports only give the number of cottage homes operating each year and no other details. A table of expenditure in the appendices provides names of homes operating each year and the numbers of children accommodated.
Photos of Merrilama Cottage are included in the annual report for 1960; Spence Cottage in the annual report for 1966; and Stirling Cottage in the annual report for 1962.