The Homemaker Service, funded by the Tasmanian government, and located within the Department of Social Welfare, and later, the Department of Community Welfare, began in February 1976. It was modelled on a similar service already in place for Aboriginal families which the Commonwealth government funded. Homemakers worked with families in crisis on a short term basis offering them support, introducing them to useful services and helping them to liaise with government departments and other organisations. The aim was to prevent children from going into care.
The Homemaker Service was part of a range of policies used by the Social Welfare Department and the Department of Community Services to keep families together.
Homemakers were selected because of their ‘personal qualities and practical wisdom’ rather than their qualifications.
Homemakers also ran self-help projects and craft groups for the families they visited.