The Child Welfare Advisory Council began meeting in 1965. It provided advice to the Minister about issues related to children who were state wards or supervised in other ways by the Social Welfare Department and its successors. The Council was abolished in about 1998.
The Child Welfare Advisory Council was established under section 5 of the Child Welfare Act 1960. The Secretary of the Council had to be employed by the Social Welfare Department and appointed by its Director. Other members of the Council could also be public servants. The Council met about once a month. Sub-committees of the Council investigated specific issues. They usually met more often.
The Council monitored the activities of approved children’s homes through regular questionnaires and visits by sub-committees.
Its first major task was to conduct a survey into the needs of children coming under the Child Welfare Act to find out if the facilities run by the Department and voluntary organisations met those needs, if new facilities should be established, and how to rationalise state and voluntary activities.
In 1970, the Council investigated Departmental attempts to prevent children from breaking the law and the facilities that the state had available for them. The following year, it looked into the situation of state wards in approved children’s homes. The Council began investigating changes to the Child Welfare Act in 1976.
The 1997 Children, Young Persons and their Families Act abolished the Child Welfare Advisory Council.