Archives



Uncontrollable

Uncontrollable is a term used in child welfare legislation and in child welfare files. It was generally used by authorities to describe a child believed to be undisciplined. Being uncontrollable could be a reason for a child to be deemed neglected and made a ward of the state in court. Parents and guardians could declare…

In Moral Danger

In Moral Danger (sometimes abbreviated as IMD) was a term in common use in government departments and welfare agencies in the twentieth century. It referred to one of the categories of a ‘child in need of care and protection’ under the various child welfare acts in Australian states and territories. Being ‘exposed to moral danger’…

Child Guidance Clinic

Child guidance clinics were first established in Australia in the 1930s. Such clinics had been developed in the United States in the 1920s, for the diagnosis and treatment of mild behaviour and emotional problems in school-aged children (Wright, 2012). An important motive in the development of child guidance clinics was to counteract ‘juvenile delinquency’, but…

Apprenticeship

Apprenticeship was the practice of sending children in institutions or foster care into placements with employers once they were too old to attend school. It was not a trade apprenticeship as such, and generally meant children were sent to live in a private home to work as a farm labourer (for boys) or a domestic…

Barnardos Australia, Records

Barnardo’s Australia is a collection of records held by Barnardo’s Australia that relate to the orphanages, children’s homes and Child Migration Schemes run and or participated in by Barnardo’s Australia. The type of records in this collection include shipping lists, a card index of child migrants, photographs, films and memorabilia. Access Conditions Barnardos Australia provides…

Mission Australia

Mission Australia was formed in 1996 when Sydney City Mission (established in 1862), Adelaide City Mission (established in 1867), Wollongong City Mission, Perth City Mission (also known as Jesus People Inc.), Brisbane City Mission, Mission Australia Northern New South Wales, Mission Australia Southern New South Wales, Mission Australia Group Training and Mission Employment all joined…

Dr Barnardos in Australia

Dr Barnardos in Australia was, from 1966, the name used by Dr Barnardo’s Homes (Australia Branch). In 1964 Dr Barnardo’s Homes had stopped its child migration scheme and began to offer a broad range of services to children and families in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. The name change reflected this shift…

Dr Barnardo’s Homes (Australia Branch)

Dr Barnardo’s Homes (Australia Branch) began in 1883 when eight boys travelled from Dr Barnardo’s Stepney Home, London, to Australia. From 1920 to 1965 Barnardos ran an official Immigration Scheme under which many children migrated to Australia. In the post-World War Two period, Barnardo’s established family group homes in New South Wales and the Australian…

Presbyterian Church of Australia

The Presbyterian Church of Australia was formed in 1901, shortly after Federation. The Presbyterian Church of Australia is a Protestant Christian church, with roots in Scotland. The Presbyterian Church formed a Social Services Department in the 1940s that ran aged care, hospital and court chaplaincies and children’s homes such as St Andrew’s Boys’ Home in…

Uniting Church in Australia

The Uniting Church in Australia was inaugurated in 1977, following the union of members of the Methodist Church, the Congregational Church and some congregations of the Presbyterian Church from all states and territories. A number of welfare programmes linked with the member churches are now connected with the Uniting Church in Australia.