Cara Inc. was established in 1979 as a not for profit charity and was run by a board of management. It operated four specialist residential homes and provided support and advocacy for young women aged between 12 and 17, some of whom were pregnant or had a baby. Young women were referred to Cara Inc….
The Infant Life Protection Act 1890 (No. 1198) commenced on 31 January 1891. It shifted the control of overseeing paid children’s nurses to the police, and explicitly stated that people had to be registered if they were for the purpose of nursing or maintaining such infant apart taking charge of a child under two years…
The Children’s Court Act 1906 (No. 2058) established a closed court where children’s cases would be heard, established a clear protocol for dealing with children between the time they were apprehended and their court appearance, and formally recognised the importance of probation officers to the system. The Children’s Court continued largely unaltered into the second…
The Aborigines Act of 1890 (Act no.1059) was ‘An Act to consolidate the Laws relating to the Aboriginal Natives of Victoria.’ It extended the powers of the Governor to separate Aboriginal children from their families. The Act commenced on 1 August 1890 and was repealed by the Aborigines Act 1915 on 1 October 1915. In…
The Public Health Amendment Statute 1883, No. 782, also referred to as the Public Health Amendment Act, made local boards responsible for overseeing the registration of children placed in the homes of people other than their families. This was Victoria’s first attempt to legally regulate the practice referred to as baby-farming. In the mid-nineteenth century…
The Neglected and Criminal Children’s Amendment Act 1874 amended the Neglected and Criminal Children’s Act of 1864. The main change was its introduction of the practice of boarding-out to Victoria’s child welfare system. Boarding-out was introduced into the Victorian child welfare system as a solution to the overcrowding and poor health within the colony’s industrial…
The Southport Youth Support Service was established by Melbourne City Mission in 1987, to support young people in the areas of South Melbourne and Port Melbourne. The service was set up to work collaboratively with local government, other services and local businesses to respond to a wide range of issues for young people including education,…
Community Integration and Accommodation Options (CIAO) was set up in 1991 by Melbourne City Mission. CIAO provides accommodation and support services to young people on statutory orders who are exiting residential services in the North and Western suburbs. The young people are aged between 15 and 18 years old and are often dealing with complex…
Centacare Catholic Family Services was formerly known as the Catholic Social Service Bureau. The name change, to reflect the organisation’s ‘commitment to families’ was announced by Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne George Pell in December 1998. The Department of Human Services funded Centacare’s Adoption and Permanent Care Service, which incorporated an information service about previous adoptions.
Hartnett House was established in around 1955 when Melbourne City Mission amalgamated its Maternity Home and its Toddlers’ Home on Albion Street, Brunswick. The new institution was named Hartnett House in 1958. In 1973 Hartnett House stopped operating as a maternity home and ceased its adoption operations but continued as a children’s home. In 1982…
Dec 18, 2024
Nov 15, 2024
