Archives



Bethcar Children’s Home

Bethcar Children’s Home was a state-run foster care facility, located near Brewarrina. Bethcar was established in 1969, and was run by the Department of Youth and Community Services (which had assumed responsibility for Aboriginal children in 1969). In 1986 Bethcar moved from Brewarrina to Orange. Bethcar closed in 1989. In his poem “Mission Breed”, David…

Department of Family and Community Services, State Government of New South Wales

The Department of Family and Community Services is a New South Wales state government department established in 2011. It replaced the Department of Human Services which was active from 2009 to 2011. The Department of Family and Community Services provides services and assistance to disadvantaged families, individuals and communities in New South Wales. Community Services…

Kinchela Boys Home Aboriginal Corporation

Kinchela Boys’ Home Aboriginal Corporation (KBHAC) is a support service and advocacy group that works with and for former residents of the Kinchela Boys’ Home to help them recover their identity and wellbeing. It is based in Darlington in Sydney. KBHAC recognises the legacy of, not only, members’ experiences of removal, but also the physical,…

Havilah Group Home

Havilah Group Home, in Marrickville, was run by Church of England Children’s Homes from 1979 until the mid 1980s as a family group home for Aboriginal children. It was staffed by Aboriginal people and was one of the first homes of its kind. It was linked to Marella Aboriginal Program but closed in the mid-1980s…

Junior Red Cross Society

The Junior Red Cross Society was formally established in Australia in 1918, as part of the Australian Red Cross. It was a children’s and youth division, which had regional committees. Various branches of the Junior Red Cross Society set up and ran Homes in various locations around Australia, as part of its peacetime programs. These…

Sunnyfield Association

The Sunnyfield Association was a parent-run organisation formed in 1952 to provide education and accommodation for children with disabilities. Originally a part of the Sub-Normal Children’s Welfare Association of New South Wales, it broke away and became independent in 1956. It ran Sunnyfield School in Manly Vale, and set up hostels for adults in Allambie…

Blue Mountains Handicapped Children’s Centre

The Blue Mountains Handicapped Children’s Centre was formed in Springwood in 1961 to provide accommodation, education, employment and training for children with disabilities. At first its services were for children but this was extended to adults over time. In 2014 it is still operating, as Eloura or Blue Mountains Disability Services Ltd.

Anglican Diocese of Bathurst

The Bathurst Diocese of the Church of England in the west of New South Wales comprises 34 parishes, stretching from the Blue Mountains to the Queensland border. The Bathurst Diocese established the St Michael’s War Memorial Children’s Homes at Bathurst in 1957. It ran an Anglican Youth Council and a Children’s Home Council, who took…

Cudgelo Junior Red Cross Home

Cudgelo Junior Red Cross Home was opened as a Junior Red Cross Home in Ramsgate in 1923. It appears to have been a holiday home and convalescence home for girls from the Far West of New South Wales, including the Bourke district. During World War Two, the Home temporarily relocated to Yass, before returning to…

The Smith Family

The Smith Family was established in 1922 as a charity to improve the lives of disadvantaged children in Australia. In its first constitution it was officially known as the Smith Family Joyspreaders Unlimited. In 1933, the Smith Family established a convalescent Home for children in North Parramatta, Mount Arcadia Children’s Home.