Archives



Royal Institution for Deaf and Blind Children

The Royal Institution for Deaf and Blind Children was the new name given to the Institution for the Deaf, Dumb and the Blind in 1957, when Queen Elizabeth II conferred the title ‘Royal’ on the Darlington school and residential facility. The Institution moved to North Rocks in 1962 and the old building was acquired by…

Deaf and Dumb Institution

The Deaf and Dumb Institution was founded in Sydney in 1860 by Thomas Pattison, a deaf migrant from Scotland, to provide education to deaf children. It started as a private school, with a residential facility, in Liverpool Street, near South Head Road. It then moved to Castlereagh Street and was officially declared a public institution…

CatholicCare, Diocese of Broken Bay

The CatholicCare Diocese of Broken Bay is the new name for Centacare Diocese of Broken Bay. The name change occurred in late 2013. CatholicCare Broken Bay provides social services from Willoughby in northern Sydney up to Woy Woy on the Central Coast. CatholicCare Broken Bay provides foster care and out-of-home care residential services for the…

Department of Charitable Institutions

The Department of Charitable Institutions was a New South Wales government agency that was established in 1888. It took over the responsibilities of the Inspector of Public Charities. It administered state hospitals and asylums for the infirm. It had overall responsibility for the State Children’s Relief Branch and the Government Asylums Branch. It oversaw the…

Metropolitan Hospitals and Charities Department, State Government of New South Wales

The Metropolitan Hospitals and Charities Department was the name given to the Department of Charitable Institutions in 1911. It had responsibility for state hospitals and asylums for the infirm. It was amalgamated with the Office of the Director-General of Public Health, the forerunner of the Department of Public Health, in 1913.

Office of the Director-General of Public Health

The Office of the Director-General of Public Health was a department created by the New South Wales Government in 1913 as part of the Chief Secretary’s Department. It had responsibility for government asylums for the infirm, which had previously been part of the Metropolitan Hospitals and Charities Department. It looked after public health areas such…

Inspector of Public Charities

The Inspector of Public Charities was a person appointed by the New South Wales Government under the Public Institutions Inspection Act 1866 to inquire into the management of all hospitals, infirmaries, orphan schools and charitable institutions that received government funds. In 1886 areas of responsibility that the Inspector of Public Charities reported upon included the…

Hospitals Commission of New South Wales

The Hospitals Commission of New South Wales was a board appointed by the New South Wales Government in 1929 to provide a complete hospital system. It did not run hospitals, as hospitals had their own boards and management. The duties of the Commission were to inspect hospitals, inquire into standards and hospital administration, determine which…

Department of Public Health, State Government of New South Wales

The New South Wales Department of Public Health was established as a separate ministerial department by the New South Wales Government in 1938. It held responsibility for general hospitals (previously under the Colonial Secretary’s Department), mental hospitals (previously under the Master of Lunacy), and the Office of Public Health. From 1965 this Department contained a…

The Spastic Centre of New South Wales

The Spastic Centre was a non-government organisation that supported children and adults with cerebral palsy, which was once known as ‘spastic paralysis’. It ran the New South Wales Hostel for Country Children at Allambie Heights from 1953. It was established in 1945 by a group of parents led by Neil and Audrie McLeod, whose daughter…