Adoption Information Services came into being in July 2019 when the delivery of local adoptions, inter-country adoptions and information about past adoptions were transferred from the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services to the Department of Justice and Community Safety. Previously, the Victorian government adoption information service was called Family Information, Networks and Discovery…
The Cottage Home was established in July 1879 as a private boarding-out home in Newtown, Sydney. The Cottage Home had capacity for approximately 10 children and was managed by an older couple acting as house “father and mother”. It was established as a trial of the boarding-out “family system” as opposed to the institutional system…
In 2018 the Children’s Protection Society changed its name to Kids First Australia. Kids First Australia provides support services to children, young people, and families, such as counselling, treatment and therapeutic healing for cases of abuse and neglect, youth homelessness prevention, and mentoring and education services. Kids First Australia provides access to the records of…
Jewish Care (Victoria) Inc. came into being in 2001 following a merger of Montefiore Homes and the Australian Jewish Welfare Society. Jewish Care inherited any surviving records of Frances Barkman Homes.
The Apollo Bay Museum is operated by the Apollo Bay and District Historical Society. It holds artefacts and information about the history of the Apollo Bay area, including a small number of records relating to the Heathfield Homes Reformatory School for Protestant Boys. Opening Hours: Please check the website for Museum opening hours or to…
The Girls’ Friendly Society (GFS) was established in Victoria in 1883. The movement was originally established in England in the 1870s. It had strong links to the Church of England. In Melbourne, the GFS provided accommodation and services to immigrants and female travellers. According to O’Hanlon, the Girls’ Friendly Society ‘operated a system whereby unchaperoned…
The Training Home for Girls was established in around 1880, as an institution where young women received training to become domestic servants. Originally, it was known as the Servants’ Training Institute. The Training Home for Girls was located in Berry Street, East Melbourne (Jolimont). It was run by a committee of management with links to…
The Seventh Day Adventist Welfare Organisation was an arm of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, established in Victoria in 1886. The Seventh Day Adventist Welfare Organisation was one of the 22 private adoption agencies approved by the Adoption Act 1964. There are records relating to adoptions organised by the organisation in the collection of the…
Foster Care Westernport was established in 1979. As well as providing foster care, it provided respite care for children with disabilities through the Westernport Interchange program. The agency had a separate foster care program for adolescents. In 1991, Foster Care Westernport merged with the Victorian Children’s Aid Society to form the new organisation, Family Focus….
The Citizens Welfare Service of Victoria came into being in 1947. Previously it was known as the Charity Organisation Society of Melbourne. The name change coincided with a change in focus towards casework and counselling, employing only professionally trained social workers and expanding its ‘client group’ into Melbourne’s northern and western suburbs. The CWS ran…
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