The Slow Learning Children’s Group (SLCG) began in Perth in 1951. A group of parents whose children had intellectual disabilities created an organisation that resulted in educational and training programs, appropriate residential facilities, meaningful employment and pathways to independence for all Western Australians with intellectual disabilities. In 1989, the SLCG changed its name to Activ…
The Disability Services Commission (DSC) was formed by the ‘Disability Services Act 1993 Western Australia’. The DSC merged and replaced the Authority for the Intellectually Handicapped (AIH, or ‘Irrabeena’) and the Bureau for Disability Services. The Act made the DSC responsible to the Minister for Disability Services, with its key functions being to ‘unify and…
A Board of Visitors for the Heathcote Reception Centre was introduced in 1929 for the independent oversight and ‘protection’ of patients. [From the State Records Office of Western Australia] Following an amendment to the Lunacy Act 1903 in 1920, a Board of Visitors system was introduced in Western Australia for the protection of patients in…
A Board of Visitors for the Claremont Mental Hospital was introduced in 1920 for the independent oversight and ‘protection’ of patients. [From the State Records Office of Western Australia] Following an amendment to the Lunacy Act 1903 in 1920, a Board of Visitors system was introduced in Western Australia for the protection of patients in…
Heathcote began in 1929 on Point Heathcote at Applecross. It was first known as the Heathcote Reception Home, and was a government hospital for people with ‘recent and recoverable’ mental illness. Heathcote sometimes housed Children and adolescents. It closed in 1994. The Royal Commission into Lunacy recommended in 1922 that a new hospital be built…
The Bureau for Disability Services (‘the Bureau’) was established in 1991, reporting to the Minister for Community Services and Disability Services. The Bureau oversaw the provision of State funding for services provided by non-government organisations to people with physical disabilities. It also had a broad policy and development role such as providing the framework for…
The Health Department and its previous agencies have had an indirect role in out of home care for over a century. The ‘Infant Life Protection’ provisions in the Health Act 1898 were important in protecting children until the State Children Act 1907 took over that function. It has been the government department responsible for the…
The Division for the Intellectually Handicapped (DIH) was part of Mental Health Services until 1984 and then part of the Health Department. It established and ran hostels for children, young people and adults with intellectual disabilities. The DIH was replaced by the Authority for Intellectually Handicapped Persons in 1986.
The Authority for Intellectually Handicapped Persons (AIH) was formed by the Authority for Intellectually Handicapped Persons Act 1985. Its role was to advance the ‘rights, responsibility, dignity, development and community participation of people with intellectual disability in Western Australia’. The AIH ran many hostels and developed a Local Area Coordination service to assist people with…
Mental Health Services was a government department responsible for the prevention and treatment of mental illness in Western Australia for the period 1 January 1954 until 1 July 1984. It took over this role from the Mental Hospitals Department. Up until the 1960s it was common to place children with intellectual and other disabilities in…
Dec 18, 2024
Nov 15, 2024
