Archives



Public Health Department, State of Tasmania

The Public Health Department was established in January 1904. Its purpose was to stop the outbreak of contagious diseases by taking control of sanitary works as well as preventing water pollution and the sale of contaminated food. The Public Health Department became the Department of Health Services in 1956. The Public Health Department was established…

The Mental Health Services Commission

The Mental Health Services Commission replaced the Division of Psychiatric Services in 1968. It provided mental health services to children and adults. In 1989, the Commission amalgamated with the Department of Health. The Mental Health Services Commission Act established the Mental Health Services Commission. The Commission assisted adults and children with a psychiatric illness, intellectual…

Combined Children’s Centre

The Combined Children’s Centre, run by the Mental Health Services Commission, opened on 29 March 1968, in Ellerslie Road, Battery Point. It provided mental health services to children, including state wards, and their families. In the early 1980s, it moved to Clare Street, New Town where, in 2014, it continues to operate as Clare House….

Haldon Family Group Home

Haldon Family Group Home, run by the government, opened in about 1987. It was in northern Tasmania. The Home provided temporary accommodation to children who were wards of state or supervised in other ways by the Department of Community Welfare and its successors. Haldon closed around 2000. A married woman managed Haldon Family Group Home…

Aspect House

Aspect House, run by Colony 47, opened in New Town in January 1981. It provided respite accommodation for children with physical and intellectual disabilities. Aspect House closed in November 1981. A group of parents of children with disabilities and their supporters established Aspect House. It opened on 14 January 1981 in Warragul Avenue, New Town….

Hobart Women’s Shelter

Hobart Women’s Shelter, run by a feminist collective, opened in about 1972. It provided temporary accommodation for women and their children escaping from domestic violence. The workers also advised homeless young women under 18 but it is not clear whether they gave them accommodation. In 2013, the Shelter is still operating. Prior to the establishment…

Annie Kenney Young Women’s Refuge

Annie Kenney Young Women’s Refuge opened in Hobart in 1978. It was a feminist initiative that provided emergency accommodation and support to young homeless women, many of whom were under 18. In 2009, the collective running the Refuge disbanded and the funding was returned to the Tasmanian Government for reallocation. Annie Kenney was established after…

Clarendon Children’s Home Inc.

Clarendon Children’s Home Inc, established in 2006, is a successor organisation to Clarendon Children’s Home and is managed by a governing Board. In 2014, it uses funds from the sale of the Home for grants to agencies that carry out early intervention work with children and their families. Clarendon Children holds the records of Clarendon…

Boys’ Reformatory

The Boys’ Reformatory, run by volunteers, opened in the Female Factory at Cascades, South Hobart, in 1869. It provided an alternative to gaol for boys who were homeless or had broken the law. The boys were about school age. The Reformatory closed in 1876. The Boys’ Reformatory was run by volunteers under the provisions of…

Dominic College

Dominic College, a Catholic school in Glenorchy, was formed in 1973 by an amalgamation of three schools, including Savio College, formerly Boys’ Town, which was a children’s Home and school that received child migrants in the early 1950s. Dominic College has a strong old boys’ network that includes the former child migrants. In October 2012,…