Archives



Churches of Christ in Tasmania

The Churches of Christ are a network of charismatic Protestant churches that provide mutual support while accepting the differences between them. The first Tasmanian Church opened in 1865. The Church became known as the Disciples of Christ in 1885 and the Churches of Christ in 1915. The Churches of Christ in Tasmania ran Bethany Boys’…

St Joseph’s Child Care Centre

St Joseph’s Child Care Centre replaced St Joseph’s Orphanage (Aikenhead House), opening on 22 February 1970. It was located in Taroona and run by the Sisters of Charity. The Centre provided cottage accommodation for 30 children in three cottages, and also supervised the Family Group Homes of Villa Maria, Loreto, Carinya, and later, Bimbadeen. In…

Convict Department

The Convict Department was established in 1818. It managed Tasmania’s convict system, and after transportation ceased in 1853, people who had been in the system. The Department closed in 1877. After Tasmania became self-governing in 1856, the Convict Department was part of the Imperial, as distinct from Colonial, establishment and was directly responsible to the…

Board of Guardians Queens Asylum

The Board of Guardians Queens Asylum was established in 1862. It had the guardianship and legal control of the children placed in the Queen’s Orphan Asylum. The Board was abolished in 1879, when the Asylum closed. The Queen’s Asylum Act of 1861 established the Board of Guardians. This coincided with the transfer of administration of…

Launceston Girls’ Home

Launceston Girls’ Home replaced the Launceston Girls’ Industrial School in 1921. It was run by a volunteer ladies’ committee and an advisory council of five men. The Home accommodated girls between the ages of two and 16. It closed in 1989. Launceston Girls’ Home was a non-denominational Protestant home. Its new name was an attempt…

Tasmanian Aboriginal Child Care Association

The Tasmanian Aboriginal Child Care Association was established in 1983 in Launceston. In 2014, it provides long term day child care, an Aboriginal parenting support service, and manages the funds for other projects that support learning for young Aboriginal people. The Tasmanian Aboriginal Child Care Association was established by Molly Mallett who was born on…

Launceston Girls’ Industrial School

The Launceston Girls’ Industrial School, which was managed by a Board of Governors and Ladies Committee, opened in 1877. It trained girls up to the age of 16 in domestic and laundry work. In 1921, it became the Launceston Girls’ Home. The Launceston Girls’ Industrial School was established under the auspices of the 1867 Industrial…

Hobart Girls’ Industrial School

The Hobart Girls Industrial School opened as the Hobart Town Female Refuge in 1862. It was for girls considered to be neglected. In 1945, the Salvation Army took the School over and renamed it the Maylands Salvation Army Home for Girls. Hobart Girls’ Industrial School had eight different locations between 1862 and 1945. The first…

Department for Community Welfare, State Government of Tasmania

The Department for Community Welfare replaced the Social Welfare Department in 1983. It provided financial and other assistance to people with inadequate incomes and managed children’s services, including the supervision of state wards. In July 1989, the Department was amalgamated with the Housing Department and Corrective Services to form the new Department of Community Services….

Central Committee for Boarding Out Destitute Children

The Central Committee for Boarding Out Destitute Children was established in 1881. It was a volunteer Committee that inspected the foster homes of children placed in them under the Public Charities Act 1873. The Secretary of the newly established Neglected Children’s Department abolished the Committee in 1898. The Public Charities Act 1873 provided for a…