The Child Welfare Division of the Social Services Department, and the Social Welfare Department that succeeded it, managed all aspects of child welfare work, including foster care and the government-run homes. In 1970, the Child Welfare Division had a Head Office in Hobart and three District Offices in Hobart, Launceston and Burnie. Following de-centralisation of…
The Child Welfare Advisory Council began meeting in 1965. It provided advice to the Minister about issues related to children who were state wards or supervised in other ways by the Social Welfare Department and its successors. The Council was abolished in about 1998. The Child Welfare Advisory Council was established under section 5 of…
The Social Policy Planning Unit, located within the Department of Social Welfare and its successors, was established in 1975. It conducted research into policy change and made recommendations to the Director of the Department. The Unit closed in the late 1980s or early 1990s. The Social Policy Planning Unit employed a Unit Supervisor, a clerical…
The State Psychological Clinic, the first in Australia, was set up under the Mental Deficiency Act 1920 to diagnose and classify children with what is now known as intellectual disability, research it, and instruct teachers. The Clinic’s statutory existence ended in December 1964 following the passage of the Mental Health Act 1963 but since its…
The Guardianship Board, established by the Mental Health Act of 1963, replaced the Mental Deficiency Board in 1963. Its purpose was to assume the guardianship of people with an intellectual disability or mental illness. It also advised the Minister about the care, treatment and occupations of people suffering from an intellectual disability or psychiatric illness….
The Mental Deficiency Board was established in 1922 by the 1920 Mental Deficiency Act. It oversaw the classification and management of children and adults deemed to have an intellectual disability. The Board supervised a number of state wards in conjunction with the Children of the State, and later, the Social Services Departments. The Guardianship Board…
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…
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….
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…
The Commissioner for Children was established in 2000. It is an independent, statutory office responsible to the Parliament of Tasmania. In 2014, the Commissioner’s functions include promoting the rights and well-being of children along with examining the policies, practices and services provided for children and any laws affecting their health, welfare, care, protection and development….
Dec 18, 2024
Nov 15, 2024
