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….
The Department of Health and Human Services succeeded the Department of Community and Health Services in 1998. Through its Children and Youth Services program the Department ran child and youth welfare services, including out of home care and adoptions, in Tasmania. In 2018 the Children and Youth Services program and the department’s functions regarding child…
The Department of Community and Health Services replaced the Department of Community Services in 1993. It provided health care, including mental health, financial and other assistance to people with inadequate incomes, and managed family and children’s services, including the supervision of state wards. In 1998, its name changed to the Department of Health and Human…
The Department of Community Services replaced the Department for Community Welfare in 1989. It provided housing, financial and other assistance to people with inadequate incomes, and managed corrective, mental, family and children’s services, including the supervision of state wards. In 1993, it became the Department of Community and Health Services. In July 1989, shortly after…
The Social Welfare Department replaced the Social Services Department in 1961. It provided financial and other assistance to people with inadequate incomes and managed children’s services, including the supervision of state wards. In 1983, it became the Department for Community Welfare. The name, Social Welfare Department, was an attempt to avoid confusion with the Commonwealth…
The Social Services Department replaced the Charitable Grants Department in 1934. It managed outdoor and indoor relief, child welfare services and, between 1934 and 1946, the State Immigration Office. The Social Services Department became the Social Welfare Department in 1961. The Social Services Department replaced the Charitable Grants Department following an amendment to the Public…
The Children of the State Department replaced the Neglected Children’s Department. The Department oversaw the care of wards of state. In 1934, the new Social Services Department took over the role of the Children of the State Department, although the name persisted in annual reports well into the 1940s. The Children of the State Act,…