Archives



Adoption Information Services, Department of Justice and Community Safety

Adoption Information Services came into being in July 2019 when the delivery of local adoptions, inter-country adoptions and information about past adoptions were transferred from the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services to the Department of Justice and Community Safety. Previously, the Victorian government adoption information service was called Family Information, Networks and Discovery…

Commission for Children and Young People

The Commission for Children and Young People was formed in March 2013 to replace The Office of the Child Safety Commissioner.

Department of Health & Human Services, State Government of Victoria

On 1 January 2015, the Victorian Government established the Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS) to integrate health and human services policies, programs and services. The new DHHS brings together the former Department of Health, former Department of Human Services and Sport and Recreation Victoria. DHHS is responsible for dealing with children placed in…

National Library of Australia

The National Library of Australia in Canberra was formally established by the passage of the National Library Act 1960. Its origins can be traced back to the establishment of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Library in 1901. The Library’s role “is to ensure that documentary resources of national significance relating to Australia and the Australian people, as…

Mental Health Authority, State of Victoria

The Mental Health Authority came into being in 1962, under the terms of the Mental Health Act 1959. The Authority was responsible for policy relating to mental health and control of what was previously called the Mental Hygiene Branch. Between 1944 and 1978 the Mental Hygiene Branch/Mental Health Authority greatly increased its services to patients…

Mental Hygiene Branch

The Mental Hygiene Branch was established in 1944. It assumed responsibility for those functions previously administered by the Department of Mental Hygiene, namely the development and direction of policy governing the treatment of the mentally ill, the care of the intellectually disabled, the care and treatment of alcohol and drug dependent persons, and for the…

Inspector of Public Charities

An Inspector of Public Charities appears to have been first appointed in late 1880 within the Department of the Treasurer. The position of Inspector had been recommended by the Royal Commission into Charitable Institutions of 1870 . The Inspector undertook the investigation of the management, and audit of the accounts, of institutions receiving assistance from…

Central Board for the Protection of Aborigines, State Government of Victoria

The Central Board for the Protection of Aborigines was established in 1869, under the provisions of the Aborigines Protection Act 1869. Previously, the Central Board Appointed to Watch Over the Interests of Aborigines had been operating in Victoria since 1860. The Board, which ran missions and reserve stations in Victoria, had significant statutory power over…

Aborigines Welfare Board

The Aborigines Welfare Board was established by the Aborigines Act 1957. This Act abolished the Board of Protection (first formed in Victoria in 1860). The new Aborigines Welfare Board had the function ‘to promote the moral, intellectual and physical welfare of aborigines (full blood and half-caste) with a view to their assimilation in the general…

Central Board Appointed to Watch Over the Interests of Aborigines

The Central Board Appointed to Watch Over the Interests of Aborigines came into being in 1860, as a result of an inquiry into Aboriginal welfare in Victoria in 1858. The Board was given statutory authority in 1869, with the passing of the Aborigines Protection Act 1869. At this time, the organisation became known as the…