Archives



Independent Living Unit

The Independent Living Unit, run by the Tasmanian government, opened in about 1983. It was a part of the Northern Regional Resource Unit in Launceston. Wards of state learned independent living skills through a residential six month course at the Independent Living Unit which could also take emergency placements. It closed around 1990.

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…

Campbell Street Gaol

Campbell Street Gaol opened in 1821. Although for adults, it housed a number of children. The Gaol closed in 1960 when the newly built Risdon Prison replaced it. Campbell Street Gaol opened as a barracks for male convicts in 1821. Children’s presence in the Gaol was widely accepted by nineteenth century society because of the…

Launceston Gaol

Launceston Gaol, run by the government, opened in 1827. Although the Gaol was for adults, it housed quite a few children, some as young as eight or nine. It closed in 1917. Launceston Gaol, located in Patterson Street, opened in 1827. By 1900, it was mostly used as temporary accommodation for offenders waiting to go…

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…

Savio College

Savio College, run by the Salesians of Don Bosco, replaced Boys’ Town in 1956. It was in New Town. Boys’ Town had been a Catholic Home and school, that received child migrants from Britain. Two of the migrants remained at Savio with the last one leaving in 1959. Savio also accepted wards of state. In…

Wyadra Hostel

Wyadra Hostel, run by the Blind, Deaf and Dumb Institution, opened in New Town in 1952. It was initially for children with partial hearing and later for those with no hearing. The Hostel closed in 1957. Wyadra Hostel opened officially on 21 April 1952 in Clare Street, New Town. The Institute for the Blind and…