Risdon Prison, run by the government, opened in 1960. Although Risdon is an adult prison, it has always held small numbers of teenagers under the age of eighteen, some of them wards of the state. In 2013, it continues to hold some young people aged 16 or 17. Risdon Prison, which replaced the convict-built Campbell…
Wingfield House, run by the Board of the Royal Hobart Hospital, opened in 1938. It was on the grounds of St John’s Park. Wingfield provided residential and outpatient aftercare to children affected by the polio epidemic of 1937 to 1938. Later it offered services to children with a range of physical disabilities. It closed in…
St Giles Home, run by the Society for the Care of Crippled Children, opened in Newstead in 1937. It provided residential accommodation and schooling to children with physical disabilities, including wards of state. The Home closed in the 1990s. St Giles Home provided accommodation and treatment for children who had contracted polio during the 1937…
The Mothercraft Home opened in New Town in 1925. The Child Welfare Association ran it until 1947 when the government took it over. Its main purpose was to give breast feeding advice to mothers but it also provided accommodation for children. In 1982, the Home moved to South Hobart. It closed around 1988. The Mothercraft…
Orana Retarded Children’s Home, run by the Northern Branch of the Retarded Children’s Welfare Association, opened in Newnham in 1968. It accommodated country children with intellectual disabilities, aged between 6 and 16, so that they could attend special schools in Launceston. State wards with intellectual disabilities also lived at the Home. Orana closed around 1990….
Glenhaven Family Care, run by the Christian Brethren, replaced Glenhaven Children’s Homes in about 1988. It is located in Ulverstone and Launceston. In 2018, Glenhaven provides emergency, respite, and long term accommodation for children and young people in north and north-west Tasmania. It also offers a support service to families. According to its website, in…
Rosebank Cottage for Disabled Children, run by the Tasmanian Spastics Association, opened in Moonah in 1979. It provided long and short term accommodation for up to seven wards of state and other children with physical disabilities aged between 6 and 16. Rosebank Cottage closed around 1994. Rosebank Cottage was located at 60 Central Avenue, Moonah….
The Female Factory at Cascades opened in 1827. It was run by the Convict Department. As a place of secondary punishment for convict women, it housed the babies that they gave birth to there. The Factory closed in 1853. The Female Factory opened in Lowes Distillery, which had been converted for that purpose. Many of…
Abermere Receiving Home, run by the government, opened in Mount Stuart in 1975. It provided temporary accommodation to children who were wards of state or supervised in other ways by the Social Welfare Department. In the early 1980s, Abermere Receiving Home became Abermere Family Group Home. A married woman, known as a Receiving Home Keeper,…
The Home of Mercy, run by the Anglican Church, opened in 1890. It was a rescue and maternity home for single mothers, some of whose babies were adopted from the Home. After a number of sites, the Home moved to New Town in 1905 where there was a small babies’ and children’s Home attached. The…
Dec 18, 2024
Nov 15, 2024
