Archives



Mentally Retarded Person’s Association Hostel

The Mentally Retarded Person’s Association Hostel opened in Darwin in 1968. Run by the Mentally Retarded Person’s Association it provided accommodation for people with intellectual disabilities. The Association also ran a pre-school and provided supported employment and training. The Mentally Retarded Persons Association Hostel closed in 1974.

Darwin Youth Refuge

The Darwin Youth Refuge, also known as Murkwood House, opened at Myilly Point in 1978. It was managed by the Young Women’s Christian Association, YWCA, with funding from the Northern Territory and Commonwealth governments. It provided short term emergency accommodation for up to 14 teenagers who were homeless or affected by family crises. The Refuge…

St John’s Hostel

St John’s Hostel opened in Alice Springs in 1941 It provided accommodation for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children from remote areas who were attending school. In 1945 six Aboriginal boys from St John’s were transferred to the Church of England Hostel for Inland Children at Kensington Park in South Australia. St John’s Hostel also took in…

Mount Blatherskite Hostel

The Mount Blatherskite Hostel was established in 1946 by the Australian Board of Missions at Mount Blatherskite near Alice Springs. It provided accommodation and training for Aboriginal children who were studying or doing apprenticeships in Alice Springs. Parents paid board for their children placed in the Hostel. The Mount Blatherskite Hostel was renamed the St…

Griffiths House

Griffiths House opened in 1945 as a hostel for children from remote areas of Central and Northern Australia who were attending school in Alice Springs. It was run by the Methodist Inland Mission and provided accommodation for between 30 and 40 children. Griffiths House closed in 1965 when St Philips College opened. Griffiths House opened…

Kormilda College

Kormilda College was opened in Darwin by the Commonwealth Government in 1967. It operated as a hostel and boarding school for Indigenous children moving into secondary school education. From 1989 the Uniting Church and Anglican Church took over joint control of the College and it began to also provide education for day students and boarders…

Australian Inland Mission Hostel

The Australian Inland Mission Hostel was opened in Alice Springs in 1926. Run by the Australian Inland Mission it began as a hospital and hostel. After the opening of the Alice Springs Hospital in 1939 the Hostel provided accommodation for children from remote areas of Central Australia whose parents were admitted to the Hospital, as…

St Mary’s Hostel

St Mary’s Hostel was the new name given to the Mount Blatherskite Hostel near Alice Springs in 1947. Run by the Australian Board of Missions it provided accommodation and schooling for Aboriginal children placed by their parents or committed to the Hostel by the Director of Native Affairs. A number of Aboriginal children returning from…

Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Primary School

Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Primary School was established by the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in Alice Springs in 1938. From 1940 it provided accommodation and education for children aged 5 to 16. Children under the care of the government may also have been placed at the School. In 1983…

Collier House

Collier House was the new name given to Longmore Hostel in 1985. It was run by the Department for Community Services in the grounds of the Longmore Training Centre as a short-term training hostel for up to six young people at one time.