Archives



Receiving Home, Darwin

The Receiving Home, Darwin, was opened by the Government in 1957 as a temporary institution to replace the Fannie Bay Receiving Home. Children of all ages taken into the care of the State were placed at the Receiving Home while waiting placement in other institutions or into foster care. It also operated at times as…

Fannie Bay Receiving Home

The Fannie Bay Receiving Home opened in Darwin in 1956. It was the first government run institution specifically established for children placed under the care of the Director of Welfare. Prior to its establishment the majority of these children were placed in interstate institutions. In May 1957, just under one year after it opened, the…

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…

Wave Hill Welfare Settlement

The Wave Hill Welfare Settlement was established by the government in 1970 on land previously part of the Wave Hill Cattle Station. Baptist missionaries took up residence in 1970 and operated a school. No dormitories are known to have operated at Wave Hill. The lease of 1,200 square miles of the Wave Hill Cattle Station…

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…

Warrabri

Warrabri was established as a government settlement 100 kilometres south of Tennant Creek in 1956. It replaced the Phillip Creek Native Settlement. Missionaries from Australian Baptist Home Mission provided welfare services at Warrabri from 1957. A school for Aboriginal children was established but it does not appear that dormitories operated at Warrabri. In 1978 the…

Phillip Creek Native Settlement

The Phillip Creek Native Settlement was established by the government in 1945 as a temporary settlement for Aboriginal people. It was initially staffed by missionaries from the Aborigines Inland Mission. The settlement operated three dormitories for Aboriginal children. In 1947 children who were then considered to be of mixed-race were removed to the Retta Dixon…

Hooker Creek Native Settlement

Hooker Creek Native Settlement, 550 kilometres south west of Katherine, was established by the government in 1948. A large number of Aboriginal people from Yuendumu Native Settlement were moved there. A school opened in 1954 but no dormitories were used. Missionaries from the Australian Baptist Home Mission resided there from 1962. The settlement was handed…

St Joseph’s Mission, Daly River

St Joseph’s Mission, Daly River opened at New Uniya in 1891. Run by Jesuit missionaries, it replaced the Queen of the Holy Rosary Mission. Although missionaries set up a school for children, no dormitories were built. The mission was forced to close in 1899 due to severe flooding. St Joseph’s Mission, Daly River was opened…

Sacred Heart Mission

The Sacred Heart Mission was established at Serpentine Lagoon on the Daly River by Jesuit Missionaries in 1889. It was the second Jesuit mission on the Daly River after the Queen of the Holy Rosary Mission. The Mission struggled to operate for two years. The residents were devastated by epidemics and the crops planted to…