Warramia Group Home, in Badgingarra, was a government-run Home established in 1972 on a farming property. It provided short-term accommodation for up to eight primary-school age children, with a cottage mother. From 1972, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal boys from the Hillston detention centre were sent to work on the farm at Warramia and from 1974 to…
Warralea was a government-run hostel established around 1973 in Yokine. It accommodated Aboriginal boys going to primary and high school in Perth. It may have become a group home by 1979. From 1984, Warralea was a community support hostel for boys and girls aged 6-17 years. Warralea closed in 1986 and the building was used…
Warminda was established in 1968 as a hostel for Aboriginal girls of working age but by 1975 was admitting girls and boys aged from 5-16 years. It was run by Methodist and Uniting Church agencies. In 1984, the Uniting Church ceased their residential program at Warminda, and it became a government-run community support hostel, keeping…
Waringarri Group Home, Kununurra opened in 1982 to house up to eight Aboriginal children on a short-term or emergency basis, including children in transit through Kununurra. Waringarri was run by the Kununurra Waringarri Aboriginal Community until around 2004, when it was run by child welfare authorities. In remained open in 2014.
Warburton Mission, 579 kilometres north-east of Laverton, was established in 1933 as an outstation of Mount Margaret Mission until it became a separate facility in 1937. Aboriginal children either lived at the mission with families or were sent there for schooling. The head of the government departments responsible for Aboriginal welfare was the guardian of…
Wanslea was established as a Home for young children in Cottesloe. It was run by a private management committee, taking private admissions. By the 1960s, children who were wards were also sent to Wanslea and in the 1980s, school-age children were placed there. From 1985 the model of ‘care’ changed from orphanage-style accommodation to cottage…
Wandering Mission was established by the Catholic Archbishop of Perth in 1944, as a day school with a dormitory for Aboriginal girls, run by the Pallottines (Society of the Catholic Apostolates). Boys were admitted from 1951. Children aged 4-15 years were accommodated at Wandering, at the request of parents or government authorities. The head of…
Walcott Centre was opened in 1980 and replaced the government-run Mount Lawley Reception Home. It was part of a system of support hostels that included Tudor Lodge and Stuart House. In 1983 two group Homes, Andrew House and Cawley House, were created on the Walcott Centre campus. Both these Homes closed in 1984 and were…
The WA School for Deaf Children was established in East Perth in 1896 as the West Australian Deaf and Dumb Instution. It moved to Buckland Hill (Mosman Park) in 1900. This residential school admitted children of all ages, including those who were wards of the state and private boarders, until the residential section closed in…
Victoria Park (Riverbank) Annexe was established in 1980 as a government-run hostel providing community-based training programs and after-care services for teenage boys (all who were wards of the State) released under supervision from Riverbank, and other boys. It replaced ‘Fourteen’, which had closed in 1979. The Victoria Park Annexe operated for an unknown period, possibly…