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Swan Reach Mission

The Swan Reach Mission was established by the United Aborigines Mission [UAM] at Swan Reach in 1926. A rented cottage was used as the Mission House and a school opened at the Mission in early 1926 to provide Christian education to local Aboriginal children. The site at Swan Reach was prone to flooding and permanent…

Nepabunna Mission

The Nepabunna Mission was established by the United Aborigines’ Mission (UAM) in north-east South Australia in 1931. The Missionaries assisted with housing, schooling, health and other facilities at the Mission. A dormitory for Aboriginal children was constructed at Nepabunna early in the 1940s but was not used for several years. The State Government took control…

Ernabella Mission

The Ernabella Mission was established by the Presbyterian Church in the Musgrave Ranges of north-west South Australia in 1937. A school operated at the Mission. In 1970 the State Government took administrative control of the Mission and in 1972 this transferred to the Commonwealth Government. In 1974 the administration of Ernabella Mission passed to the…

Kali Cottage

Kali Cottage was opened by the government in Westbourne Park in the former premises of the Kali Boy’s Hostel. It operated as a cottage home for a small number of children. Kali Cottage closed in 1977 when the government decided that its location was not suitable.

Rescued Sisters’ Home

The Rescued Sisters’ Home was opened by the Salvation Army on the corner of King William Street and South Terrace in 1890. It operated as a rescue home for destitute women and girls. From 1893 it operated in conjunction with the Adelaide Maternity Home. The Rescued Sisters’ Home closed in 1899 when the Salvation Army…

Ru Rua Nursing Home

Ru Rua Nursing Home opened in North Adelaide in 1978. It provided accommodation for children and young adults with severe and multiple disabilities. In 1981, Estcourt House at Grange was renovated, and Ru Rua Nursing Home moved to these upgraded premesis. In 1982, it became part of the newly created Intellectual Disability Services Council. Ru…

Balaklava Aboriginal Welfare Institution

The Balaklava Aboriginal Welfare Institution was established by the Commonwealth Government in 1942 at the Balaklava Racecourse as a temporary accommodation facility for Aboriginal people evacuated from the Northern Territory during World War II. It accommodated women and children and a small number of men. Several farms in the surrounding area were also used to…

Ashford House

Ashford House was established by the Crippled Children’s Association of South Australia (CCA) at Ashford in 1952. It replaced the Spastic Centre at Kermode Street, North Adelaide, and provided day schooling and respite care for children with Cerebral Palsy. Ashford House closed in 1976, at the same time as the Somerton Crippled Children’s Home and…

Spastic Centre, Kermode Street, North Adelaide

The Spastic Centre at Kermode Street, North Adelaide, was established in late 1949 by the Crippled Children’s Association of South Australia (CCA). It provided a day school and training centre for children suffering from Cerebral Palsy. In 1951 the Spastic Centre closed and the children were moved to the new centre, Ashford House. The Spastic…

Woodville Spastic Centre

The Woodville Spastic Centre was the new name given to the Woodville Spastic Children’s Home around 1960. Run by the South Australian Spastic Paralysis Welfare Association it provided day training and respite accommodation for children with disabilities. Services began to be decentralised from the Woodville site in the 1980s. The residential Nursing Home at the…