The Deaf and Dumb Institution was founded in Sydney in 1860 by Thomas Pattison, a deaf migrant from Scotland, to provide education to deaf children. It started as a private school, with a residential facility, in Liverpool Street, near South Head Road. It then moved to Castlereagh Street and was officially declared a public institution…
The Spastic Centre was a non-government organisation that supported children and adults with cerebral palsy, which was once known as ‘spastic paralysis’. It ran the New South Wales Hostel for Country Children at Allambie Heights from 1953. It was established in 1945 by a group of parents led by Neil and Audrie McLeod, whose daughter…
Wesley Mission was the new name chosen by the Wesley Central Mission in 1993. It is a Wesleyan Methodist non-government organisation that continues the social welfare, charity and ministry work of the Wesley Central Mission (1977-1993) and the Central Methodist Mission (1884-1977). Wesley Mission is a major provider of welfare services, including Dalmar and Lifeline.
The Society for the Relief of Destitute Children was formed in Sydney in 1852 by members of the Benevolent Society of New South Wales. It was a separate organisation and ran the Asylum for Destitute Children at Ormond House in Paddington (1852-1858) and the Randwick Asylum for Destitute Children. The Society was incorporated in 1857…
The Fairbridge Society developed from the Child Emigration Society, established in 1909 by Kingsley Fairbridge. Its purpose was to send British child migrants to different parts of the Empire where they would learn farming at special farm schools. The Fairbridge Society ran Pinjarra in Western Australia from 1913, and sent children to farm schools in…
The New South Wales Society for Crippled Children was a charitable organisation that was founded by Rotary in 1929 to support children who suffered polio and tuberculosis. It ran the Margaret Reid Home and the Beverley Park Estate, as well as special schools and other residential facilities. The author May Gibbs gave a large part…
Northcott is the modern name for the New South Wales Society for Crippled Children, which ran the disability institution Beverley Park and the Margaret Reid Orthopaedic Hospital for Crippled Children. In 1995 the Society changed its name to the Northcott Society, in honour of Governor Northcott, a past patron. In 2012 the organisation called itself…
The Country Women’s Association of New South Wales (CWA) is a not-for-profit women’s organisation that works for the welfare of women and their families by raising funds, lobbying governments and teaching life skills. From the 1940s until the 1980s various branches of the CWA ran hostels for rural girls so they could live in town…
Marella Mission Farm originated in 1948 with Gwen and Keith Langford-Smith accommodating Aboriginal foster children on their farm property at Kellyville. By 1949 Langford Smith had set up the Sky Pilot Foundation to run the farm, with the stated goal of caring for Aboriginal children who had been born in New South Wales to mothers…
Kurrajong was a special school and hostel complex that was set up in Wagga Wagga by the Society for the Welfare of Retarded Children in 1961. Hostels for children were set up from 1972, but closed in 1986. In 2013 Kurrajong (as Kurrajong Waratah) was a disability support service for babies, children, young people and…