The Morning Star Boys’ Home in Mount Eliza (Mornington ) was established in 1932, and run by the Franciscan Brothers. It was a training centre for young offending boys. Morning Star ceased operation in September 1975. In 1932, the Archbishop of Melbourne received a bequest, part of the purpose of which was ‘to found a…
St Joseph’s Home, Sebastopol, was established in around 1911. It accommodated boys aged between 6 and 16, and some girls until the age of 6 when they were transferred to Nazareth House, Ballarat. Residential childcare ceased at St Joseph’s in 1980. The site of St Joseph’s Home was on Grant Street, Sebastapol (in the Ballarat…
The Menzies Home for Children was the new name given in October 1961 to the former The Menzies Home for Boys. From this time Menzies allowed girls to be admitted and increasingly housed children in family group homes in the Frankston and Dandenong areas. The organisation became Menzies Inc. in 2000. The Menzies Home for…
Marillac House in Brighton East was run by the Daughters of Charity from 1943. It included a school, and accommodated mostly girls aged 10 to 16, and some boys in its early years, with intellectual disabilities, or learning and social problems. In 2009, Marillac House continues to provide programs and services to people with a…
The Providence Children’s Home was established at Bacchus Marsh in 1957. It accommodated children from Victoria’s Dutch community, but was not exclusively for children from any national or religious group. It was established to accommodate children between 2 and 16 years, but also had babies and infants. Providence Children’s Home also ran three family group…
The Pakenham Boys’ Home was run by the Salvation Army between 1895-1897 on Army Road, Pakenham. The first boys at the Pakenham Boys’ Home were moved there from the Salvation Army’s Heidelberg Boys’ Home, which closed in 1895. In 1897 the decision was made to transfer the Boys’ Home to The Basin, where it became…
The Riddells Creek Girls’ Home was established by the Salvation Army in 1900. It was reported the Adelaide Advertiser in 1902 that girls living at the Home included girls ‘recruited’ from the ‘Chinese opium dens’ and other ‘vile resorts’ in the slums of Melbourne. The newspaper described the Home as ‘spotlessly clean’, and stated it combined…
Spring House was established by the Salvation Army in 1921. It was located on the corner of Spring and Lonsdale Streets, Melbourne. According to O’Hanlon, Spring House was one of a series of hostels built by the Salvation Army in state capital cities during the interwar period. Spring House closed in 1984. O’Hanlon writes that…
The Salvation Army Westcare came into being in around 1980. With support from the Department of Community Welfare Services (DCWS), Westcare established residential units for children and young people in the western region of Melbourne. The Salvation Army Westcare ran residential care units for young people until 2018 when the Department of Health and Human…
The Melbourne Orphanage was established in 1926. It was formerly the Melbourne Orphan Asylum. It was located in Brighton where it accommodated boys and girls aged between 3 and 16. By the 1950s, some children were housed in group homes in Glen Waverley. In 1965, it became the Melbourne Family Care Organisation. The Melbourne Orphanage…