The Chidley Educational Centre was established in 1976 by the Education Department of Western Australia in Mosman Park as a result of advocacy by the Isolated Country Parents’ Association. It was a short-term (six month) residential program for children from country areas who needed specialist learning support. In 1979, there were up to forty children…
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…
Swan Homes, in Middle Swan was created from a merger of two Anglican children’s homes in 1943. The Perth Girls’ Orphanage was evacuated to Swan Boys’ Orphanage at Middle Swan during World War II, and the two children’s homes merged into one institution. During this time, the type of accommodation changed from dormitories to large…
St Mary’s Mission was a boarding school managed by the Benedictine Community of New Norcia for Aboriginal boys. From at least the early 1960s state wards were placed at St Mary’s. A report from 1971 stated that the school catered for “160-170 primary and secondary school children”. St Mary’s Mission was closed in 1974. In…
Bindoon was established by the Christian Brothers in 1936 near Bindoon, north of Perth. It began as a ‘farm and trade school’ for boys aged 12 to 16 years from various backgrounds, including Australian-born boys who were wards of the State and those who had been admitted privately, and (from 1947 to 1966) child migrants…
The Pallottine Mission, Tardun, run by The Pallottines, opened a boarding school in 1948, before establishing a hostel in 1960 to accommodate boys and girls in dormitories who went to school at the mission. In the 1960s the hostel was completely rebuilt to provide cottage-style care with house parents. In 1995, the Pallottine Mission, Tardun…
Nulungu, in Broome, was established in 1971 by the Christian Brothers as a school. Over the years, Nulungu also accommodated Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children who were wards of the State when they came to Broome for medical treatment. These children may have records held by child welfare authorities. In 1994, Nulungu became St Mary’s College…
Mogumber was run by the Methodist Overseas Mission from 1951 on the site of the Moore River Native Settlement. Aboriginal children and young people of all ages were placed there by parents, child welfare authorities or the Children’s Court. In the 1970s, some children were moved from Mogumber to houses in Perth. In 1974, Mogumber…
Koorana, in Bentley, was a non-residential school established and run from 1974 by child welfare authorities. It admitted primary-school age children who needed assistance to develop learning and behavioural skills that would enable them to return to mainstream schooling. Many children who attended Koorana lived in departmental Homes or foster care. A child did not…
Gnowangerup Agricultural College was established in 1966 as a boarding school on the same site as Gnowangerup Mission. From 1974, child welfare authorities placed teenagers, including wards of the state, with the aim of providing child welfare support to the young people while they were at school. The Gnowangerup Training Centre (2006-2010) opened on the…
Dec 18, 2024
Nov 15, 2024
