The Mental Deficiency Act 1939 (No.4704) provided for the establishment of state institutions for the care of mental defectives and retarded children and for the licensing of privately run institutions. It transferred responsibility for children defined in this way from the Education Department to the Department of Mental Hygiene. This change reflects the views at…
The Hospitals and Charities Act 1922 ( No. 3260) brought into being the Charities Board of Victoria, which was responsible for benevolent societies and institutions which were supported in whole or in part by voluntary contributions and which had as one of their objects the provision of ‘charitable relief to diseased, infirm, incurable, poor or…
The Public Records Act 1973 (No 8418) established the Public Record Office of Victoria (PROV), the state archival authority. The Public Records Act provides for the preservation, management and utilisation of the public records of the state. The Act provides that public records containing ‘personal or private’ material can be closed to public inspection for…
The Aborigines Act 1910 (No. 2255 of 1910) had the long title, ‘An act to extend the powers of the Board for the Protection of Aborigines’. This Act abandoned the distinction in law between ‘full-blood’ and ‘half-caste’ in terms of defining Aboriginality. (The different treatment of ‘Aboriginal’ and ‘half-caste’ persons was established in law by…
The Adoption of Children Act 1964 (No. 7147) was “An Act relating to the Adoption of Children and for Purposes connected therewith.” The Adoption of Children Act 1964 was passed on 5 May 1964, commenced on 1 January 1966, and was repealed by the Adoption Act 1984 on 16 November 1987. The 1964 Act was…
The Children, Youth and Families Act was passed by the Victorian parliament in late 2005, and its provisions came into effect on 23 April 2007. The Act required that there was a Charter for children and young people in care in Victoria, to provide a framework for promoting the wellbeing of these children and young…
The Children’s Court Act 1956 (No. 6053) resulted from new thinking in regard to the problem of ‘juvenile delinquency’, and made some important changes to sentencing and to the numbers of offenders who also became wards. It commenced on 1 January 1957, and repealed the Children’s Court Act 1928 (No.3653). The Children’s Court Act 1958…
The Children and Young Persons Act 1989 (No. 56/1989) was implemented in stages up to 1992 and clearly separated services for children in need of protection from services for young offenders. The Act hastened the process of deinstitutionalisation in juvenile justice, and led to the closure of the few surviving ‘children’s homes’ in Victoria. It…
The Children’s Welfare Act 1928 (No. 3654) was ‘An Act to consolidate the Law relating to Children’s Welfare and to the Protection of Infant Life’. It commenced on 18 December 1929 and consolidated and replaced all Victorian legislation relating to child welfare and infant life protection since 1864. In the 1920s, there was a growing…
The Children’s Welfare Act 1933 (No.4152) amended sections 18 and 109 of the Children’s Welfare Act 1928. It extended the definitions of neglect in the 1928 Act. The 1933 legislation contained new categories of ‘neglected child’, including ‘being a female found soliciting men for prostitution…or found habitually wandering about…public places at night without lawful cause…’….
Dec 18, 2024
Nov 15, 2024
