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Government Welfare Training Council

The Government Welfare Training Council was established in 1963, in Lisson Grove, Hawthorn. It provided what was for many people the first formal staff training in child care. Previously, the only training offered for child care workers was a course run by the Victorian Council of Social Service. The training centre was established in response…

Travancore

Travancore was established in 1933 in Flemington. It was a school and residential centre that housed and educated ‘mentally defective’ children up to the age of 14. Since 2009, the Travancore School delivers a number of programs to link the mental health and education sectors. Travancore was established in 1933, by the newly-formed Department of…

Department of Mental Hygiene

The Department of Mental Hygiene was established in 1934 following the proclamation of the Mental Hygiene Act (No.4157). The Department was responsible for the development and direction of policy governing the treatment of the ‘mentally ill, the intellectually handicapped and inebriates’ and for the establishment and administration of institutions for their care for the period…

Royal Park Industrial School [Girls]

The Royal Park Industrial School opened in Parkville in 1875. It accommodated girls until around 1879 when the girls were transferred to the Industrial School at Geelong, and boys from Sunbury’s Industrial School came to Royal Park. At about this time the Industrial School became known as the Royal Park Depot. The Royal Park Industrial…

Hawthorn Youth Welfare Service

The Hawthorn Youth Welfare Service was established by the Victorian state government in 1970. It provided short term, non-residential care for approximately 100 14 -17 year old males each year. Young men were placed on probation to the Youth Welfare Service for six to twelve months. They attended the service under close supervision for three…

Western Youth Welfare Service, State of Victoria

The Western Youth Welfare Service (WYWS) was established by the Victorian government in Ascot Vale in 1975. It provided residence and support for about 200 young people every year. The WYWS included a hostel that helped prepare residents return home or to live independently. It also ran day and evening programs to assist young people…

Miralee Reception Centre

Miralee Reception Centre was established in 1963 as the ‘Mildura Reception Centre’, and renamed ‘Miralee’ in 1967. Miralee accommodated approximately 10 to 12 children up to 14 years of age. In 1980 the Department built a new ‘Miralee’ Reception Centre. The Mildura Reception Centre was opened in July 1963. In 1967 the centre was named…

Melbourne Youth Residential Centre

The Melbourne Youth Residential Centre is the sole facility providing custodial accommodation for remanded or sentenced young women (up to the age of 21) in Victoria’s juvenile justice system. The 30-bed centre also accommodates young men aged 10 to 14 years on remand or sentence by the Children’s Court to a Youth Residential Order. The…

Bendigo Reception Centre

Bendigo Reception Centre was established by the state government in 1965. Unlike other reception centres such as Allambie and Baltara, the Bendigo Reception Centre was managed by a family. The demand for Bendigo Reception Centre was lower than anticipated, and it was closed in February 1966.

St Paul’s School for the Blind

St Paul’s School for the Blind opened in 1957 in Kew and was run by the Villa Maria Society. It admitted some wards of state, and operated two residential units in Kew and Alphington. For most of its history St Paul’s School was located at 6 Studley Park Road, Kew (also described as 13 Fernhurst…