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Care Leavers Australasia Network

Care Leavers Australia Network (CLAN), founded in 2000 in Sydney, is a support and advocacy group for people brought up in care away from their family as state wards or children raised in Children’s Homes, orphanages or other institutions, or in foster care. CLAN is also for anyone who has a close family member who…

Kildonan, Burwood

Kildonan was a children’s Home in Burwood run by the Presbyterian Church of Victoria from 1937. Formerly, Kildonan had operated a children’s home in North Melbourne. Kildonan accommodated boys and girls, aged between 2 and 15. In 1961 the government-run Allambie Reception Centre opened on the site. The Kildonan home in Elgar Road, Burwood was…

Kilmany Park Farm Home for Boys

The Kilmany Park Farm Home for Boys in Sale, Gippsland, was established by the Presbyterian Church in 1924. It operated as a farm for boys aged between 10 and 16. Many boys from Kildonan’s homes in North Melbourne and Burwood were sent to Kilmany Park Farm Home, especially in 1933 to 1934. Kilmany Park was…

Kilmany Family Care

Kilmany Family Care came into being in 1979. It operated family group homes in East Gippsland, including one house specifically for Aboriginal children, with an Aboriginal cottage mother. In 2002, the organisation became known as Kilmany UnitingCare. Kilmany Family Care came into being in 1979 when the Uniting Church appointed a new Council to be…

Richmond Community Care Incorporated

Richmond Community Care Inc. was established in 1989. It took over the management of three residential units, formerly managed by Kildonan Homes for Children. From 1995 to 2000, Richmond Community Care was a program of Jesuit Social Services. Richmond Community Care Inc. Was incorporated as a new organisation in 1989, separate to Kildonan. From 1995…

Convent of the Good Shepherd, Abbotsford

The Convent of the Good Shepherd at Abbotsford was established by the Sisters of the Good Shepherd in 1863. A number of different institutions operated on the site at Abbotsford on the banks of the Yarra River, including an industrial school, reformatory, orphanage, female asylum and school. In 1961, it was designated by the department…

The Presbyterian Society for Neglected and Destitute Children

The Presbyterian Society for Neglected and Destitute Children was established in 1893, with prominent child rescuer Selina Sutherland as its agent. In late 1894, there was a very public disagreement between Sutherland and the Presbyterian Church over a dictate that the Society would only receive children under legal guardianship, and over preference given to Presbyterian…

The Presbyterian and Scots’ Church Children’s Aid Society

The Presbyterian and Scots’ Church Children’s Aid Society was established in 1895, bringing together the Presbyterian Society for Neglected and Destitute Children (established in 1893) and the Scots Church Neglected Children’s Aid Society (established in 1881). The end date for this organisation is unclear. There are surviving records from the Presbyterian and Scots’ Church Children’s…

Kildonan, North Melbourne

Kildonan was a children’s home in North Melbourne, established in 1890, and run by the Presbyterian Church. It usually housed children waiting to be ‘boarded out’ in the country, but some children were housed for longer periods. In 1937, the children were transferred from North Melbourne to a new Kildonan Home in Burwood. Kildonan in…

St Cuthbert’s Home for Boys

St Cuthbert’s Home was established in 1948. It first accommodated boys aged 6 to 14 years, but by the 1960s also housed girls. The use of the name ‘St Cuthbert’s Children’s Home’ probably started around this time. From the late 1960s, St Cuthbert’s established a number of family group homes. In 1977, St Cuthbert’s was…