In 2018 the Children’s Protection Society changed its name to Kids First Australia. Kids First Australia provides support services to children, young people, and families, such as counselling, treatment and therapeutic healing for cases of abuse and neglect, youth homelessness prevention, and mentoring and education services. Kids First Australia provides access to the records of…
Jewish Care (Victoria) Inc. came into being in 2001 following a merger of Montefiore Homes and the Australian Jewish Welfare Society. Jewish Care inherited any surviving records of Frances Barkman Homes.
The Apollo Bay Museum is operated by the Apollo Bay and District Historical Society. It holds artefacts and information about the history of the Apollo Bay area, including a small number of records relating to the Heathfield Homes Reformatory School for Protestant Boys. Opening Hours: Please check the website for Museum opening hours or to…
Wandin Yallock Reformatory School, or ‘Fernydale’, was opened in 1886 as a private reformatory for boys. Fernydale was established to reform ‘juvenile offenders’ by providing them with farm training. In 1893 Fernydale was proclaimed a reformatory under the Juvenile Offenders Act 1887 and received boys from the government reformatory which closed in April of that…
The Girls’ Friendly Society (GFS) was established in Victoria in 1883. The movement was originally established in England in the 1870s. It had strong links to the Church of England. In Melbourne, the GFS provided accommodation and services to immigrants and female travellers. According to O’Hanlon, the Girls’ Friendly Society ‘operated a system whereby unchaperoned…
The Training Home for Girls was established in around 1880, as an institution where young women received training to become domestic servants. Originally, it was known as the Servants’ Training Institute. The Training Home for Girls was located in Berry Street, East Melbourne (Jolimont). It was run by a committee of management with links to…
Dame Mary Herring Spastic Children’s Hostel in Armadale was a centre that provided residential care to children with cerebral palsy. Run by the Spastic Children’s Society of Victoria, it opened in 1956 and was approved as a children’s home in 1964. Residential accommodation was provided in congregate care form at the Hostel itself, as well…
The Seventh Day Adventist Welfare Organisation was an arm of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, established in Victoria in 1886. The Seventh Day Adventist Welfare Organisation was one of the 22 private adoption agencies approved by the Adoption Act 1964. There are records relating to adoptions organised by the organisation in the collection of the…
The Children’s Court Clinic was established in 1942 and operated in association with the Central Children’s Court in Melbourne. The Clinic was the investigative arm of the Children’s Court. Many children who were at Royal Park Depot or Turana awaiting a court appearance were seen by the Children’s Court Clinic. In 2016, the Children’s Court…
The Children’s Court of Victoria was established in 1906. Before this time, children were dealt with in the same courts as adults. The Children’s Court heard cases involving children under the age of 17 related to criminal matters (juvenile offending) as well as welfare matters (such as determining if a child was ‘neglected’ or ‘in…