The Carramar Children’s Home was a government-run Home, located in Townsville. It was previously known as the Townsville Receiving Depot. Children moved into a new building in 1966, possibly as a result of the passage of the Children’s Services Act 1965 which required that children be given adequate lodging and that institutions be maintained at all times in a fit and proper state for the care of a child. In 1967, its name changed to the Carramar Receiving and Assessment Centre.
The report of the Commission of Inquiry into Abuse of Children in Queensland Institutions cites a departmental report from 1965, describing the ‘shocking condition’ of the buildings at Carramar. The report mentioned Carramar’s ‘ill-ventilated, dark, dingy rooms, holes in the ceilings, walls and floors eaten by white ants, and cockroaches in abundance’ (p.65).
The report stated that prior to the new building being completed in 1966, children slept on louvred verandahs. The report mentions how the new buildings at Carramar coincided with new children’s services legislation in Queensland, with stricter rules about the maintenance and standard of children’s lodgings.
From
1964
To
1967
1964 - 1967
Carramar Children's Home was situated at 42 Warburton Street, North Ward, Townsville, Queensland (Building Demolished)
Previous
Subsequent
