The Inspector General of the Insane was an agency of the New South Wales Government that was created in 1876. The office was renamed Inspector General of Mental Hospitals in 1917.
The first inspector, F Norton Manning, was appointed to supervise the Asylum for Imbeciles and Institutions for Idiots at Newcastle, the Lunatic Reception House at Sydney (Darlinghurst Reception Centre), the Branch Asylum at Callan Park and the Temporary Lunatic Asylum, Cooma. The Inspector General of the Insane later took over supervision of Tarban Creek Lunatic Asylum, Parramatta Hospital for the Insane, Bay View House Tempe and Broughton Hall Psychiatric Clinic.