Fairholme was established in 1952 as a home for 32 children ‘of all ages’ with intellectual disabilities who were transferred from the Claremont Mental Hospital. Fairholme, with Earlsferry, made up the Nathaniel Harper Homes owned and run by the government of Western Australia. Fairholme continued to provide out of home care in the Guildford premises,…
Earlsferry was established as a Home for ten ‘mentally handicapped girls’ who were transferred from the Claremont Mental Hospital. Earlsferry, with Fairholme, made up the Nathaniel Harper Homes owned and run by the government of Western Australia. In 1988, ownership passed to the Authority for Intellectually Handicapped Persons. In April 1989, when Earlsferry was damaged…
The Bureau for Disability Services (‘the Bureau’) was established in 1991, reporting to the Minister for Community Services and Disability Services. The Bureau oversaw the provision of State funding for services provided by non-government organisations to people with physical disabilities. It also had a broad policy and development role such as providing the framework for…
The Commonwealth Disability Services Act 1986 (Act no. 129 of 1986) commenced on 5 June 1997. It rose from the Handicapped Persons Review in 1985. The Act reshaped the way disability services were funded but initially there was some concern and confusion about the obligations arising from State and federal funding sources. In 1991 the…
The Health Department and its previous agencies have had an indirect role in out of home care for over a century. The ‘Infant Life Protection’ provisions in the Health Act 1898 were important in protecting children until the State Children Act 1907 took over that function. It has been the government department responsible for the…
The Division for the Intellectually Handicapped (DIH) was part of Mental Health Services until 1984 and then part of the Health Department. It established and ran hostels for children, young people and adults with intellectual disabilities. The DIH was replaced by the Authority for Intellectually Handicapped Persons in 1986.
The Authority for Intellectually Handicapped Persons (AIH) was formed by the Authority for Intellectually Handicapped Persons Act 1985. Its role was to advance the ‘rights, responsibility, dignity, development and community participation of people with intellectual disability in Western Australia’. The AIH ran many hostels and developed a Local Area Coordination service to assist people with…
The Mental Health Act Amendment Act 1965 (037 of 1965) included the term ‘intellectually defective’ to describe a person who was ‘suffering from arrested or incomplete development of mind’ (s.3b). This was the first time intellectual disability had been distinguished from mental illness in the statute law of Western Australia.
The Mental Health Act 1962 (046 of 1962 (11 Eliz. II No. 46)) was amended twice before it came into force on 1 July 1966. It repealed the Lunacy Act 1903 and related Acts less relevant to children in out of home care. Intellectual disability was not distinguished from mental ‘disorder’ in the Act, which…
Mental Health Services was a government department responsible for the prevention and treatment of mental illness in Western Australia for the period 1 January 1954 until 1 July 1984. It took over this role from the Mental Hospitals Department. Up until the 1960s it was common to place children with intellectual and other disabilities in…
Dec 18, 2024
Nov 15, 2024
