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St Margaret’s Hostel

St Margaret’s Hostel for ‘unmarried mothers and their babies’ was run by the Sisters of Mercy from 1918 as an extension of St Vincent’s Foundling Home in Subiaco. It is probable that babies from St Margaret’s were adopted, fostered or lived at St Vincent’s Foundling Home until they were old enough to be moved to…

“Care for Children – Committees (Boarding Out Committee (Perth and District)) – Agendas, Minutes and Working Papers – JULY 1908 to MAY 1935”

“Care for Children – Committees (Boarding Out Committee (Perth and District)) – Agendas, Minutes and Working Papers – JULY 1908 to MAY 1935” contains a file called Minutes of the Perth and District Boarding Out Committee. The records in the file are arranged in chronological order, beginning in 1908. Entries contain information such as who…

Education Act 1928, Western Australia

The Education Act 1928 (033 of 1928 (19 Geo. V No. 33)) consolidated and modernised educational legislation that had developed in Western Australia since 1871. It governed the education of children and young people in Western Australia for the remainder of the twentieth century. The Act gave a lot of attention to developing mechanisms to…

Criminal Code Amendment Act 1965, Western Australia

The Criminal Code Amendment Act 1965 (Act no. 091 of 1965) was passed on 8 December 1965. The amending act substituted the reference to an industrial or reformatory school to more general descriptions of custody (s.18) and to include references to a child being placed in the care of the Child Welfare Department as per…

Criminal Code Amendment Act (No. 2) 1956, Western Australia

The Criminal Code Amendment Act (No. 2) 1956 (Act no. 043 of 1956 (5 Eliz. II No. 43)) was assented to on 11 October 1956 and commenced on 18 December 1956. It was ‘An Act to amend the Criminal Code’. When amending the Criminal Code in 1956 to change penalities for driving offences, the reference…

Criminal Code Amendment Act 1918, Western Australia

The Criminal Code Amendment Act 1918 (Act no. 032 of 1918 (9 Geo. V No. 22)) amended the Criminal Code in a way that allowed allowed the Chlidren’s Court to have jurisdiction over young people up to the age of 18 years, rather than 16 years as previously. The child would then be dealt with…

Criminal Code Act 1902, Western Australia

The Criminal Code Act 1902 (1 & 2 Edw. VII No. 14) was assented to on 19 February 1902. It defined crimes and penalties that had an impact on children. Some elements of the Criminal Code were brought into the State Children Act 1907 and there has continued to be a relationship between the Criminal…

Committee to Consider the Capitation Grant for Orphanages, Crown Colony of Western Australia

The Committee to Consider the Capitation Grant for Orphanages of the Legislative Council in Western Australia was appointed by the Governor in 1884. Its aim to was to find out if the amount paid to Orphanages for each child should be increased. This involved asking Orphanages how much it cost to ‘care’ for children and…

St Joseph’s Catholic Orphanage for Girls

St Joseph’s Catholic Orphanage for Girls was established in Perth by the Sisters of Mercy in 1868, for girls from the Poor House. Children who were destitute were accommodated, along with orphans. In 1901, the Home moved to Subiaco and became the St Joseph’s Girls’ Orphanage. An orphanage for Catholic girls was first established in…

Princess Margaret Hospital for Children

Princess Margaret Hospital for Children (PMH) was established in 1909 in Subiaco as the Perth Children’s Hospital. It was common for children who were in out of home ‘care’ to be sent there for medical treatment, and children with intellectual disabilities or serious medical conditions sometimes lived at the hospital. On 10 June 2018 the…