The term Babies’ Home generally refers to institutions for children under the age of three, though not all institutions which served this purpose were named babies’ homes. For instance, in the nineteenth century, such institutions were often known as infant asylums and others were called foundling hospitals. These institutions were usually associated with services for…
Youth Justice Centre is a term from the Victorian Children Youth and Families Act 2005 to describe a residential institution where a young person (aged between 15 and 21 years) found guilty of an offence can be ordered to be detained. Previously, such institutions were known as Youth Training Centres. Click here to see the…
The term Training Centre, in Victoria, described an institution for people with an intellectual disability. Its use dates back to the Mental Health Act 1959. Before the passage of the 1959 act, institutions for children with intellectual disabilities were known as ‘colonies’. Training centres are not to be confused with Day Training Centres, another type…
Female Rescue was a movement based on Evangelical Christian principles, and its aim was to reform ‘fallen women’ (women engaged in prostitution) through a combination of prayer and hard work. Female Rescue Homes were established in Australia from around the 1850s. These Homes were heavily influenced by British models, particularly the Magdalen Asylum in London,…
The term Youth Welfare Service refers to an organisation providing a range of support services to young people, particularly teenagers, sometimes including short term hostel placements and life skills training. Click here to see the full Find & Connect glossary
Youth Training Centre is a term adopted from the 1950s onwards in place of ‘reformatory’ or ‘training institution’ to describe residential institutions designed for children and young people considered to require stronger discipline that those directed to other forms of ‘care’. In some cases, children placed in Youth Training Centres were on remand, or had…
A Children’s Village usually comprised several cottage Homes, in which children were accommodated in the ‘care’ of cottage parents. The village model was an alternative to institutional, dormitory-style accommodation of children. This model of institutional care has its roots in the late nineteenth century (for example, Dr Thomas John Barnardo established a ‘Village Home for…
Cottage Home was a model of institutional ‘care’ which began in the United Kingdom in the late nineteenth century. Along with boarding out, cottage home accommodation was seen as an alternative to large scale dormitory-style accommodation (although cottage homes could house up to 40 children). Some cottages used the ‘family cottage’ model where a group…
A hostel was one type of institution for young people, usually those leaving children’s Homes or reformatories, to prepare them for life after ‘care’. Hostels generally catered for young people from around the age of 15. They assisted former residents of orphanages and children’s Homes with the transition to paid employment and independent living. The…
This is a sketch of the Female Orphan School building on George Street, Sydney, as it was in 1813. It shows a large two-storey building with a stone wall in front of it, surrounded by smaller cottages. The building was used as the Female Orphan School until 1818, and then used as the Male Orphan…
Dec 18, 2024
Nov 15, 2024
