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Royal Commission on Youth Employment and the Apprenticeship System, State of Western Australia

A Royal Commission on Youth Employment and the Apprenticeship System was established by the Western Australian government on 5 April 1937 and the Report was tabled on 28 February 1938. The systems of training at Fairbridge Farm School, the Unemployed Boys’ Farm at Wokalup, Werribee Farm School and Tardun Farm School were described and a…

Inspector’s books – Werribee

Inspector’s books – Werribee is an item held by the State Records Office of Western Australia. The item includes reports by the school inspectors who made annual inspections of the Werribee Farm School on behalf of the government departments responsible for education. Teachers’ names and school programs are included, along with the numbers of children…

East Perth Girls’ Home

The East Perth Girls’ Home was opened in 1931 by the Aborigines Department as a hostel for young women to stay and receive training in domestic service. Over time, pregnant women were sent there to await the birth of babies and it was a reception centre for ‘half-caste’ boys and girls before they were placed…

United Aborigines Mission, Halls Creek

The United Aborigines Mission, Halls Creek, was established in 1957. Until 1963, children at the mission were under the guardianship of the Commissioner of Native Welfare. The mission was closed in 1967.

Halls Creek Mission

Halls Creek Mission was run by the Australian Inland Mission from 1943. Children at the Mission were under the guardianship of the heads of the departments responsible for Aboriginal welfare. In 1955, some people from Moola Bulla Station moved the Mission when the Station closed. Halls Creek Mission closed in 1960. From 1948 to the…

Udialla Station

Udialla Station was established south of Derby in 1944 as a government-run training facility for ‘part-Aboriginal’ people, including children under the guardianship of the Commissioner of Native Welfare. Udialla closed in 1949 and the residents were transferred to the La Grange Bay Feeding Depot. Udialla Station was purchased by the Department of Native Affairs on…

Subsidised Institution

Subsidised institution (or scheduled institution) is a term that has been used to describe an out-of-home care institution which received a government payment for each eligible child accommodated there. The subsidies were sometimes referred to as inmate subsidies or capitation grants, and in some jurisdictions institutions receiving subsidies were known as Approved Institutions or Approved…

Barton’s Mill Prison

Barton’s Mill Prison originally functioned as a timber workers’ camp. In 1942 the military requisitioned Fremantle Prison at short notice, leaving authorities with no option but to find another location for the inmates. Barton’s Mill was chosen, initially housing all prisoners until escapees and those considered a maximum security risk were returned to Fremantle. Young…

Unemployed Boys’ Farm, Wokalup

The Unemployed Boys’ Farm at Wokalup was established on the Bundidup farm by the Ugly Men’s Association in 1932, for city-raised boys aged 14 to 18 years. Beginning with seven boys, 250 boys had been sent to the farm by 1937, either by the Child Welfare Department, by family or at the boy’s request. After…

Mowanjum Collection: Barunga Bequest

The Mowanjum Collection: Barunga Bequest is a collection of items relating to people who lived at Mowanjum Mission. It is held by the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS). Most of the collection dates from 1971 and it includes family history data. AIATSIS has prepared an online finding aid, known as…