The Care of Children Committee, chaired by Dame Myra Curtis, reported to the British House of Commons in 1946. The Committee had investigated Children’s Homes in the United Kingdom and its landmark Report (commonly known as the Curtis Report), focused on the ‘remote and impersonal’ way of ‘caring’ for children. It recommended significant changes to…
Legacy is a national organisation that was established in 1923 to assist men returned from the Great War and their families. Initially established to improve business prospects for returned soldiers, in 1925 Legacy’s focus became the provision of assistance to the children of deceased servicemen. In the state of Victoria, Melbourne Legacy ran a number…
The Menzies Home for Children was the new name given in October 1961 to the former The Menzies Home for Boys. From this time Menzies allowed girls to be admitted and increasingly housed children in family group homes in the Frankston and Dandenong areas. The organisation became Menzies Inc. in 2000. The Menzies Home for…
The Morning Star Boys’ Home in Mount Eliza (Mornington ) was established in 1932, and run by the Franciscan Brothers. It was a training centre for young offending boys. Morning Star ceased operation in September 1975. In 1932, the Archbishop of Melbourne received a bequest, part of the purpose of which was ‘to found a…
St Joseph’s Home, Sebastopol, was established in around 1911. It accommodated boys aged between 6 and 16, and some girls until the age of 6 when they were transferred to Nazareth House, Ballarat. Residential childcare ceased at St Joseph’s in 1980. The site of St Joseph’s Home was on Grant Street, Sebastapol (in the Ballarat…
Marillac House in Brighton East was run by the Daughters of Charity from 1943. It included a school, and accommodated mostly girls aged 10 to 16, and some boys in its early years, with intellectual disabilities, or learning and social problems. In 2009, Marillac House continues to provide programs and services to people with a…
The Providence Children’s Home was established at Bacchus Marsh in 1957. It accommodated children from Victoria’s Dutch community, but was not exclusively for children from any national or religious group. It was established to accommodate children between 2 and 16 years, but also had babies and infants. Providence Children’s Home also ran three family group…
Bethany Babies’ Home was originally the Geelong Female Refuge when it was established in 1868. From 1928, the Refuge became known as Bethany Babies’ Home. It accommodated pregnant women, babies and toddlers; it operated a maternity hospital and also adopted babies out. In 1977, it ceased to operating as a Home and adoption agency and…
The Pakenham Boys’ Home was run by the Salvation Army between 1895-1897 on Army Road, Pakenham. The first boys at the Pakenham Boys’ Home were moved there from the Salvation Army’s Heidelberg Boys’ Home, which closed in 1895. In 1897 the decision was made to transfer the Boys’ Home to The Basin, where it became…
The Riddells Creek Girls’ Home was established by the Salvation Army in 1900. It was reported the Adelaide Advertiser in 1902 that girls living at the Home included girls ‘recruited’ from the ‘Chinese opium dens’ and other ‘vile resorts’ in the slums of Melbourne. The newspaper described the Home as ‘spotlessly clean’, and stated it combined…
Dec 18, 2024
Nov 15, 2024
