The Melbourne Orphan Asylum was established in 1853. This was the new name for St James’ Orphan Asylum which dated back to 1851. Until 1853 the institution was run by the St James Orphan Asylum and Visiting Society, a Church of England organisation that established the first children’s institution in the colony of Victoria. The…
The St James’ Visiting Society was established in April 1845 by parishioners of Melbourne’s first Protestant Church, St James’ Church of England, on the corner of William and Little Collins Streets. In June that year, some Anglican women established the St James’ Dorcas Society. The Society began sheltering orphaned children in 1849, in a building…
The Melbourne Family Care Organisation came into being in 1965. It was formerly the former Melbourne Orphanage. The change reflected a shift away from institutional ‘care’ for children towards family group homes. In 1987 the organisation became known as Family Action. Melbourne Family Care Organisation ran a number of family group homes. Records from the…
Family Action was the new name given in 1983 to the former Melbourne Family Care Organisation. In 1993, Family Action merged with Family Focus and the National Children’s Bureau of Australia to form OzChild.
In 1887 following the proclamation of the Neglected Children’s Act 1887 (No.941) and The Juvenile Offenders’ Act (No.951) responsibility for ‘neglected’ children was transferred from the Department of Industrial and Reformatory Schools, to a Department for Neglected Children. A Department for Reformatory Schools assumed responsibility for convicted juveniles. This legislation is evidence of changing ideas…
The passing of the Infant Life Protection Act 1907 (No.2102) was partly in response to concerns about ‘baby farming’. The Act required parents to register voluntary foster placements with the Neglected Children’s Department and pay for the upkeep of the child or risk the child becoming a ward of the state. Registered carers also became…
Under the terms of Children’s Maintenance Act 1919, No. 3001, mothers without sufficient means of support could apply to the Department of Neglected Children for financial assistance toward the maintenance of their children, rather than have the children committed to the Department’s care. This change was a means of regularising the practice, recently ruled unlawful,…
The Neglected and Criminal Children’s Act 1864 (No.216) was the first piece of Victorian legislation to define situations where children might be removed from their parents. The Act provided for the establishment of industrial schools for ‘neglected’ children and reformatory schools for convicted juveniles. Superintendents and matrons were to be appointed and provision was made…
The Juvenile Offenders’ Act (No.951) transferred responsibility for convicted juveniles from the Department of Industrial and Reformatory Schools to a Department for Reformatory Schools. This Act allowed for the establishment of Probationary Schools, described by the Department’s Secretary as ‘intermediate between the reformatory and the foster-home’. After the act was passed, a number of young…
The Social Welfare Act 1970 (No.8089) created a new position in the Victorian government, the Minister for Social Welfare. In 1971, the Social Welfare Department was established, taking over responsibility for all functions previously administered by the Social Welfare Branch. In 1978, the Community Welfare Services Act provided that the title of the Social Welfare…
Dec 18, 2024
Nov 15, 2024
