The State Children Relief Act 1896 amended the State Children Relief Act 1881 to provide clearer regulations around the boarding out and apprenticeship of state children. It provided for state children to be cared for in cottage homes, and created a system for dealing with the money earned by apprentices. It also allowed children to be ‘boarded out’ with their own mothers. The State Children Relief Acts were repealed and replaced in 1901 by Acts of the same name.
The State Children Relief (Amendment) Act of 1896 was important because it allowed the State Children’s Relief Board to board children out with their own mothers, if they were deemed respectable. On the other hand, the Board also gained the power to sue parents of illegitimate state children for their maintenance.
This Amending Act also provided guidelines on adoption, declaring that any parent who surrendered their child for adoption should have no further control over the child, unless the State Children’s Relief Board decided otherwise.