Tahmoor Children's Home

The Tahmoor Children’s Home, at Tahmoor, was established by members of the Vaucluse Congregational Church in 1941. It began as a holiday home then was converted to permanent or temporary care for up to 20 boys and girls from 5 to 15 years who were unable to live with their families. Tahmoor Children’s Home appears to have become the responsibility of the Uniting Church Board of Social Responsibility in 1977 and was closed at the end of the 1970s.

The Tahmoor Children’s Home was located on acreage in Fraser Street, Tahmoor, which is between Camden and Mittagong. Management of the facility was by an independent Committee of Management supported primarily by Congregational Churches in New South Wales.

Established initially as a holiday home, it was later converted to provide permanent or temporary care for up to twenty boys and girls from five to fifteen years of age unable to live with their families for any reason. Special consideration was given to the admission of children referred by the Children’s Court as being in need of care and protection for reasons of neglect or abuse. The first long-term admissions took place in 1959.

The Uniting Church was created in 1977 by the merging of the Congregationalist, Presbyterian and Methodist churches, and the Uniting Church Board of Social Responsibility took over the management of children’s homes, including Tahmoor.

Changing attitudes to child care and family support, and the development of foster care programs as the preferred out-of-home care resulted in a review of the Tahmoor facility, which was closed at the end of the 1970s.