Omaru Community Youth Centre was in Union Street, Launceston. It started as a pilot project for teenage girls in May 1977. A program for boys and girls began in September 1977.
It employed three Child Welfare Officers. The Senior Child Welfare Officer took up a Churchill Fellowship in the United Kingdom in early 1978. During that time, the Centre closed temporarily.
The Centre was a part of the Social Welfare Department's new emphasis on preventing children from becoming wards of state. According to the Annual Report of 1979, it assisted children who needed help with 'personal, social and emotional development' because they had come before the courts or had difficulties at home, school or with housing. The Centre's approach was group discussions in which:
'youngsters are encouraged to air their points of view and to assist each other with individual and group problems and interests in a constructive way.'
The groups met after school or in the early evening. The Centre also ran holiday programs. Volunteers worked with the children and the local community provided financial and practical support.
We do not currently have any resources linked to this entry, but resources may exist. If you know of any related resources, please contact us.
The Find & Connect Support Service can help people who lived in orphanages and children's institutions look for their records.
We do not currently have any photographs linked to this entry. If you know of any additional photographs, please contact us.
The Find & Connect Support Service can help people who lived in orphanages and children's institutions look for their records.
Last updated:
13 February 2019
Cite this: http://www.findandconnect.gov.au/guide/tas/TE00695
First published by the Find & Connect Web Resource Project for the Commonwealth of Australia, 2011
Except where otherwise noted, content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License