Molloy House

Molloy House was established by the St John’s Homes for Boys and Girls in 1968. It was a hostel, run in conjunction with the Church of England Boys’ Society. Molloy House was a ‘halfway house’ for young people on Children’s Court probation. Molloy House was in Canterbury until 1979 and then moved to Brunswick for around another 3 years.

A statement by the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse as part of Case Study 52: Institutional review of Anglican Church authorities contains some information about Molloy House. The statement says that income from the farming at Burton Hall, Tatura (whose Farm Training Scheme had closed in 1967) went to support ‘a Hostel for Probation Boys established at Maling Road Canterbury.

This establishment later became known as “Molloy House” and was in association with the St John’s Home for Boys and Girls. The aim of these hostels was to assist, train and rehabilitate youths between 15 and 21 years through (a) hostels and (b) a Guild of Helpers’ (Anglican Diocese of Melbourne, p.13)..

The annual report of the Social Welfare Department for 1968-69 states that ‘Molloy House has a structured program for a group of ten wards placed from Turana Youth Training Centre’ (p.31).

A decision was made in 1979 to close Molloy House in Canterbury and the property was sold in December of that year.

In around 1980, another youth hostel called Molloy House hostel was established in Brunswick, for a period of around 3 years (Anglican Diocese of Melbourne, p.14). One document states that this service was referred to as Molloy Accommodation and Support Team or MAST (Guide to Out-of-Home Care Services 1940-2000 – Volume Two: Data Base).