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The United Aborigines Mission (UAM) existed from 1929 to 2020 and it ran a number of missions and children’s Homes in South Australia, Western Australia and New South Wales. This entry contains details of records known to have been in the custody of the UAM but the whereabouts of which are unfortunately unknown as at April 2023. This is a distressing situation for former residents of UAM institutions and for their family members. Support is available from organisations such as Link Up and the Find & Connect support services. If you can provide any further information please contact the Find & Connect web resource. We will update this website should any new information come to light. Access Conditions In 2022, the Find & Connect web resource was advised by Sharrock Pitman lawyers that the following address was now the only contact information for UAM Ministries: PO Box 172 Vermont, Victoria, 3133. Records As at April 2023, research and consultation

Katanning Group Home (also known ‘Oxley Road’ or ‘Marribank Group Home’) was established in 1978, by the Baptist Union, to accommodate Aboriginal children from Marribank, possibly while they went to school in Katanning. By 1984, it was providing short-term and emergency care for up to six children. It had closed by 1989.

The United Aborigines Mission (UAM) was wound up at the end of 2020. In 2022, the Find & Connect web resource was advised by Sharrock Pitman lawyers that the following  postal address was now the only contact information for UAM Ministries. PO Box 172 Vermont, Victoria, 3133 David Reid, Minister of Religion and Accountant and former director of the UAM, swore an affidavit for the Yoorrook Justice Commission on 2 November 2023 which stated that the historical records of UAM, which were in storage in Williamstown, Victoria, were all destroyed following flooding in around July 2020, which was said to have resulted in “serious contamination”. The affidavit states that the destroyed records comprised “federal office files” and that “very few files produced by the NSW, SA and WA offices were in the archives in Melbourne. Those which did com

Please contact the Right to Information Team, Department for Education, Children and Young People: Postal Address: Right to Information Department for Education, Children and Young People GPO Box 169 Hobart, Tasmania, 7001 Phone: (03) 6166 0422 Email: RTI.PIP@decyp.tas.gov.au Website: Right to Information – Department for Education, Children and Young People

This is a copy of a photograph held by the National Archives of Australia in Series A8739, Aboriginal Affairs photographic negatives. It shows the exterior of Kiah Hostel in 1974.

The Hammond Island Mission Orphanage, on Hammond Island, was run by the the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart. It opened in 1929 and closed in January 1942, when the residents were evacuated to Cooyar. A boys’ dormitory housed the children. The orphanage reopened in 1948, ‘for only a short time’ (Deere, 1994). Hammond Island was originally declared a government reserve in 1881. The inhabitants were forcibly removed to Moa Island (also known as Banks Island) in 1922. In 1929, Father Doyle from the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, took about 15 ‘needy half-caste boys’ from the Thursday Island Catholic Orphanage to establish an orphanage on Hammond Island. They were originally housed in a galvanised iron house near the beach. The Church had built a new boys’ dormitory by 1932. A convent was built in 1935 and two Sacred Heart Mission Sisters went to live there at the beginning of 1936. The Sisters took over the school and became responsible for the domestic management of the pr

Kinchela Training Home, near Kempsey, was built in 1923 by the Aborigines’ Protection Board. It was intended to offer training in farm labouring to older boys who had been removed from their families under the Protection Board’s policies of apprenticing Aboriginal youths. Later it became a home for school-aged boys who had been removed from their families by the Aborigines Protection Board, the Aborigines Welfare Board or the Child Welfare Department. There were between 30 and 50 boys at the home at any given time. It was transferred to the Child Welfare Department in 1969 and closed in 1970. Kinchela Boys’ Home was modelled on Cootamundra Girls’ Home and was intended to offer ‘training’. The property included a dairy and farm and boys did all the labouring. There was a school, but farm training was the main focus of activities. There were many investigations into Kinchela Home during the 1920s and 1930s. At least one manager during this period was a violent alcoholic who physica

Aboriginal Affairs photographic negatives is a series held by the National Archives of Australia. It consists of black and white 35mm and 6 x 6cm negatives and three 5 x 4″ (12.5 x 10cm) colour internegatives from the Department of Aboriginal Affairs. These items document events relating to Aboriginal Affairs. It includes photographs of institutions such as hostels. Access Conditions Open Digital copies of the photographs are available on the website of the National Archives of Australia.

The United Aborigines Mission (UAM) was established in 1929. Formerly, it was known as the Australian Aborigines Mission. Its missionaries were active in New South Wales, South Australia and Western Australia, where the UAM established missions as well as institutions for children. All UAM children’s Homes had been shut down by the early 1980s. The UAM was wound up at the end of 2020. The UAM and its antecedents understood mission as the conversion to Christianity of Aboriginal people (Longworth, p.5). In the second half of the twentieth century, the shift in Australian government policy towards assimilation led to challenges for UAM and its institutions. The United Aborigines Mission was mentioned in the Bringing Them Home Report (1997) as an institution that housed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children removed from their families. Winding up of the United Aborigines Mission Note: The UAM webpage is no longer in operation. This URL is taken from the Wayback M

The Ebenezer Mission was established in 1859 on the banks of the Wimmera River, the land of the Wotjobaluk people, approximately 70 kilometres north-west of Horsham. Two Moravian missionaries, F W Spieseke and Friedrich Hagenauer took on its management. The Mission was gazetted in 1861 as the Lake Hindmarsh Aboriginal Reserve. It closed in 1904. The main aim of the Mission was to ‘civilise’ and Christianise the Aboriginal inhabitants of the area. Rations were provided to the Aboriginal residents on condition they attended church services and school. At Ebenezer the residents attended three church services on Sunday, two for prayer and one for singing. The women and girls also attended Sunday school after each service. Children were commonly separated from their parents and lived in dormitories attached to the mission manager’s home or the schoolhouse. The managers undertook disciplining the children, even when it was directly against the wishes of the parents. The buildings

Ebenezer Home was established in 1968 in a private home and has since expanded to a number of homes in the northern suburbs of Perth, including Tuart Hill (Balcatta), Girrawheen, Marangaroo, and Balga. At first, it was an Aboriginal Education and Employment Hostel. In 1995 it provided emergency accommodation to up to 18 young women. In 2001 it offered supported crisis and medium-term accommodation for young people aged 15-25 years.

Cundeelee mission and school, located approximately 40km north of Zanthus on the Nullabor, was established by the Australian Aborigines’ Evangelical Mission in 1949. It was run by interdenominational churches until 1982, when it became an Aboriginal Community. Cundeelee accommodated children up to primary school age as well as families. Cundeelee was established by the Australian Aborigines’ Evangelical Mission (AAEM) in 1949. From around 1939 to 1948 there had been a government ‘feeding depot’ for Aboriginal people on the site. When the AAEM offered to establish a mission, they were actively encouraged by the Department of Native Affairs. Cundeelee was reportedly established to discourage Aboriginal people from ‘begging’ on the trans-Australian railway line. However, many Anangu people, from Spinifex Country in the Central Western Desert, were also relocated to Cundeelee when their lands become uninhabitable due to radioactive fallout from nuclear testing in the area. In 1952, a

Cornwell Group Home was a family group home established at North Epping in 1968, and moved to Blacktown in 1979. It was run by Church of England Homes as a temporary family group home for children. It closed in June 2000. In 1984, in its newsletter Care, Church of England Homes described the purpose of its group homes: Cornwall [Cornwell], Buckland, Havilah and Marella are our Group Homes which provide longer term care. Perhaps the children aren’t getting normal care at home. Maybe they have missed out on it for a long time. These homes provide a kind of holding situation. But one which avoids damaging them still further by providing them with a good model of a positive family-type experience. Meanwhile, everything possible is being done through the counselling service to restore family relationships. Hopefully, after six months, usually sooner, the family can get back together or foster placement can be arranged. Two of our homes are for Aboriginal children. The

The Seaside Garden Home for Boys was established in around 1921 in Newhaven, on Phillip Island and run by non-denominational committee of management. When the Seaside Garden Home opened in around 1921, it was an approved ‘institution to whose care neglected children may be committed’, under the terms of the Children’s Welfare Act 1915. In October 1923, the Argus newspaper reported that the management committee of the Home was seeking to expand its premises. At that time, there were 55 boys at Seaside Garden Home, and others awaiting admittance. The committee wished to build an extra dormitory and buy land to use for providing training in farm work. The Superintendent and Secretary of the Home in 1923 was William Henry Baye. The Argus reported in November 1923 that the Seaside Garden Home had managed to purchase this additional land. A newspaper article from 1926 mentioned that applications for admittance to the Seaside Garden Home were received at its city off

Armadale Youth Accommodation Service opened in 1989 to provide emergency accommodation services for young people, run by an independent management committee which ceased in 2002. It was funded through the Youth Supported Accommodation Program (YSAAP). Some young people may have been referred by child welfare authorities, but self-referrals were possible. It was later run by Anglicare (September 2002-October 2003) and by Great Mates from November 2003. National Redress Scheme for people who have experienced institutional child sexual abuse The Western Australian government has agreed to be a funder of last resort for this institution. This means that although the institution is now defunct, it is participating in the National Redress Scheme, and the government has agreed to pay the institution’s share of costs of providing redress to a person (as long as the government is found to be equally responsible for the abuse a person experienced

Catherine House, Broome, opened in December 1975 to provide accommodation for Aboriginal children. It replaced the Aboriginal Girls’ Hostel, and was managed by the same two staff members as the Hostel. Catherine House was run by an independent management committee, but financed by the Department of Community Welfare. It could accommodate up to eight children from pre-primary to primary school age. Some, but not all, children were wards of the State. It is not known when Catherine House’s residential facility closed, possibly by 1991. From 1991, the building was used as a non-residential placement and support centre by the child welfare authorities. Catherine House primarily provided short-term care for children, although in some cases children lived at the Home for several years. Many children accommodated at Catherine House were placed there by the Department of Community Welfare, but private placements were also made, providing approval had been given by the Department first. The

Roelands Village was run by the Churches of Christ Federal Aborigines Mission Board Inc from 1975, as cottage homes for school-age Aboriginal children from all around the State. Children and young people at Roelands included those placed privately by parents and those who were state wards. Roelands closed in 1984. Children and young people from Roelands Village went to primary schools in Roelands, Brunswick and Bunbury; and high schools in Bunbury and Harvey. During the school holidays, children who could not go home to family accompanied missionaries to the Roelands Campsite, on Caves Road between Busselton and Dunsborough. Weekend camps were also held there. This campsite was part of the Roelands assets. Eventually, the campsite was released by the Shire of Busselton to a local Aboriginal consortium. Churches of Christ historians have advised that there were some young men living and working at Roelands Village who were known as ‘working boys’ (how some missionaries described y

Bamburra Hostel opened in 1970 in Yokine. It was for Aboriginal teenage girls from remote areas attending high school and other education and training, although from 1994 (or possibly earlier) boys were also admitted. Bamburra was run by the Churches of Christ Federal Aborigines Mission Board from 1970 to 1984. Bamburra Hostel was an Aboriginal Education and Employment Hostel. It opened in 1970 in Yokine for Aboriginal teenage girls from remote areas to stay during the school year so they could attend high school and other education and training. The Churches of Christ Federal Aborigines Mission Board ran Bamburra under a formal agreement with the Department of Community Welfare. In 1975, Bamburra Hostel was described as providing short term care for ‘secondary school girls in a hostel-like setting’, the average length of stay being nine months. The hostel at this time was reported as being a brick building that was ‘integrated into the community’. Bamburra Hostel had a garden w

A Scatter Cottage was a model of out of home ‘care’ where a group of children lived in a cottage with houseparents. Scatter cottages were run by institutions but were not located on the same property as main institutional buildings. Click here to see the full Find & Connect glossary

Norseman Mission was a ‘children’s mission’ established in 1935 by members of the Churches of Christ and then run from 1942 by the Churches of Christ Federal Aborigines Mission Board Inc. Its purpose was to provide accommodation, education and vocational training for children and young people aged 2-15 years. The number of children at the mission varied over time, with fewer than 30 children in some years (1948, 1965) and up to 70 in others (1958, 1970). Norseman Mission closed in 1985 and the pastoral lease was transferred to a local Aboriginal Community. Norseman Mission began as a dormitory for children, set up in 1935 by two members of the Churches of Christ, Miss Eadie and Miss Bentley, on the Native Reserve 2.5 kilometres from the Norseman township. In 1942, they asked the newly-formed Churches of Christ Federal Aborigines Mission Board (Inc) (CCFAMB) to take over the management of Norseman Mission. The CCFAMB appointed a superintendent in November 1942. In January 1943, th

Fairhaven Hostel in Esperance, was established by the Churches of Christ Federal Aborigines Mission Board Inc. (now known as Global Mission Partners) in 1965. Its purpose was to provide accommodation for Aboriginal girls aged 14-17 years while they undertook education, training and employment in Esperance. The Fairhaven Hostel was run by the Churches of Christ Federal Aborigines Mission Board (Inc). It was an Aboriginal education and employment hostel, providing accommodation and a practical skills curriculum for Aboriginal girls aged 14 to 17 years who came from the Goldfields and Western Desert communities, Norseman Mission and Cundeelee Mission. The young people came to Fairhaven at the request of the Commonwealth Department of Education, their parents, or through the Western Australian child welfare system. As time went by, Fairhaven was expanded to accommodate more young women. The upstairs verandahs were enclosed, and an extension was built to the rear of the property. This

The Carnarvon Mission was established by the Churches of Christ Federal Aborigines Mission Board Inc. in 1945. It provided accommodation for Aboriginal families and access to education and training for Aboriginal children. There were 138 children in 1959. The Mission’s name was changed to Ingada Village around 1975 and numbers of children fell from 84 in 1979 to 32 in 1983. By this time, there were four ‘scatter cottages’ in the Carnarvon township as well as at the Mission site. The Carnarvon Mission began as a missionary service by people associated with the Churches of Christ in Carnarvon. Land was purchased by the Churches of Christ Federal Aborigines Mission Board Inc. (CCFAMB) to develop a mission facility. A lot of children lived at the mission: 31 children in 1948; 98 children in 1954; 138 children in 1959. In his annual report for 1959, the Commissioner of Native Welfare noted that the Carnarvon Mission was ‘over-crowded and is unable to cope with children from the outer

The Albany Boys’ Hostel, also known as the Pallottine Boys’ Hostel, was an Aboriginal Education and Employment Hostel that admitted male Aboriginal teenagers from south western Australia, from approximately 1970. It was intended to house young adolescents to further their education and training, and enable them to obtain suitable employment in the south west. There were 11 boys in residence when responsibility for the hostel was transferred from the Pallottines to the Catholic Diocese of Bunbury in 1978. According to the State Solicitor’s Office in Western Australia (Guide to Institutions Attended by Aboriginal People in Western Australia 2005, p.108), the Pallottine’s Boys’ Hostel, Albany was run by the Catholic male religious order, the Society of the Catholic Apostolates (Pallottines) at the request of the Commissioner of Native Welfare. In 1968, development of the hostel began, with funds contributed by the government, the Lotteries Commission and the Pallottines. The

The Alice Springs Gaol was the new name given to the Stuart Town Gaol in 1933 when the town of Stuart was officially renamed Alice Springs. Located at 8 Parsons Street, Alice Springs, and run by the government, the Gaol housed male and female, adult and juvenile prisoners. In 1938 the Alice Springs Gaol was closed. It was replaced by HM Gaol and Labour Prison, Alice Springs. In March 1942, after Darwin was bombed by the Japanese and the whole of the Northern Territory administration moved to Alice Springs, the Stuart Town Gaol was taken over by the Commonwealth Bank. When the bank moved out it was used by local police as a storage facility. In the 1960s it became an unofficial police club. In the 1970s the government decided to pull the gaol down and build a new police station and law courts where it stood. A small group of local residents, lead by Mrs Doreen Braitling, saved the building from demolition. It was then taken over by the National Trust. It is now a small museum. The

Wongutha Mission Training Farm, near Esperance, was established in 1954 by RW (Rod) Schenk. It was for Aboriginal boys aged over 14 and, by the 1960s, girls. There was training in farming and Christian leadership. Wongutha was run by a local board of management. In 1990, the Christian Aboriginal Parent-Directed School Inc (CAPS) from Coolgardie took over the program and in 1993 all the land and assets at Wongutha were deeded to CAPS. On 24 December 1954, a permit to establish the Wongutha Farm Training Mission School at Esperance was granted to RW (Rod) Schenk, who was the son of RM Schenk, the founder of Mount Margaret Mission. In his 1959 Annual Report (p.9), the Commissioner of Native Welfare noted that the ‘junior’ Mr Schenk was a graduate of the Victorian Agricultural College. Wongutha was governed by a local Board which included farmers, business people, church and Aboriginal leaders, mostly from the Esperance area. The Train

The Australian Aboriginal Evangelical Mission (AAEM) Hostel in Esperance, Western Australia was established in 1966. It was an Aboriginal Education and Employment Hostel. It provided accommodation, supervision and full board for Aboriginal boys aged 15 years and older who were working in the district. It was open until at least 1980. The AAEM Hostel was largely independent of the Department of Native Welfare, but some financial assistance was received for particular building projects. It appears that the hostel was run by John Pedler (also known as Pedlar) for some years, possibly from 1966. It is not known how long Mr Pedler ran the hostel, but it was likely to have been until at least into the 1970s, when he went up to Kalgoorlie to run the Millen Street Hostel. The AAEM Hostel continued until at least 1980. Boys who lived at AAEM were aged over 15 years. It is possible that some boys were wards of the State. During the 1970s, the

Pukulari Cottage, in the Kalgoorlie suburb of Boulder, was established in 1974 as part of the Kurrawang Mission run by the Christian Brethren. Its purpose was to provide accommodation for up to 12 children from Kurrawang to take part in community life as well as going to school in Kalgoorlie. In 1984 the Kurrawang Mission closed and it is possible that ownership of Pukulari, as a Kurrawang asset, was transferred to the Kurrawang Aboriginal Christian Community Inc as part of the assets belonging to the mission. National Redress Scheme for people who have experienced institutional child sexual abuse The Western Australian government has agreed to be a funder of last resort for this institution. This means that although the institution is now defunct, it is participating in the National Redress Scheme, and the government has agreed to pay the institution’s share of costs of providing redress to a pe

Kurrawang Cottage, Boulder was established in 1977 as part of the Kurrawang Mission run by the Christian Brethren. Its purpose was to provide accommodation for Aboriginal children from Kurrawang to take part in community life as well as going to school in Kalgoorlie. It closed in 1980 and the property was later used for the government-run Goldfields Group Home. National Redress Scheme for people who have experienced institutional child sexual abuse The Western Australian government has agreed to be a funder of last resort for this institution. This means that although the institution is now defunct, it is participating in the National Redress Scheme, and the government has agreed to pay the institution’s share of costs of providing redress to a person (as long as the government is found to be equally responsible for the abuse a person experienced).

Kurrawang Mission, near Kalgoorlie, was established as a ‘native reserve’ in 1952 by the Gospel Brethren (later known as Christian Brethren). Until 1963, the head of the government departments responsible for Aboriginal welfare was the guardian of children at the Home. By 1968, there were 66 children, some who were wards of the State. Its role changed over time to become a hostel for school-age children and those travelling to Kalgoorlie for medical treatment. In the 1980s, it was known locally as the Kurrawang Aboriginal Christian Centre and by 1984 was a self-managed Aboriginal community with a parent-directed school on the site. Kurrawang Native Mission was established in November 1952 as a ‘native reserve’ which had three purposes: to care for Aboriginal people who had been in hospital and were awaiting transport back to home; to provide rations to local Aboriginal people from the Kalgoorlie area; to provide camping facilities for Aboriginal people passing through on their way t

Sunday Island Mission was re-established by the United Aborigines Mission after a brief period at Wotjulum (1934-1937). It returned to the original site of the Sunday Island Mission (1899-1934). Children at Sunday Island were under the guardianship of the heads of the departments responsible for Aboriginal welfare until 1963. Sunday Island Mission closed in 1964. National Redress Scheme for people who have experienced institutional child sexual abuse The Western Australian government has agreed to be a funder of last resort for this institution. This means that although the institution is now defunct, it is participating in the National Redress Scheme, and the government has agreed to pay the institution’s share of costs of providing redress to a person (as long as the government is found to be equally responsible for the

The United Aborigines Mission, Halls Creek, was established in 1957. Until 1963, children at the mission were under the guardianship of the Commissioner of Native Welfare. The mission was closed in 1967. National Redress Scheme for people who have experienced institutional child sexual abuse The Western Australian government has agreed to be a funder of last resort for this institution. This means that although the institution is now defunct, it is participating in the National Redress Scheme, and the government has agreed to pay the institution’s share of costs of providing redress to a person (as long as the government is found to be equally responsible for the abuse a person experienced).

Fitzroy Crossing Mission was established by the United Aborigines Mission in 1952. Children at the mission were under the under the guardianship of the heads of the departments responsible for Aboriginal welfare until 1963. The mission lands and holdings were transferred to the Tjunjura Indigenous Community in 1987. Fitzroy Crossing Mission was established by the United Aborigines Mission (UAM) on the site of a ‘feeding depot’ that was run by the Department of Native Affairs from September 1950. In 1951, the UAM was invited by the Department to begin a Christian mission on the site and by 1953 the mission was underway. The original residents included one child. Children at the mission were under the guardianship of the heads of the departments responsible for Aboriginal welfare until 1963. Some children and adults from Moola Bulla were transferred to the Fitzroy Crossing Mission when Moola Bulla closed in 1955. At first, there were on

The Djurain Mission Children’s Home opened in 1950 on the grounds of the Djurain Mission (also known as Jureen Mission, Kellerberrin Mission, and North Wollundra Mission), near Kellerberrin. The mission was run by the United Aborigines Mission (UAM), who established it in 1939. The Children’s Home was established in order to keep children separate from the rest of the mission camp population. It closed in 1954. When the Home opened it had capacity for 12 children, with the intention to take in girls only until a separate dormitory could be constructed for the boys. However, within a few months the Home was providing accommodation for 4 boys and 4 girls, with the boys taking the dormitory and the girls sleeping in the dining room, which had been temporarily converted. The children at the Djurain Mission Children’s Home attended the Mission school, which was located across the road from the Mission camp. Parents of children in the Home (who typically lived on the Mission) were requ

Cosmo Newbery Mission, north-east of Laverton, was the new name given to the Cosmo Newbery Native Settlement when it was transferred to the United Aborigines Mission (UAM) by the Department of Native Affairs in December 1953. Until 1963, the Commissioners of Native Affairs and Native Welfare were the guardians of children placed at Cosmo Newbery. Cosmo Newbery Mission was run by the UAM until about 1973 when its use as a mission ceased. The mission land was vested in the Aboriginal Lands Trust. On 15 December 1953, Cosmo Newbery was transferred to the United Aborigines Mission from the Department of Native Affairs. The annual report of the Commissioner for Native Affairs (1954, p.15) shows that one young person described as a ‘native delinquent’ ward of the State and one other adult ‘inmate’ were resident at the ‘institution’ at the handover and it continued to serve as a ‘depot for the issue of rations and clothing to indigent natives’. The Commissioner of Native Welfare describ

Derby Hostel was established by the United Aborigines Mission in 1956 as a residential child care facility for Aboriginal children going to primary and high school in Derby, in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Until 1963, the Commissioner of Native Welfare was the guardian of all children at the hostel. In 1975, the Department for Community Welfare took over the running of Derby Hostel and it was subsequently run by the government departments responsible for child welfare until it closed in 1994. On 20 June 1956, the United Aborigines Mission (UAM) was authorised by the Department of Native Welfare (DNW) to establish a mission at Derby. The mission opened on 1 July 1956, subsidised by the DNW. At first, girls were accommodated in the mission house and there was a dormitory for small boys built by the UAM. It provided accommodation and support for children going to primary and high school in the town. This became the Derby Hostel, which was on township Lot No. 528, an Abori

Warburton Mission, 579 kilometres north-east of Laverton, was established in 1933 as an outstation of Mount Margaret Mission until it became a separate facility in 1937. Aboriginal children either lived at the mission with families or were sent there for schooling. The head of the government departments responsible for Aboriginal welfare was the guardian of these children until 1963. In 1968, 211 children lived at the mission. In 1971 there were 136 children attending a Government school on Warburton Mission. It closed in 1977. According to the State Solicitor’s Office in Western Australia (Guide to Institutions Attended by Aboriginal People in Western Australia 2005, p.140) R. Schenk, who was the Manager of Mount Margaret Mission, established the Warburton Mission as an outpost of Mount Margaret. In 1937, Warburton was recognised by government authorities as a separate mission. Both Mount Margaret and Warburton Missions were run

Mount Margaret Mission, south of Laverton, was established in 1921 by R. Schenk, with assistance from the Australian Aborigines Mission (which became the United Aborigines Mission in 1929). Around 1928, the Schenks established a dormitory system at the Mission, where Aboriginal children were housed separately from their parents. It was called the Graham Homes. By 1942 several hundred Aboriginal families, including children, lived at the Mission. The head of the government departments responsible for Aboriginal welfare was the guardian of these children until 1963. Mount Margaret Mission closed in 1975 and the lands were transferred to the Aboriginal Movement for Outback Survival. There was a dormitory at Mount Margaret Mission, established around 1928, where children were housed separately to their parents. It was called Graham Homes. Mount Margaret Mission accommodated children as part of family groups but these children, even when living with their families were under the guard

Gnowangerup Mission was established in 1926 by Hope and Hedley Wright on behalf of the Australian Aborigines’ Mission, on a 6.5 acre Government Reserve just outside Gnowangerup, in the Great Southern region of Western Australia. In 1929 the Australian Aborigines’ Mission became the United Aborigines Mission and the Wrights continued to run Gnowangerup on its behalf. The Mission moved two miles out of the town of Gnowangerup to a 190 acre plot in 1935. Gnowangerup Mission closed in 1973. The land for the original Gnowangerup Mission was provided by Gnowerangup Shire Council, one mile southwest of Gnowangerup on Tambellup Road. The Mission included a school. During the early 1930s there was much concern about the location of the Mission and in 1935 a new Mission Station was opened two miles north-east of Gnowangerup. The official opening happened in November 1935. The buildings were transferred to the new location and the school continued. Gnowangerup Mission was gazetted as a N

The Sunshine Home, run by the Sunshine Association, opened in Howrah (a suburb of Hobart) in 1951. It provided holidays of up to three weeks to children from poor or isolated homes. The Home closed in 1980. The Sunshine Home opened on 11 August 1951. The Home was the idea of Margaret Reid, an infant school headmistress, and Dora Baudinet, a school nurse. They wished to establish a holiday home like the ones they had visited in New Zealand. In 1937, they formed the Sunshine Association to raise funds for the Sunshine Home. Baudinet became the driving force. As organising secretary of the Association, she was an effective fundraiser and lobbyist. Baudinet also donated 10.5 acres of the beachfront property on which the Association built the Home. By 1943, the Association had plans for the Home but wartime shortages and restrictions delayed its construction. According to the Mercury, 260 children had a holiday at the Sunshine Home during its first year. Over its lifetime,

Wiltja Hostel was opened in 1956 at Millswood by the Aborigines Advancement League. It provided accommodation for Aboriginal girls who were attending secondary school in Adelaide. In 1978 the Hostel ceased to operate as a Hostel for Aboriginal girls and became a boarding home for adult Aboriginal people visiting the city. Wiltja Hostel opened in November 1956 at 17 East Avenue Millswood. Many girls remained at the Hostel during their first year of work after leaving secondary school. In 1978 the Hostel ceased to operate as a Hostel for Aboriginal girls and became a boarding home for adult Aboriginal people visiting the city. In 1980 the Aborigines Advancement League leased the property to the Education Department and two years later that department purchased the Hostel. National Redress Scheme for people who have experienced institutional child sexual abuse The South Australian government has agreed to be a funder of last resort f

Morialta Children’s Homes Incorporated was the new name given to the Morialta Protestant Children’s Home from 1972. The name referred to both the Children’s Home for younger children at Norton Summit and the Toorak Gardens Boys’ Hostel for older boys who were studying or working. Both were run by the same independent Board of Management. The Children’s Home closed in 1974 and the Toorak Gardens Boys’ Hostel closed shortly afterwards. Morialta Children’s Homes Incorporated was the new name given to the Morialta Protestant Children’s Home in 1972. The new name acknowledged that the same independent Board of Management was in fact running two Homes – the Home at Norton Summit for younger children and a Hostel at Toorak Gardens for boys who had left the Children’s Home and were studying or working. During the early 1970s non-government Homes for children came under the supervision of the Department for Community Welfare. As part of a general change in the philosophy of child care, th