Department of Youth and Community Services (1976 - 1988)

Minister Opens Keelong Remand Centre Unanderra, 6 August 1978, courtesy of State Library of New South Wales.
Details

State Government of New South Wales

From

1976

To

1988

Categories

Adoption Agency, Care Provider, Foster Care and Government Department

Alternative Names

YACS

The Department of Youth and Community Services is one of the names given to the Department which, in 2013, was known as Community Services. It was the second time the Department was known by this name, which was first used in 1973-1975, before it was changed to Youth, Ethnic and Community Affairs (1975-1976). In 1988 the name of the Department was changed again to the Department of Family and Community Services.

From July 1986 until March 1988 the Minister for the Department of Youth and Community Services was John Aquilina. He had a policy of deinstitutionalisation, so closed down a number of children's institutions and homes.

In March 1988 the New South Wales Government changed from Labor, headed by Neville Wran, to Liberal, headed by Nick Greiner. The new government created the Department of Family and Community Services.

Timeline

Related Events

Inquiry into Health Services for the Psychiatrically Ill and Developmentally Disabled (1983)
The services and policies of the Department of Youth and Community Services were affected by the recommendations of the Inquiry into Health Services for the Psychiatrically Ill and Developmentally Disabled.

Related Legislation

Related Organisations

St Anthony's Home Croydon (1925 - 1980)
Department of Youth and Community Services [II] staff referred children from Montrose Child Protection Unit to St Gerard's Home, which was part of St Anthony's Croydon
St Gerard's [Home] (1980 - 1985)
The Department of Youth and Community Services [II] referred children in its care at Montrose Child Protection Unit to the Sisters of St Joseph, who cared for them at St Gerard's, with the help of Centacare socialworkers

Publications

Reports

Report of the Department of Youth and Community Services for the year ended 30 June, New South Wales government, 1976-1988. Also available at https://www.opengov.nsw.gov.au/main. Details
Berry, M; French, B; Roden, D, Inquiry into children and youth under institutional and other forms of care; submission by Department of Youth and Community Services, New South Wales, February, 1984, 1984. Details
Hanson, Dallas, Why are they in children's homes: report of the ACOSS children's home intake survey, Australian Department of Social Services: Australian Council of Social Services, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1979, 83 pp. Details
Landa, D.E., Report on the Department of Community Services and Brougham Residential Unit, Office of the Ombudsman. Special report to Parliament ; no. 93/04, Office of the Ombudsman, Sydney, 12 August 1993, 146 pp. Details

Resources

Association of Children's Welfare Agencies, A Short History of Out of Home Care in New South Wales, Prepared for the Coalition for Children in Care, 2010. Also available at http://www.acwa.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/short_history_OOHC.pdf. Details
Coalition for Children in Care, A brief history of Out of Home Care in NSW since 1980, ACWA, 2010. Details

Online Resources

'Dept of Community Services', in State Records Authority of New South Wales website, State of New South Wales through the State Records Authority of NSW 2016, https://www.records.nsw.gov.au/agency/114. Details
Werrington North [The History of UWS], University of Western Sydney, http://www.uws.edu.au/uws25/25_year_history/places/werrington_north. Details
Quinn, Peter E, Unenlightened efficiency: the administration of the juvenile correction system in New South Wales 1905-1988, University of Sydney, History, 27 March 2006, http://hdl.handle.net/2123/623. Details

Photos

Title: Minister Opens Keelong Remand Centre Unanderra
Type: Image
Date: 6 August 1978
Source: State Library of New South Wales

Details

Title: Minister Opens Keelong Remand Centre Unanderra
Type: Image
Date: 6 August 1978
Source: State Library of New South Wales

Details

Title: Montrose Child Protection Centre
Type: Image
Date: 7 June 1979
Source: State Library of New South Wales

Details

Sources used to compile this entry: Hanson, Dallas, Why are they in children's homes: report of the ACOSS children's home intake survey, Australian Department of Social Services: Australian Council of Social Services, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1979, 83 pp; Werrington North [The History of UWS], University of Western Sydney, http://www.uws.edu.au/uws25/25_year_history/places/werrington_north.

Prepared by: Naomi Parry

Created: 22 February 2011, Last modified: 18 January 2017

Department of Youth and Community Services (1976 - 1988)