Departmental Residential Care (1896 - c. 2012)

Part IV of the Infants' Welfare Act 1935 allowed the Governor to establish and abolish receiving Homes, children's Homes, foundling houses, industrial schools, probationary schools, reformatories, farm schools and other institutions for the care and maintenance of children of the state.

The Child Welfare Act 1960 was broader, stating that the Governor could establish and maintain institutions for the accommodation, care and maintenance of wards of the state and those children where accommodation might be necessary in connection with the administration of the Act.

In 1966, there were two types of 'state homes' in Tasmania:

• Receiving Homes (later known as Family Group Homes) - intended primarily for the accommodation of children, pending more permanent placement and for children in transit.
• Institutions serving the whole state - specialist facilities designed to meet the needs of a specialised group of children, for whom the resources of foster Homes and Approved Children's Homes were inadequate. These institutions were regarded as training institutions.