Bimbadeen Family Group Home was opened by the Sisters of Charity in 1976 in a suburban home in Blackman’s Bay. It provided cottage accommodation to children who had been placed there by their parents or who were wards of the state. Bimbadeen was run by a married couple who were the house parents to six children aged between 5 to 16 years old. The Home was originally managed by St Joseph’s Child Care Centre, but from from 1978 Centacare ran Bimbadeen. Bimbadeen closed in 1980.
The name Bimbadeen has previously been used for a cottage on the St Joseph’s Child Care Centre site but was transferred to the new family group home.
“There was nothing family about it at all” – Former resident, Bimbadeen Family Group Home.
Information provided by a former resident and the Sisters of Charity Archives indicates that children moved with their house parents, an English migrant family, from Bimbadeen cottage to Bimbadeen Family Group Home on 19 Nov 1976.
The former resident also described Bimbadeen as “There was nothing family about it at all.”
From
19 November 1976
To
1980
1976 - 1980
Bimbadeen Family Group Home was situated at 15 Talone Road, Blackman's Bay, Tasmania (Building Still standing)