Bulungurr Hostel, in Wyndham, was developed by the Department for Community Welfare in 1973 as an emergency hostel for Aboriginal families on the site of the old 'Native Hospital'. A kindergarten and youth training programs were run from the centre for some years. It is not known whether any children were accommodated at Bulungurr.
The annual report of the Department for Community Welfare in 1973 (p.17) said that: 'The old Native Hospital in Wyndham has been converted through the energetic efforts of field staff and homemakers into a hostel for Aborigines needing emergency accommodation. A kindergarten, a Homemakers' training centre and facilities for Aboriginal youth have also been developed at the Bulungurr Hostel site.' By 1978, the hostel's role seemed to be increasingly important in providing emergency care for Aboriginal people in Wyndham, particularly those coming in from Oombulgurri and Kalumburu communities to attend outpatient clinics at the Wyndham hospital. By 1984 the Department for Community Welfare reported that the need for the Bulungurr Hostel was 'declining'.
It is not known if children were accommodated at Bulungurr Hostel, which may have closed by 1985 or 1986.
Sources used to compile this entry: Information Services, Department for Community Development, Signposts: A Guide for Children and Young People in Care in WA from 1920, Government of Western Australia, 2004, https://signposts.communities.wa.gov.au//pdf/pdf.aspx; Western Australia. Department for Community Welfare, Annual Report: Department for Community Welfare, Dept. For Community Welfare, [Perth], 1973-1984, http://catalogue.slwa.wa.gov.au/record=b1410539~S7. Annual Report 1973, p.17..
Prepared by: Anna Trengove and Leanne Howard
Created: 15 March 2011, Last modified: 13 October 2014
Last updated: 17 October 2023
Cite this: https://www.findandconnect.gov.au/ref/wa/biogs/WE00038b.htm
First published by the Find & Connect Web Resource Project for the Commonwealth of Australia, 2011
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