Redress WA Guidelines (as amended 18 May 2011), courtesy of Redress WA.
Details
State of Western Australia
The Department for Communities was established in 2007 in response to a review conducted by Ms Prudence Ford in 2006 which recommended the abolition of the Department for Community Development and the establishment of two separate departments, namely the Department for Communities and the Department for Child Protection and Family Support. The Department for Communities was responsible for administering the State Government's $114 million 'Redress WA Scheme' and holds records of applications and decisions made on applicants. It also ran the Country High School Hostels Ex-Gratia Scheme. In 2013, it became the Department for Local Government and Communities.
The State Records Office website provides an overview of the Department:
The Department for Communities incorporates the Office for Youth, the Office for Women's Policy, the Office for Seniors and Carers, the Family and Domestic Violence Unit, the Volunteering Secretariat, Children and Family Services and the Office of Multicultural Interests.
The Department incorporates support for children and families through child care licensing, children services policy development, support for delivery of children's services and a range of parenting programs.
1887 - 1890 Aborigines Protection Board
1890 - 1898 Aborigines Protection Board
1898 - 1908 Aborigines Department
1909 - 1920 Department of Aborigines and Fisheries
1909 - 1920 Department of Aborigines and Fisheries
1874 - 1908 Superintendent of Poor Relief and Inspector of Charitable Institutions
1920 - 1926 Department of the North West
1920 - 1964 Fisheries Department
1898 - 1936 Chief Protector of Aborigines
1908 - 1917 Public Charities and State Children Department
1926 - 1936 Aborigines Department
1917 - 1927 State Children Department
1936 - 1954 Commissioner for Native Affairs
1936 - 1954 Department of Native Affairs
1927 - 1972 Child Welfare Department
1954 - 1972 Commissioner of Native Welfare
1955 - 1972 Department of Native Welfare
1972 - 1985 Department for Community Welfare
1985 - 1992 Department for Community Services
1992 - 1995 Department for Community Development
1995 - 2001 Department for Family and Children's Services
2001 - 2007 Department for Community Development
2007 - 2013 Department for Communities
2013 - 2017 Department of Local Government and Communities
2017 - Department of Communities
2017 - Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries
Sources used to compile this entry: 'AU WA A1574 - Department for Communities', in State Records Office of Western Australia - Organisations & People, State Records Office of Western Australia, 2015, https://archive.sro.wa.gov.au/index.php/department-for-communities-au-wa-a1574; Ford, Prudence, Review of the Department for Community Development: Review Report, Dept. For Community Development, Perth, W.A., 2007; Western Australia. Department for Communities, Annual Report to Parliament: Department for Communities, Government of Western Australia, West Perth, Western Australia, 2006-2007.
Prepared by: Debra Rosser
Created: 6 June 2011, Last modified: 23 December 2014