Hawkevale was started by the Slow Learning Children's Group (SLCG) on a property in Maida Vale in 1957. It was a 'farm village' for adolescents and adults with intellectual disabilities, and offered accommodation, employment and recreation. Hawkevale was replaced by a new facility in High Wycombe in 1970.
Hawkevale was named after the Premier, Mr Bert Hawke and Maida Vale, the suburb where it was first located. Construction at Hawkevale started in September 1956. Originally, it was planned to house 20 men who were over the age of 18 at Hawkevale but in fact it started up with four adolescent boys (aged 16-19) and one young adult (aged 29). In July 1960, the Commonwealth government announced that it would be reclaiming the Hawkevale land for the new Perth airport. In December 1961 the SLCG purchased 290 acres of land further east along Kalamunda Road in High Wycombe. Construction work began in April 1964 and a residential workshop was run there after the Maida Vale site closed.
On 19 October 1970 a new residential village opened at Hawkevale, High Wycombe. There was accommodation for 48 'young men and women' with 100 more people coming each day for training, work and recreation at Hawkevale. The complex had four brick cottages, a workshop, kitchen and dining areas and an amenities building. In December 1971, a swimming pool was added. On 17 May 1972, a public golf course was opened on part of the Hawkevale estate which had been leased to provide additional revenue for the facility.
Sources used to compile this entry: Gillgren, Christina, 'Once a Defective, always a Defective: Public Sector Residential Care 1900-1965', in Errol Cocks (ed.), Under blue skies : the social construction of intellectual disability in Western Australia, Centre for Disability Research and Development, Faculty of Health and Human Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Perth, 1996, pp. 53-91. p.77.; Hunt, Heather, Our Children: A History of the Slow Learning Children's Group of WA, Activ Foundation, Perth, 1989. pp.38, 41pp.21, 25, 26, 29, 34-35, 38, 48-49..
Prepared by: Debra Rosser
Created: 30 April 2013, Last modified: 9 January 2019
Last updated: 17 October 2023
Cite this: https://www.findandconnect.gov.au/ref/wa/biogs/WE01057b.htm
First published by the Find & Connect Web Resource Project for the Commonwealth of Australia, 2011
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