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Aborigines Welfare Directorate

The Aborigines Welfare Directorate replaced the Aborigines Welfare Board in 1969. It later became known as the Aborigines Services Branch, Youth and Community Services.

Warangesda Dormitory

Warangesda Dormitory was established on an Aborigines Protection Association station at Warangesda, near Darlington Point, in 1893. It trained Aboriginal girls for domestic service and served as a welfare depot for younger children from other reserves and stations. In 1897 the Aborigines Protection Board took over managing Warangesda Mission and the Dormitory. Girls from Warangesda…

Aborigines Protection (Amendment) Act 1918, New South Wales

The Aborigines Protection (Amendment) Act 1918 extended the reach of the Aborigines Protection Act 1909 to include, specifically, ‘any person having apparently an admixture of Aboriginal blood’. This, in effect, meant that any police officer or employee of the Aborigines Protection Board could decide whether someone was Aboriginal by looking at them. It swept more…

Community Welfare Act 1982, New South Wales

The Community Welfare Act 1982 (76/1982) was an Act that modernised and consolidated the Child Welfare Act 1939 and other Acts that related to children. The Act stated that the welfare and interests of children were to be given ‘paramount consideration’, that children should be , and that there should be ‘no interruption of parental…

Orphan School Estates Act 1826, New South Wales

The Orphan School Estates Act 1826, also known as An Act for Vesting the Orphan School Estates in the Trustees of the Clergy and School Lands in the Colony of New South Wales and for duly governing the Children at School and in Apprenticeship (7 George 4, Act No 4, 1826), established rules for the…

Children’s Protection Act 1902, New South Wales

The Children’s Protection Act 1902 (47/1902) was also known as ‘An Act to consolidate the enactments providing for the protection of children in certain cases’ and repealed the Children’s Protection Act 1892. It amended and consolidated the law regarding ‘baby-farming’, or caring for multiple infants for a fee. This practice was of great social and…

Community Welfare Act 1987, New South Wales

The Community Welfare Act 1987 (52/1987) was a significant revision of existing child welfare legislation and the Community Welfare Act 1982. It followed a number of Reports and Inquiries around Australia and the world. It is the Act that controls the functions of the Minister for community welfare and social development and some of the…

Children (Community Service Orders) Amendment Act 1988, New South Wales

Requiring the consent of a child to the making of a community service order or restricting orders to children under fourteen.

Children (Community Service Orders) Further Amendment Act 1988, New South Wales

Enables the Director-General to place children in foster care and requires children to be informed of reasons for removal and likely consequences.

Aborigines Act 1969, New South Wales

The Aborigines Act 1969 (37/1969) was ‘An Act to make provisions with respect to matters concerning Aborigines; to repeal the Aborigines Protection Act, 1909, and certain other Acts; to amend the Attachment of Wages Limitation Act, 1957.’ It was a landmark Act that abolished the Aborigines Welfare Board and moved all Aboriginal children into the…