Non-Government Organisation, or NGO, is a broad term for charities, not-for-profit agencies and religious organisations which provide services to the community, including services to support families and out-of-home ‘care’ programs. It is commonly used in New South Wales. In some states and territories, including Victoria, such organisations are known as Community Service Organisations, or CSOs….
For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, the word Mission has a specific meaning, as a residential settlement or institution. Religious missions for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people existed in many states and territories from the nineteenth century up to the 1980s. On Aboriginal missions, families were forcibly separated by a dormitory system, where…
Child (or young person) ‘in need of care and protection’ was a term introduced into legislation from around the 1950s to describe a child or young person admitted to the ‘care’ of the state. Formerly, the language used was ‘neglected child’. Other common terms were child or young person ‘in need of care’, ‘at risk’…
Adolescent Care refers to models of out-of-home care geared to the needs of young people, including Adolescent Units, Early Adolescent Units, Teenage Units and Adolescent Community Placement. Services and programs specifically for adolescents became more common from the 1980s. Click here to see the full Find & Connect glossary
Lock Hospital was a term to describe institutions for people suffering from suspected venereal disease. Fantome Island, off the Queensland coast near Townsville, was the site of a leprosarium and a lock hospital. Click here to see the full Find & Connect glossary
Congregate Care was a term used to describe the system in large institutions like orphanages, in which children were housed in dormitories, usually divided by age and gender, under the supervision of rostered staff. Click here to see the full Find & Connect glossary
The term Babies’ Home generally refers to institutions for children under the age of three, though not all institutions which served this purpose were named babies’ homes. For instance, in the nineteenth century, such institutions were often known as infant asylums and others were called foundling hospitals. These institutions were usually associated with services for…
Youth Justice Centre is a term from the Victorian Children Youth and Families Act 2005 to describe a residential institution where a young person (aged between 15 and 21 years) found guilty of an offence can be ordered to be detained. Previously, such institutions were known as Youth Training Centres. Click here to see the…
Female Rescue was a movement based on Evangelical Christian principles, and its aim was to reform ‘fallen women’ (women engaged in prostitution) through a combination of prayer and hard work. Female Rescue Homes were established in Australia from around the 1850s. These Homes were heavily influenced by British models, particularly the Magdalen Asylum in London,…
Youth Training Centre is a term adopted from the 1950s onwards in place of ‘reformatory’ or ‘training institution’ to describe residential institutions designed for children and young people considered to require stronger discipline that those directed to other forms of ‘care’. In some cases, children placed in Youth Training Centres were on remand, or had…
Dec 18, 2024
Nov 15, 2024
