Child guidance clinics were first established in Australia in the 1930s. Such clinics had been developed in the United States in the 1920s, for the diagnosis and treatment of mild behaviour and emotional problems in school-aged children (Wright, 2012). An important motive in the development of child guidance clinics was to counteract ‘juvenile delinquency’, but…
Apprenticeship was the practice of sending children in institutions or foster care into placements with employers once they were too old to attend school. It was not a trade apprenticeship as such, and generally meant children were sent to live in a private home to work as a farm labourer (for boys) or a domestic…
Mission Australia was formed in 1996 when Sydney City Mission, Adelaide City Mission, Wollongong City Mission, Perth City Mission (also known as Jesus People Inc.), Brisbane City Mission, Mission Australia Northern New South Wales, Mission Australia Southern New South Wales, Mission Australia Group Training and Mission Employment all joined forces. It provides a range of…
The United Aborigines Mission (UAM) was established in 1929. Formerly, it was known as the Australian Aborigines Mission. Its missionaries were active in New South Wales, South Australia and Western Australia, where the UAM established missions as well as institutions for children. All UAM children’s Homes had been shut down by the early 1980s. The…
The Presbyterian Church of Australia was formed in 1901, shortly after Federation. The Presbyterian Church of Australia is a Protestant Christian church, with roots in Scotland. The Presbyterian Church formed a Social Services Department in the 1940s that ran aged care, hospital and court chaplaincies and children’s homes such as St Andrew’s Boys’ Home in…
The Uniting Church in Australia was inaugurated in 1977, following the union of members of the Methodist Church, the Congregational Church and some congregations of the Presbyterian Church from all states and territories. A number of welfare programmes linked with the member churches are now connected with the Uniting Church in Australia.
First known as the Good Shepherd Sisters, the Sisters of the Good Samaritan were founded by Archbishop Polding in the House of the Good Shepherd, Pitt Street, Sydney on 2 February 1857. They were the first institute of religious women founded in Australia. In 1866 the Sisters changed their name to the Congregation of the…
The St Vincent de Paul Society is a Catholic religious organisation with a volunteer base who work to assist people in need and counter social injustice. The Society of St Vincent de Paul established its first conference in Australia in Melbourne in 1854. It then established conferences across the country, with one in New South…
Child Endowment was a non-means tested, universal allowance introduced by the Commonwealth government in 1941. The Child Endowment Act 1941 provided that a sum of 5 shillings per week, for each child after the first under the age of 16 years, be paid directly to the mother. Under the original legislation, child endowment could not…
On 22 October 2018, the Prime Minister, the Hon Scott Morrison MP, apologised to victims and survivors of institutional child sexual abuse on behalf of the Australian Government, and all Australians. The Prime Minister apologised for the appalling endured by survivors of institutional child sexual abuse, and acknowledged the longlasting effects of this abuse. The…
Dec 18, 2024
Nov 15, 2024
