A depot (or receiving depot) was a type of institution for children. In the nineteenth century and twentieth century, a receiving depot was an institution for the temporary admission of children, from which they would be admitted into a placement in a children’s Home or foster care. Depots also provided short-term accommodation between placements. From…
An assessment unit was a short term residential unit in which a child coming into care was placed so that their care needs could be assessed. In South Australia, after the passing of the Community Welfare Act in 1972, assessment became the policy of the Department. It was introduced with the aim to ensure that…
The Board of Management was a group of appointed or elected persons responsible for overseeing the administration of a non-government children’s Home or other institution. Boards had varying levels of responsibility and might have overseen such aspects as financial management, staffing, applications for admission, health, education, rules and regulations and general maintenance of the institution….
Children’s Home is a term commonly used during the period from the 1920s to the 1970s to describe children’s institutions, including orphanages. Click here to see the full Find & Connect glossary
A Holiday Home was an institution designed to provide short-term accommodation for children in need. Some children from other institutions were sent to spend holiday periods at Holiday Homes while staff were on leave. Children were also sent from institutions for temporary stays in private homes during holiday periods. The parents in these homes were…
Juvenile Justice Centre is a term adopted in around the 1990s to describe institutions providing custodial accommodation for remanded or sentenced young people. These places were also sometimes known as juvenile detention centres or youth detention centres. At times, young people have been accommodated in adult prisons. Click here to see the full Find &…
The term Kindergarten refers to an educational institution for pre-school aged children. Often these accommodated children on a daily basis, but some emergency kindergartens also provided short term residential accommodation. Click here to see the full Find & Connect glossary
The term Adoption Agency refers to any organisation involved in the adoption of babies and children, whether this was mandated by legislation or not. The adoption of children was, and is, controlled by state laws and the states of Australia introduced their first adoption acts at different times, beginning with Western Australia in 1896. Prior…
The term Receiving Home refers to an institution designed to provide short term ‘care’ for children before they were sent to a longer term placement (typically a foster home). Receiving Homes could be large institutions. Sometimes children spent long periods in a Receiving Home, when suitable placements could not be found for them. Children also…
Asylum is a term used throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to refer to a place of refuge for the poor, destitute, aged and dependent, as well as for people with mental illness (historically referred to as ‘lunatics’). Asylums were generally run by charities or churches, but funded by the government. Some nineteenth century…
Dec 18, 2024
Nov 15, 2024
