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Non-Government Organisation

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….

United Aborigines Mission, records deposited with State Library of South Australia

United Aborigines Mission, records deposited with State Library of South Australia is an archival collection that came into the custody of the State Library of South Australia in late 2022. It comprises some records from the United Aborigines Mission archives, relating to Homes in South Australia, and the Bomaderry Aboriginal Children’s Home in New South…

Papers and photographs of Sister Ruby Hyde

Papers and photographs of Sister Ruby Hyde is held by the State Library of South Australia. It includes a collection of photographs taken by Hyde when she was Matron at Colebrook Home Access Conditions Please contact the State Library of South Australia about access to these records, as written permission is required. Records This is…

Aboriginal Mission

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 in need of care and protection

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

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

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

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

Babies’ Home

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

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…