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Industrial Schools Act 1867, Tasmania

The Industrial Schools Act (Act no.31 Vict. No.37) with the full title ‘An Act to provide for the Establishment in Tasmania of Institutions for the Industrial Training and Benefit of Vagrant Children and Youthful Offenders’ provided for the establishment of institutions for children who were neglected or had committed an offence. Such children could be…

Tasmanian Aboriginal Child Care Association

The Tasmanian Aboriginal Child Care Association was established in 1983 in Launceston. In 2014, it provides long term day child care, an Aboriginal parenting support service, and manages the funds for other projects that support learning for young Aboriginal people. The Tasmanian Aboriginal Child Care Association was established by Molly Mallett who was born on…

Ashley Youth Detention Centre

The Ashley Youth Detention Centre, established in 1999, was previously known as the Ashley Home for Boys. It is in Deloraine. In 2013, it is a government-run custodial institution for boys and girls, aged between 10 and 18. The 1997 Youth Justice Act established the Ashley Youth Detention Centre. It is the only institution of…

Launceston Girls’ Industrial School

The Launceston Girls’ Industrial School, which was managed by a Board of Governors and Ladies Committee, opened in 1877. It trained girls up to the age of 16 in domestic and laundry work. In 1921, it became the Launceston Girls’ Home. The Launceston Girls’ Industrial School was established under the auspices of the 1867 Industrial…

Hobart Girls’ Industrial School

The Hobart Girls Industrial School opened as the Hobart Town Female Refuge in 1862. It was for girls considered to be neglected. In 1945, the Salvation Army took the School over and renamed it the Maylands Salvation Army Home for Girls. Hobart Girls’ Industrial School had eight different locations between 1862 and 1945. The first…

Hobart Girls’ Training School

The Hobart Girls’ Training School, started by the Ladies’ Christian Association, opened in 1881. The School was for girls aged 10 to 17 who had been sentenced by a magistrate to go there for between two months and five years. The Training School was closed in June 1905, as the government was not prepared to…

Tresca

Tresca, run by the Fairbridge Society, opened in Exeter in 1958. It was a Home for child migrants, most of whom arrived under the parent following scheme. Tresca closed in 1976. Tresca, built between 1909 and 1911 by Eric Reed, was one of the first and most substantial houses in the West Tamar area. Reed…

Department for Community Welfare, State Government of Tasmania

The Department for Community Welfare replaced the Social Welfare Department in 1983. It provided financial and other assistance to people with inadequate incomes and managed children’s services, including the supervision of state wards. In July 1989, the Department was amalgamated with the Housing Department and Corrective Services to form the new Department of Community Services….

Central Committee for Boarding Out Destitute Children

The Central Committee for Boarding Out Destitute Children was established in 1881. It was a volunteer Committee that inspected the foster homes of children placed in them under the Public Charities Act 1873. The Secretary of the newly established Neglected Children’s Department abolished the Committee in 1898. The Public Charities Act 1873 provided for a…

Sisters of Charity of Australia

The Sisters of Charity of Australia was established in Parramatta on 31 December 1838. The Sisters came from Ireland at the request of the Archbishop of Sydney to care for the convicts at the Female Factory in Parramatta and the children at the Female Orphan School. In 1847, some of the Sisters moved to Tasmania…