Institutional care is a term that refers to the system of residential care for children, generally in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. From around the 1940s, state and territory governments in Australia began to phase out the use of large institutions for children (such as orphanages and reformatories). Other models introduced from this time included…
The significance of World War One, and the role this event plays in the history of the institutional ‘care’ of Australian children is an emerging area of research. Clearly, the departure of thousands of Australian men to fight with Britain had a great impact on society, families, and children. Many households had to adjust to…
The Aged Care Act 1997 is the legislation relating to the provision of aged care in Australia. From 1 December 2009, this Act has recognised ‘care leavers’ as a ‘special needs group’. This amendment is part of the Federal Government’s program to improve aged care for Forgotten Australians, in the wake of the Apology in…
The Great Depression, generally accepted as beginning with the stock market crash in the United States of America in October 1929, was a time of hardship for many people in Australia. By 1932, about 30% of Australian workers were unemployed. The high unemployment and poverty during this period had a great social impact, with many…
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was announced on 12 November 2012 by Prime Minister Julia Gillard. Its terms of reference were wide-ranging, examining how institutions had responded to child sexual abuse, both in the past and present. The Royal Commission investigated a wide range of institutions including religious organisations, state…
Child labour, according to the International Labour Organisation, is a term that refers to the employment of children in any work that deprives them of their childhood, interferes with their ability to attend regular school, that is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful. For the vast majority of children who were in institutional…
The significance of World War Two, and the role this event plays in the history of the institutional ‘care’ of Australian children is an emerging area of research. It is evident that World War Two, directly or indirectly, was a factor in thousands of children’s placement in ‘care’ in the mid-twentieth century. The Alliance for…
Status offender is a term that describes a person who is legally charged with an offence, but has not actually committed a criminal act. Rather, the ‘offence’ is more to do with the person’s personal condition or characteristics. In the context of child welfare in Australia, children and young people charged with ‘neglect’, or ‘exposed…
The Child Endowment Act 1941 was Commonwealth legislation which introduced the payment of weekly sums to mothers with more than one child, foster mothers, and the managers of privately run children’s institutions, for children under the age of 16. When child endowment began in 1941, children in State or Commonwealth institutions were excluded. From July…
The Empire Settlement Act 1922 was an Imperial Act, passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and applicable in Australia and other Commonwealth nations such as New Zealand and Canada. It was a landmark in the history of Australian immigration, especially for its encouragement of child and youth migration. According to the Lost Innocents…
Dec 18, 2024
Nov 15, 2024
