The Social Welfare Department was established under the provisions of the Social Welfare Act 1970 (No.8089). The Department came into being in 1971, assuming responsibility for all functions previously administered by the Social Welfare Branch. In 1978, it became the Department of Community Welfare Services. The Social Welfare Department’s charter was to develop and coordinate…
The Children’s Welfare Department was established in 1924 to replace the Department for Neglected Children. The renaming of the Department signified the Government’s awareness of the stigma which had become attached to the term ‘neglected child’, and did not reflect a change in functional responsibility or status. In 1928 the Department became responsible for the…
In 1887 following the proclamation of the Neglected Children’s Act (No.941) and the Juvenile Offenders’ Act (No.951) responsibility for ‘neglected’ children was assumed by a Department for Neglected Children while the Department for Reformatory Schools assumed responsibility for convicted juveniles.
The main responsibility of the Department for Neglected Children upon its establishment was the maintenance and management of ‘neglected’ children including: supervision of State wards in receiving houses and probationary schools, provision of trade apprenticeships programs, ‘boarding out’ of children in the service of persons willing to take charge of their maintenance and education, provision…
In 1995 the Victorian Department of Human Services (DHS) became responsible for dealing with children placed in the care of the state. This child welfare ‘function’ has been the responsibility of many different government agencies in Victoria since 1864. Most records of the predecessor agencies of DHS remained in the custody of DHS. Other records…
The Department of Industrial and Reformatory Schools came into being with the passage of the Neglected and Criminal Children’s Act 1864. Children who were deemed to be ‘neglected’ were to be sent to industrial schools. Children convicted of any offence could be sent to a reformatory school but justices had the authority to take their…
Tally Ho Youth Services, run by Wesley Central Mission, was situated in Glen Waverley. It came into being when the Tally Ho Farm was closed in 1986. Tally Ho Youth Services administered five family group homes. Tally Ho Youth Services, Glen Waverley, presented a submission to the Inquiry into Children in Institutional and Other Forms…
Tally Ho opened in 1903 in Burwood. This institution, run by the Wesley Central Mission, was for boys ‘rescued’ from the city slums to be trained in farm work. From 1977, Tally Ho received girls as well as boys. It closed in 1986. Tally Ho Training Farm opened in 1903 under the auspices of the…
The Royal Park Depot in Parkville was the sole reception centre for children committed to State care in Victoria from about 1880 to 1961. The Depot was a ‘clearing house’ for boys and girls, before they were boarded out, sent out to service or committed to a reformatory school. In 1955 it became Turana. The…
St Martin’s Home for Boys was established in 1921 as a Church of England Boys’ Home in Auburn. It was run by a provisional committee established by the Church of England Archdiocese of Melbourne in 1919. In 1926, St Martin’s Home moved to Canterbury, onto the same site as St John’s Homes for Boys. The…
Dec 18, 2024
Nov 15, 2024
