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A THEMATIC HERITAGE STUDY ON AUSTRALIA’S BENEVOLENT AND OTHER CARE INSTITUTIONS -
A COMPANION GUIDE
IMAGE: Image shows a historic photo of a group of Dr. Barnardo children in uniform waving to the camera.
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© Copyright Commonwealth of Australia, 2016
A Thematic Heritage Study on Australia’s Benevolent and Other Care Institutions – Companion Guide is licensed by the Commonwealth of Australia for use under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Australia licence with the exception of the Coat of Arms of the Commonwealth of Australia, the logo of the agency responsible for publishing the report, content supplied by third parties, and any images depicting people. For licence conditions see: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
This report should be attributed as A Thematic Heritage Study on Australia’s Benevolent and Other Care Institutions – Companion Guide, Commonwealth of Australia, 2016
The Commonwealth of Australia has made all reasonable efforts to identify content supplied by third parties using the following format ‘© Copyright, [name of third party]’
Disclaimer The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Australian Government or the Minister for the Environment.
While reasonable efforts have been made to ensure that the contents of this publication are factually correct, the Commonwealth does not accept responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of the contents, and shall not be liable for any loss or damage that may be occasioned directly or indirectly through the use of, or reliance on, the contents of this publication.
Front CoverGroup of Dr. Barnardo children in uniform. Sam Hood Collection Part II. Digital Order No. a220015. Courtesy of the State Library of New South Wales.
Information
If you have found material in this guide distressing because of your past connections to benevolent institu-tions assistance can be found by contacting one of these services Respect 1800 737 732 or Blue Knot Helpline (Adults Surviving Child Abuse) on 1300 657 380.
PURPOSE OF THIS GUIDEUNDERSTANDING OUR AUSTRALIAN NATION The purpose of this guide is to provide a summary of the thematic heritage study on benevolent and other care institutions.
The full heritage study can be found at the following link
Department of the Environment’s webpage
http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/organisations/australian-heritage-council/publications
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IMAGE: Photo of people coming into the Great Hall of Parliament House in Canberra. People are arriving to hear the national apology in 2009 to the Forgotten Australians. Photo credit: George Serras. Courtesy of the National Museum of Australia
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WHY PREPARE A THEMATIC STUDYTHEMATIC RESEARCH PROVIDES THE NECESSARY CONTEXT TO UNDERTAKE NATIONAL HERITAGE ASSESSMENTS In 2013 the Department of the Environment undertook an internal review of the National Heritage List. Did the List include the key places in Australia that Australians considered nationally significant?
Places associated with the sub-theme of benevolent and other care institutions were identified as a gap in the List. At the same time a number of heritage nominations for nineteenth century benevolent asylums had been received through the Department’s public heritage nomination gateway. As a result, targeted thematic research was initiated to support action to improve the List. The Thematic Heritage study on benevolent and other care institutions forms part of this research effort.
The places associated with the sub-theme of benevolent and other care institutions touch many Australians who have family connections with these places. For those with more direct experience, their feelings about these places are often mixed and contradictory. For many, their memories are of personal trauma and abuse. This study is respectful of these associations. The study seeks to provide an historical understanding of these places.
IMAGE: Image shows a graphic of the thematic composition of the National Heritage List. 25.96% of the places on the National Heritage List are places which fit under the Building a Nation theme, 21.75% fit un-der the understanding and shaping the land theme, 19.3% fit under the Island of Natural Diversity theme, 14.7% fit under the Ancient Country theme, 10.18% fit under the Living as Australians theme and 8.1% fit under the Peopling the Land theme.
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BENEVOLENT AND OTHER CARE INSTITUTIONSWhat are these places Benevolent and other care institutions are places established for the purposes of providing community or individual care and support and are operated by churches, charities, governments, philanthropic organisations or private individuals. These places have formed part of the social support systems within our society.
Place examplesBenevolent and other care institutions include places like asylums, refuges, hospitals, aged care facilities, children’s homes, orphanages, labour camps, hostels, training centres, shelters and food distribution centres. This is not an exhaustive list.
IMAGE: Image shows four circles with the names of four major types of benevolent institutions including Asylums, Shelters, Hostels and Orphanages.
IMAGE: Historic black and white photo of the building and gardens of the Melbourne Benevolent Asylum c.1885. The photo shows an extensive three storey building with a grand building façade with many windows overlooking a park like garden.
Courtesy of Museum Victoria. Reg number M001147 http://collections.museumvictoria.com.au/items/774057
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A THEMATIC STUDY ON BENEVOLENT AND OTHER CARE INSTITUTIONSScope The thematic heritage study includes an outline of the course and pattern of Australian history associated with benevolent and other care institutions. This history has been prepared with a focus on the identification of major national trends and defining historic events.
Within this scope in-depth treatment of a number of associated topics is constrained. For example the his-tory associated with Indigenous missions or other controlling provisions, and the development of health care and education, are aspects of the theme which can only be developed in an overview manner.
Course and pattern of historyThe thematic study follows a timeline from 1788 to 2001. This companion guide provides a snapshot ofthe five major periods identified in the study.
IMAGE: The image below shows a bubble diagram showing how the topic of benevolent and other care institutions is partly overlapped against other topics including mental health reform, education and training, Indigenous missions and other control/care provisions and other social reform movements.
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HISTORY SUMMARY TABLEThe study presents the contextual national history associated with the places we call benevolent and other care institutions. The following table provides a summary of the course and pattern of history associated with the theme under investigation.
PERIOD
1788-1850
PERIODD
1850–1890
PERIOD
1890–1940
PERIOD
1940–1972
PERIOD
1972–2001
Historical context
Aboriginal society disrupted by non-Aboriginal people
Introduction of welfare approaches for Aboriginal people e.g. Aboriginal ‘protectors’, missionaries
Convict transportation to NSW (1788–1841), Van Diemen’s Land (1803–1853)
Queensland 1824–1939 convict settlement; ‘free’ settlers from 1838
1835 Port Phillip District Victoria settled; Government representatives from 1836
1836 South Australian colony established with direct immigration from UK
Gold rushes
Victoria separates from NSW
Queensland separates from NSW
End of convict transportation (1868)
Land settlement, pastoralism and agriculture
Growth of manufacturing, economic prosperity, rise of labour movement
Population growth
Growth of cities and regional mining towns
Depressions of 1890s and 1930s
First World War
Federation–some welfare responsibilities transfer to the Commonwealth Government
Infant welfare movement
‘Harvester Judgement’ minimum wage 1907
Aged pensions 1908
World War II
Post-war migration
Economic stability and growth
Rising education levels
Commonwealth child endowment (1941), widows’ pensions (1942), unemployment and sickness benefits (1945)
Whitlam Government reforms (including single parents’ benefit, Australian Assistance Plan)
Women’s rights movement
Self-help movement
Aboriginal rights movement
Legislation regarding child protection
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PERIOD
1788-1850
PERIODD
1850–1890
PERIOD
1890–1940
PERIOD
1940–1972
PERIOD
1972–2001
Prevailing ideas of how to provide welfare. Significant changes to ideas/reforms
Deserving and undeserving poor
Rejection of the Poor Law concept
Care in Barracks
Assistance in the form of money, food, clothing or goods
Legislation in all colonies regarding destitute children/differing approaches to providing for them (introduction of the concept of ‘State Ward’)
Child rescue movement from the 1880s
Move towards boarding out of destitute children in some colonies
Legislation to separate destitute and delinquent children
Figures: Caroline Chisholm, Rev. Charles Strong, Selina Sutherland, Catherine Spence
Depressions and wars place strain on providers of services
Changes in provision of welfare during 1890s depression
Efforts to support men/widows/families, including returned servicemen, by settling on the land
Introduction of legal adoption in all states from the 1890s
Figures: Oswald Barnett, Father Gerard Tucker
Widening definitions of ‘neglected’ child as standards in the wider society rise
Changing views on appropriate care for those in need of welfare – expression of these changes in services/institutions
De-segregation of services for the disabled
Growing awareness of psychological and emotional deprivation in institutions
Some states redefine neglected children as ‘in need of care and protection’
Figures: E Cunningham Dax
Greater emphasis on support within community
De-institutionalisation
Emphasis on family support
Recipients of welfare
Aged
Infirm
Destitute
Orphans
Children not seen initially as a group needing to be accommodated separately
Aged
Mentally ill
Orphan and destitute children
Delinquent children
‘Fallen’ women
Aboriginal people
Unemployed
Homeless
Elderly poor
Children
Destitute Mothers
Aboriginal people
Children
Single parents
Aboriginal people
Disabled
Recipients of welfare
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PERIOD
1788-1850
PERIODD
1850–1890
PERIOD
1890–1940
PERIOD
1940–1972
PERIOD
1972–2001
Provision (or lack of) for newly-arrived assisted and non-assisted immigrants
(in some colonies)
Immigrants
‘Deserving’ poor
Providers of welfare
Government provides for convict ‘welfare’
Control of girls and women
Ideas about government–provided versus charitable provision of welfare (rejection of the Poor Law concept)
Growth of non-convict/ ex-convict populations
Discernment of need to provide charity by religious/philanthropic organisations (Benevolent Society NSW established 1813)
Government subsidisation of private/charitable providers of welfare
Religious providers of services
Child rescuers
Mutual aid societies/self-help
Women as providers of services
Expansion in the number of agencies assisting people in the 1930s depression
New approaches to assisting families in poverty, e.g. advocacy
Government relief agencies/municipal relief agencies
Some states support widowed parents to keep their children at home with them
Figures: Brotherhood of St Laurence, Oswald Barnett, Legacy
Increased dependence by governments on voluntary agencies to supply services
Government and private bodies
The experience of welfare
Incarceration and work Institutionalisation and work
Places of refuge, relief and charity
Greater community integration of services
Targeted welfare assistance and payments
Types of places associated with welfare
Factories
Outdoor relief
Female refuges
Benevolent
The rise of the babies’ home
Institutionalised congregate care
Often intangible, and difficult to attribute to specific heritage places
Often intangible, and difficult to attribute to specific heritage places
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PERIOD
1788-1850
PERIODD
1850–1890
PERIOD
1890–1940
PERIOD
1940–1972
PERIOD
1972–2001
provision during the period
Barracks
Gaols (before other institutions were available)
Missions
asylums
Immigration depots/shelters
Lunatic asylums
Orphanages
Industrial schools
Reformatories
Missions
Women’s refuges
Soup kitchens
Free kindergartens
Homeless shelters
Missions
Cottage homes
Family group homes
Single mothers’ shelters
Missions
Welfare benefits
Public housing
Refuges for victims of domestic violence
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1788–1850 SNAPSHOTFind out more at the following links
Hyde Park Barracks
https://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/places/national/hyde-park
Cascades Female Factory
https://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/places/national/cascade-female-factory
The first European settlers came to Australia with the ideas and values of eighteenth century Britain. Wealth was derived from private ownership and every ‘decent’ man was expected to provide for himself and his family. No attempt was made to understand the causes of poverty and individuals were seen as bringing destitution on themselves.
The fear that the ‘undeserving’ poor would take advantage of state or charitable care was soon tempered by the harsh conditions and isolation of the colony and the realities of frontier life. Instead of a system of care that was determined on the basis of qualification as ‘deserving’, authorities began to widen their assistance to address the needs of the whole population.
In the penal colony the provision of state care centred on ideas of control and containment. Convict men were set to work in exchange for food rations and a bed in barrack accommodation. Female ‘factories’ were established as a way to contain and control women and as a refuge of sorts for vulnerable women and their children. The poor, aged and ‘insane’ were housed in government-built hospitals and asylums. Newly arrived free settlers also needed assistance.
In response to a new environment, isolation and the need to support and encourage new settlement, the colonial government developed and maintained a system of care and benevolence that, while rooted in the values of Britain, was unique to early colonial Australia.
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IMAGE: Historic painting showing a Bird's eye view of Governor Macquarie’s Rum Hospital built in 1816. Courtesy of the National Library of Australia, nla.cat-vn1405202.
IMAGE: Small portrait painting of Anna Josepha King, wife of Governor King. Mrs King was a philanthropist involved with the care of destitute and orphaned children. Courtesy of the State Library of New South Wales. Digital Order no. a2701002.
IMAGE: Historic painting of a view of Sydney town with the Female Orphan Institution (‘Mrs King’s Orphanage’) shown in the centre of the painting. The photo shows a view of the town from the Domain looking west across Sydney Cove. Courtesy of the State Library of New South Wales. Digital Order no. a928941.
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IMAGE: Small historic portrait painting of Edward Smith Hall who was a prominent colonial philanthropist. He helped to establish the Benevolent Society of NSW in 1818. Courtesy of the National Library of Australia, nla.cat-vn378175.
IMAGE: Historic painting of the Convict Hyde Park Barracks in Sydney. New South Wales. c.1820. This photo shows the Hyde Park Barracks building within a surrounding wall. Courtesy of the State Library of New South Wales. Digital Order No. 1120005.
IMAGE: Small cut out photograph of old historic irons possibly used by women in the female factories during the early colonial period. Courtesy of the Port Arthur Historic Site Management Authority
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IMAGE: Photo of a woman washing in period costume. This photo is part of a re - enactment of the life of women at the Cascades Female Factory in Tasmania. Courtesy of the Port Arthur Historic Site Management Authority
IMAGE: Photo of woman leaning against a wall in period costume. This photo is part of a re-enactment of the life of women at the Cascades Female Factory in Tasmania. Courtesy of the Port Arthur Historic Site Management Authority
IMAGE: Historic painting showing the annual meeting of the native tribes at Parramatta in NSW. During this meeting efforts were made to encourage Aboriginal people to leave their children at the Aboriginal school or native institution at Parramatta. The photo shows some aboriginal people sitting in groups surrounded by white settlers, their children and some military officials. Courtesy of the National Library of Australia, nla.cat-vn797214.
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1850–1890 SNAPSHOTFind out more at the following link
Caroline Chisholm
http://www.cv.vic.gov.au/stories/immigrants-and-emigrants/caroline-chisholms-scrapbook/the-caroline-chisholm-scrapbook-with-moya-mcfadzean/
By the end of the 1850s the colonies of Victoria and Queensland had separated from New South Wales and convict transportation was coming to an end. The discovery of gold caused a massive influx of migrants, with the population of the east coast of Australia reaching over one million by the end of decade.
The massive increase and movements in population during the Gold Rush saw an increase in the number of those requiring care, and a change in how it was provided. The exodus of men to the gold fields left deserted mothers and children dependent on government and charitable welfare at home, while those who travelled to the gold fields also required care. Infrastructure was needed to provide care for migrants. Immigrant societies were established and colonial governments built immigration depots where newly arrived migrants were provided accommodation, sick wards and employment services.
The large number of neglected or ‘criminal’ children in Melbourne led to the government establishment of industrial and reform schools. These schools reflected an approach to the care of children which focused on employment readiness and separation of children from undesirable influences in society. Religious orders established orphanages or homes as places of refuge for women and children. The barracks style of care for children was criticised and an alternative 'boarding out' with families was proposed. Boarding out was introduced in the 1870s.
Consequently the institutions that previously housed children in care were closed or given over for the care of the increasing number of mentally ill patients and the aged and infirm, including ex-convict and ticket- of- leave convicts who had no other means of support.
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IMAGE: Historic pencil drawing of the Randwick Asylum dining hall with children eating at tables in 1890. Boys are on one side, girls are on the other. Source: The Illustrated Sydney News
IMAGE: Historic painting of Chinese people panning for Gold at a Ballarat gold field. The photo shows the diggers looking for gold along a very small river-let. The photo illustrates some of the conditions on the gold field. Courtesy of the National Museum of Australia
IMAGE: Historic painting of a portrait of Caroline Chisholm by Thomas Fairland. Courtesy of the National Library of Australia, nla.cat-vn1886149
IMAGE: Contemporary colour photo of Kew Mental Asylum in Melbourne built in 1871. The photo shows a substantial three storied building with a façade and bell tower. Courtesy of Heritage Victoria.
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IMAGE: Historic photo of Catherine Helen Spence in c. 1880. Catherine Spence was the first woman to run for public office in Australia and a tireless supporter of orphaned children. Courtesy of the State Library of South Australia.B7106
IMAGE: Historic photo of six miners working a small gold minehead in Gulgong. The photo shows the basic working conditions of miners working small mining shafts. Courtesy of the State Library of NSW, Digital Order no a2823022
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IMAGE: Historic black and white photo of buildings at the Dunwich Benevolent Institution at North Stradbroke Island in Queensland. The photo shows barrack like accommodation on a cleared hillside location. Courtesy of the State Library of Queensland, record number 273307
IMAGE: Historic black and white photo of the Adelaide destitute asylum. The photo shows a small single storied stone building with shingled roof. Courtesy of the National Trust, South Australia under Creative Commons 3.0 licence
IMAGE: Historic black and white photo of the machine room at the Good Shepherd Convent laundry at Ashfield. The photo shows a number of girls working on laundry tasks with the nuns. Courtesy of Good Shepherd Archives, Abbotsford
Image: Black and white photo postcard from the monastery New Norcia during the shearing season. Reproduced with the permission of the Archives of the Benedictine Community of New Norcia, Accession Number 73469P
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1890–1940 SNAPSHOTFind out more at the following links
Great Ocean Road
https://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/places/national/great-ocean-road
Oswald Barnett Collection
http://www.cv.vic.gov.au/stories/built-environment/the-unsuspected-slums/
After Federation, the responsibility for the provision of welfare services continued to be administered within the states and was increasingly the work of voluntary, charitable or religious organisations.
The economic depressions of the 1890s and again in the 1920s saw a change in people’s attitudes to the poor. The weight and impact of economic and social change outside of an individual’s control meant that the idea of ‘deserving’ and ‘undeserving’ poor no longer seemed reasonable to apply. The inability of existing charity infrastructure to cope with the number of people in need during the depressions paved the way for a national welfare system.
The concept of direct payments to those in need developed. Aged and invalid pensions were established by the Australian Government in 1908 and 1910. By 1911 each state had established a government department for the care, management and protection of children. These departments had the authority to rescue children from physical and moral harm and take them into the care of the state. Throughout the early twentieth century, state governments strengthened their roles as guardians of an ever widening group of children.
Religious and charitable organisations continued to assert their influence and control through the establish-ment of a range of services and institutions for the homeless, the unemployed, prisoners, single mothers, orphans and women. Institutions included children's homes, reformatories, orphanages and industrial schools licensed to accept wards of the state.
IMAGE: Black and white historic photo of First World War returned veterans receiving treatment in the massage ward on a verandah at Rosemont repatriation general hospital, 1918. Courtesy of the Australian War Memorial, HO2258
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IMAGE: Black and white photo of First World War returned veterans in an Anzac Hostel Ward, 1919. The photo shows patients being cared for by a nurse in large beds with wheels for mobility. Courtesy of the Australian War Memorial, H02258.
IMAGE: Black and white historic photo of St Vincent's de Paul's Orphanage in Adelaide. The photo shows a substantial three storey house at the end of an entry driveway. Courtesy of the National Library of Australia. PIC 3176/17 LOC Album 951/nla.obj- 144218224.
IMAGE: Black and white photo of one of the original front gates from the Kinchela Aboriginal Boys Training Home, established in 1926. The photo shows a metal and chain wire gate with the letters BOYS HOME included in the gate.
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Photo credit: Katie Shanahan. Courtesy of the National Museum of Australia
IMAGE: Contemporary colour photo of a tower detail of the Kew Mental Asylum in Victoria. Courtesy of the Heritage Victoria.
IMAGE: Black and white historic photo of the administrative building of the Ipswich Hospital for the Insane, 1914.The photo shows a substantial and imposing two storey building. Courtesy of the State Library of Queensland, record number 169975
IMAGE: Black and white portrait photo of Oswald Barnett. Barnett was instrumental in the campaign for public housing in Victoria. Courtesy of Department of Human Services, Victoria
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IMAGE: Black and white photo of workers on the Great Ocean Road, c.1925.The road was constructed in part to provide employment during the depression. Courtesy of Museum Victoria, image reg no. MM7085
IMAGE: Historic black and white photo of a back yard of a house in inner Melbourne during the depression. The photo shows a small backyard and the small living areas of the time. Courtesy of Culture Victoria. Oswald Barnett Collection.
IMAGE: Historic black and white photo of a returned World War I soldier in uniform with his young family outside Randwick Military Hospital (later known as the Prince of Wales Hospital). Courtesy of Australian War Memorial, id number h18785
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IMAGE: Historic photo of an eight hour day procession marching with banners along a Newcastle street in 1913. Courtesy of the Australian National University, Digital collections – http://hdl.handle.net/1885/2442227
1940–1972 SNAPSHOTFind out more at the following links
Bonegilla
http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/places/national/bonegilla
Find and Connect
HTTPS://WWW.FINDANDCONNECT.GOV.AU/
The social impacts of the Second World War had a shaping influence on the Australian Government and its role in providing care and support for Australians in need. The Australian Government increasingly took control and responsibility for the provision of welfare payments, with state governments responsible for the provision of welfare services.
Within the period between 1941 and 1945 for example the Australian Government introduced a number of benefits including the payment of child endowment, pensions for widows and deserted wives, and unemployment and sickness benefits.
Despite an extended period of economic growth, the number of children living in out-of-home care increased. Boarding out or fostering of children continued but there was an increasing number of homes, both state and charity run, catering to a variety of children’s needs. A growing awareness of the effects of institutional care on children led to the development of cottage homes or group homes for children in need of care.
By the 1970s many thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, over many generations, had been removed from their families.
Post-war migrants required extensive assistance on their arrival in Australia. European migrants were sent to Bonegilla Migrant Camp in Victoria on their arrival. Men were required to work ‘as directed’ for two years as part of their assisted migration. The Australian Government established the Commonwealth Hostels Ltd to build and manage hostels.
Some of the aged care homes established in the 1800s for the poor were still being used for this purpose by the end of the Second World War. Charitable societies began to focus attention on building aged care villages .The Australian Government introduced subsidies to providers of these homes.
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IMAGE: A historic black and white photo of a girl making a bed in a dormitory at the Home of the Good Shepherd girl’s home, Ashfield, 8 October, 1963, J.A. Mulligan. The photo shows the living conditions of girls living in the home. In this photo there is one large room which accommodates a number of girls living in dormitory style conditions. Courtesy of the National Library of Australia, nla.pic-an24494479
IMAGE: Historic black and white photo of two women outside trades hall in Melbourne in 1969 holding signs saying "Unequal Pay is Sex Discrimination or Equal Pay is a Human Right. Courtesy of ACTU Worksite, worksite.actu.org.au, http://worksite.actu.org.au/equal-pay-equal-value/
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IMAGE: Contemporary colour photo of the Hermannsburg Mission. The photo shows a small single storey building within a complex of other buildings. Courtesy of the Department of the Environment.
IMAGE: Colour photograph of the Migrant Camp in Bonegilla. The photo shows a row of barrack like buildings. Courtesy of the Department of the Environment.
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1972–2001 SNAPSHOTFind out more at the following link
Australia's Community Heritage website
(search under > Benevolent Institutions)
https://www.communityheritage.net.au/
In the early 1970s, successive Australian governments introduced reforms that reflected new ways of thinking about access to education, health and social welfare. Universal health care was introduced. The supporting mother’s benefit was introduced. The ‘poverty line’, the level of income below which people would not be living at an acceptable standard for Australian society, was established. It became a fundamental measure of the how well or not social security was supporting families and pensioners for the next 40 years.
In 1969 Australian women were granted equal pay. The concept of a ‘social wage’, including both superannuation and universal health care, was introduced into wage bargaining to contain wage growth and inflation.
The 1970s saw the closure of most of Australia’s benevolent institutions. Children’s homes and homes for people with a mental illness or people with a disability were closed down. In 1992 all State and territory governments agreed to work towards providing as much mental health care as possible outside of the institutional setting.
In time, a number of enquiries were established that argued against removing children from their families and further urged that support be given to families to stay together. They also argued that if keeping the family together was not possible then foster care was the preferred alternative for the child. Most of the states abandoned their care facilities, with non-government agencies providing services, including arranging foster care. Some larger scale facilities however, continued to operate until the 1990s in New South Wales.
This era saw a newly found emphasis on the location and servicing of welfare needs at the community level. Municipal services as well as local support and interest groups began to see a role for themselves in supplying services in response to local need.
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IMAGE: Colour photo of the Elsie Walk launch in Glebe, 28 May 2012. Elsie Walk is a tribute to the first women’s safe house established in 1974. Courtesy of Clover Moore, Lord Mayor of Sydney.
IMAGE: Colour photo of a Medicare card. Medicare is the publicly funded universal health care scheme in Australia
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IMAGE: Black and white photo of a street scene in a residential area of Darwin after Cyclone Tracy in December, 1974. Photo shows damaged buildings and fallen electricity wires. Courtesy of the National Library of Australia. PIC/8827/22 LOC nla.pic-vn3112074 Online access/nla.obj-148903700
IMAGE: Colour photo of disability advocate David Foran with his guide dog Oliver. The photo shows a close up of Oliver and David. Courtesy of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Library Sales.
The number of Australians with significant vision loss will increase to 350,000 by 2020. Guide Dog Australia is an advocacy and services agency helping people with vision impairment or blindness.
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REFLECTIONS AND NEXT STEPS Reflections
The history associated with benevolent and other care institutions is complex. Our understanding of places associated with this theme needs to take into account the complexity of the trends and patterns of change and their entanglement and layering with other influences.
Places associated with this theme can generate mixed emotions and responses. For example, a visit to some places may arouse feelings of sorrow, confusion and anger but also include feelings of familiarity and gratitude. Perhaps the significance of these places relates to all these responses and to the way these places act as signposts to the way Australians have cared for each other in the past and today.
Oral histories and objects are an important aspect of the heritage associated with this theme.
Further work is indicated to improve our understanding of the heritage of places associated with the theme. For example further work on the following topics would be beneficial:
o places associated with the post-World War Two period
o places associated with mainstream services for Aboriginal people
o objects, collections and life stories
o the intersecting history of immigration and other structural demographic changes
o mutual self-help societies and societies for particular ethnic groups
o the work of people of importance mentioned in the history essay
o the role and influence of the nation-wide Benevolent Society.
Note: reflections are those of the authors only and may not reflect the views of the Australian Government.
Next stepsThe Australian Heritage Council will be using this research to inform its on-going assessments of places for entry on the National Heritage List and Commonwealth Heritage List.
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