WARNING: This website contains confronting and disturbing content, and names and images of deceased people. It may not be suitable for children under 15 years. Many of the historical images show an official, sanitised view which did not reflect reality. The faces of some adolescents have been blurred to protect privacy.
The way in
Entering Children's Homes and institutions
From the 1920s to the 1980s, about 500,000 children spent all or some of their childhood in Children's Homes and institutions in Australia.
Of these, about 50,000 were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and 7000 were child migrants from Britain and Malta.
The reasons why they came in were many, including removal by the state and being surrendered by families unable to manage in a time of inadequate welfare. Many if not most of the children had little idea what was happening.
More on the reasons children were committed to institutional 'care'
'What happened to our childhood?'
![Exhibition graphic panel of white handwritten text on a grey background reads: 'When I was twelve I was asked if I wanted to go to Australia. At first I was excited … [then] I told the cottage father that I had changed my mind and didn’t want to go. His words still ring in my ears -](https://www.nma.gov.au/__data/assets/image/0003/350760/mcgowan_compile.jpg "Hugh McGowan Polaroid")
![A typed letter reads: 'Dear Miss McGowan, We have been invited to send a small party of boys to a Home not unlike our own in Australia and where we have some boys already. After a time there the boys would be placed in suitable employment and altogether we feel it would be a very good chance for the boys selected, especially when their outside contacts in this Country are not so strong. Having regard to these circumstances would you be willing to allow your son, Hugh, to be submitted to go to Australia? I should, of course, like to make it clear that investigations are, at present, only in the preliminary stages. I would, too, like you to know that Hugh is very keen to go. I should be glad to hear from you as soon as possible. Yours faithfully, Superintentent'. The letter is signed 'Hector C' [illegible surname] and dated 11th January, 1961, on a 'Quarrier's Homes' letterhead. An envelope addressed to 'Miss S. McGowan, Camberley, Surrey' is at the top. The letter is stamped and postmarked 'Return to sender' and '[illegible] be found'.](https://www.nma.gov.au/__data/assets/image/0005/350762/McGowan_letter.JPG "Miss McGowan letter")
![Exhibition graphic panel of black text on a white background reading: 'I got adopted out ... My [adoptive] mum always said I had my little arms up and just wanted to be loved and cared for,' attributed to 'Rhonda Trivett, 2010'.](https://www.nma.gov.au/__data/assets/image/0004/334309/trivett_quote685.JPG "Rhonda Trivett adopted quote")
![Photocopy of an official black and white document headed 'POLICE'. Parts of the top of the charge document have been crossed out with typed Xs, for example 'Defendant' has been crossed out and replaced with 'Child'. Typed text states the child is 'Nola May Mary Rollinson'. The section on remand details has been amended to read [in type] 'Child to be detained in' [in handwriting] 'place of safety'. Two stamps at the left of the document read 'Children's Court, Sydney', and is dated February 1960.](https://www.nma.gov.au/__data/assets/image/0006/358530/Nola_Rollinson_document.jpg "Nola Rollinson police document")
![Exhibition graphic panel of white handwritten text on a grey background reads: 'This print used to hang above the magistrate’s desk at Wilson Youth Hospital. Us kids would stare [at] the picture and the magistrate would think we were being respectful and looking at him. But we were looking at the picture', attributed to 'Sue Treweek, 2010'. At right is a photo of a framed landscape painting showing a large central gum tree, a wooden fence at the right and part of a timber shed.](https://www.nma.gov.au/__data/assets/image/0004/336937/treweek_compile.jpg "Sue Treweek quote and bush landscape")
This video includes a silent film from about the 1920s produced by Burnside Homes to promote its work and raise funds. It shows the Burnside Homes' association with the Presbyterian church and how children from poor families in inner Sydney were taken to Burnside Homes.
This video also includes personal documents from four people who experienced institutional life as children, and images of some of the homes and institutions in Australia where children grew up in the 20th century.
Footage: Uniting Care Burnside. The preservation of this footage was the result of a partnership between Uniting Care Burnside, Parramatta Heritage Centre and Anne Matthews
Images courtesy: Ann McVeigh; Brisbane City Council Archives; Care Leavers Australia Network; Jenny Bosanquet; Mary Terszak; National Archives of Australia; National Library of Australia; Nola Rollinson; Ray Brand; State Library of Queensland; State Library of South Australia and State Library of Victoria
More
Carmel Durant's 'Lost childhood' post on the Inside blog
Graham Evans' 'One way ticket' post on the Inside blog
Katie-Marie Sibraa's 'Fifth generation in the "care" of the state' post on the Inside blog
Colleen Stevenson's 'We were charged with being neglected' post on the Inside blog
Main image: Reception sign from Glastonbury Orphanage, Geelong, Victoria. Courtesy Glastonbury Community Services. Photo: Jeremy Lucas.