Mont Park history in brief
In 1912, Mont Park Hospital was established as a Hospital for the Insane under the Lunacy Act 1903. The first ward opened the following year. In 1925, when Yarra Bend Asylum closed, all patients were transferred to Mont Park.
After World War 1, Mont Park catered primarily for mentally unwell military personnel, until Bundoora Repatriation Hospital opened in 1933.
During the 1930s and 1940s Mont Park was regarded as the leading hospital for the treatment of mental illnesses. In 1941, Mont Park installed the Department’s first X-Ray unit, and Victorian schizophrenics were first treated with insulin at Mont Park.
In 1951, Larundel was first opened as a ward of Mont Park, becoming a separate hospital in 1953. Royal Park and Larundel Hospitals acted as the receiving or acute admission centres for Victoria’s mental health service, while Mont Park functioned as a long stay mental hospital.
A new surgical unit also opened at Mont Park in November 1953. The following year, 43 leucotomy operations were performed (a leucotomy is a surgical interruption of nerve tracts to and from the frontal lobe of the brain).
By 1963, Mont Park’s patient population had risen to 1500, and Plenty Hospital was established as a separate institution.
In 1971, the Mental Health Authority changed policy and began moves for each major mental health hospital to provide a range of psychiatric care to specified Victorian catchment areas. For the north east region, including Preston, Northcote and Whittlesea, hort-term treatment was allocated to Mont Park Psychiatric Hospital, and long-term rehabilitation to the Mont Park Mental Hospital. (The Mont Park Psychiatric Hospital was a unit within the Mont Park Mental Hospital.) Outpatient services were provided at the (former) Ernest Jones Clinic.
Mont Park in 2016 is incorporated in the North Eastern Metropolitan Psychiatric Services (NEMPS) which also includes Larundel and Plenty. The amalgamation of these three psychiatric hospitals under one management line also includes a number of community services.
Warning about distressing information
This guide contains information that some people may find distressing. If you experienced abuse as a child or as a young person in an institution described in the guide, reading the guide may be a difficult experience. The guide may also contain references to previous views, policies and practices that are regrettable and do not reflect the current views, policies or practices of the department or the State of Victoria. If you are distressed, please seek support from a support person, the Department of Health and Human Services or another agency.
Disclaimer
Please note that the content of this administrative history is provided for general information only and does not purport to be comprehensive. The department does not guarantee the accuracy of this administrative history. See Find & for more detail on the history of child welfare in Australia.
Sources
- Department of Health and Human Services Records Management Unit agency history files
- Public Record Office Victoria Online Catalogue
Patient information
PLEASE NOTE: Patients could be admitted to a Receiving House for short-term treatment and care, but were not permitted to remain longer than two months.
Patients still needing treatment after two months could be sent to a Psychiatric Hospital, in the same institution/complex or another. Hence, there could be more than one set of records for any one person. Please check each location for former patient records.
Collection Guide download
Reviewed 19 September 2016