Warning about distressing information
This guide contains information that some people may find distressing. If you experienced abuse as a child or young person in an institution mentioned in this guide, it may be a difficult reading experience.Guides 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 find this content distressing, please consult with a support person either from the Department of Health and Human Services or another agency.
List of records held by the department
For information relating to the central management of care leavers and wards of state, please consult the guide to Central department wardship and out-of-home care records. These collections date back to the 1860s and include ward registers, index cards and ward files.
Voluntary children's homes files (c.1930–c.1985)
File ; Permanent VPRS Number 18069 / P0002
Content: The files record interaction between the various voluntary homes and the government. This filing system was created in 1975, combining earlier correspondence and other records to create one system with VH prefixes.
The specific file relating to the Isolated Refugee Minors family group home run by the Catholic Family Welfare Bureau (Camberwell) is dated 1979–84 and includes:
File VH 120 81:
- copy, correspondence and proposal for a family group home in Camberwell, (41 Inglesby Road, Camberwell) run by Catholic Family Welfare Bureau, for unattached Vietnamese refugee minors, including names of children, costings, 1979, 1980
- copies of draft and final agreement between the Department of Community Welfare Services and Catholic Family Welfare Bureau, 1980
- correspondence clarifying issues, 1980
- minutes of meetings between the department and the Bureau, 1980
- role of the facility, availability of departmental support, 1980
- report on Vietnamese cottage parents, 1980
- copies of correspondence and reports on agreed standards and operational guidelines, 1980
- submissions for funding, 1980
- correspondence and meeting reports on future of the home, its focus and role, and case reviews of resident children, 1981, 1983
- visit report, including names of resident children, 1980
- application for declaration as an approved children’s home, 1981
- list of children 1981, 1982
- report on Camberwell Group Living Program,1981
- report on children in residence, 1982
- subsidies for resident minors, 1982
- correspondence to Copeland Street Family Care Centre, (possibly misfiled) relating to Commonwealth Employment Program grants, 1984.
Reviewed 10 August 2016