Appendix 5 - Statistics on children in institutional care

5.1 It is difficult to establish with any degree of accuracy the total numbers of children who have been placed in institutional care in Australia in the 19th and 20th centuries. Figures indicate that there have been very substantial numbers during that time. The Committee considers that by extrapolating from available figures the numbers could be up to 500 000 and possibly more.

State wards

5.2 Information on state ward numbers varies among the States. Often the available data is not comprehensive, covers different time periods and has gaps and inconsistencies. Accurate figures are not available because often the data is not split into categories such as numbers already in care, new admissions, departures from care, or other variations. The Victorian Government noted difficulties in establishing accurate numbers due to different practices regarding counting and reporting at different periods in time. Not all children in institutions were state wards, many had been privately admitted and often they were not included in statistics on children in institutions.

5.3 The available information on the numbers of state wards is presented below.

New South Wales

5.4 CLAN provided the figure of 135 000 state wards in NSW between 1883-2001 comprising:

• 1883 - 1936 60 000

• 1936 - 2001 75 000

and approximately 100 000 from the beginning of the 20^th century to 1975.[780]

5.5 Table 5.1 shows that there were 133 375 children in institutions in NSW from only 1900 to 1940, although this would involve a degree of double counting. Numbers from 1940-2000 could easily be double this number.

Table 5.1: New South Wales - children in institutional care ^(a)

Time Period	Numbers
1857 - 1899	54 795
1900 - 1909	16 354
1910 - 1919	22 749
1920 - 1929	41 654
1930 - 1940	52 618
Sub Total	133 375
Total	188 170

^(a) Includes orphan schools, government industrial schools and reformatories and a variety of religious and secular orphanages and rescue homes.

Source: Dickey B & Suthern K, 'Social Welfare', in Vamplew, W (ed) Australians: Historical Statistics, Fairfax, Syme & Weldon, 1987, p.364.

Victoria

5.6 The Victorian Government stated that the total number of children who became state wards in 1928-2003 was approximately 59 000 (the total number of children who became state wards between 1949 and 2003 was estimated at 48 000).

5.7 Combining the number of state wards (59 000) with those voluntarily placed children who were never made wards, estimated conservatively at 17 000 between 1928 and 1970 (ie an average of 400 new voluntary placements per year) plus detained young people, estimated at 15 000, totals 91 000 children in institutional care in Victoria from 1928-2003. In addition, some children were placed in short-term care by the child protection system who never became wards, and some young offenders were remanded in detention, many of whom would only have been in institutional care for a few days or weeks. Including these children and young people brings the total to over 100 000.[781]

5.8 CLAN provided the following on the number of state wards in Victoria:[782]

• 1891-1950 69 118

• 1950-1990 39 194

• 1891-1990 108 312

Based on these figures CLAN argued that there was likely to have been approximately 95 000 state wards in 1891 to 1975. The Norgard Report stated that there were 95 000 children in State care over the period from 1864 to the 1970s.[783]

Table 5.2: Victoria - Numbers of state wards: selected years, 1944-1980

Year	Number of state wards
1944	4 760
1946	4 019
1948	3 485
1950	3 246
1954	3 121
1956	3 304
1958	3 951
1960	4 775
1962	4 542
1964	5 756
1966	6 415
1968	6 696
1970	7 045
1972	7 236
1974	6 677
1976	6 601
1978	4 611
1980	4 158

Source: Markiewicz A, 'The child welfare system in Victoria', Children Australia, vol.21, No.3, 1996, p.33.

Western Australia

5.9 The Western Australian Department for Community Development stated that in 1920-2003 there were 56 000 children in out-of-home care. This figure only relates to children who have been placed into care with state government involvement and does not include children who went into privately arranged placements.[784]

5.10 This data is now contained in a Children in Care Database for Western Australia from 1920-2003. Currently there are 106,000 entries in the database, with 56 000 being an estimate of the actual number of children. This figure has been reached by cleansing the data of old records and is as accurate as possible given the lack of clarity around some entries. Many names appear similar but there is insufficient source material to confirm the full identity of the person.

5.11 As more of the agencies involved in child placement have their old records indexed, the number in the database will change, however it is believed that a great number of their placements are already included in the above figure.

Queensland

5.12 CLAN provided figures based on State Government data though it is not possible to estimate the numbers of state wards. The data shows that from the beginning of the 20^th century to the 1970s, 72 000 children were admitted to institutions. If a child was admitted to more than one institution they would have been counted more than once. The figure probably includes state wards and children who were voluntarily placed. The figures broken down by decades are:[785]

1900s	4 766		1940s	9 265
1910s	7 620		1950s	10 210
1920s	8 740		1960s	12 540
1930s	7 286		1970s	11 196

5.13 Table 5.3 shows other data on numbers of children in institutions which may also involve double counting as it relates to numbers for each year.

Table 5.3: Queensland - children in institutional care

Time Period	Numbers
1900 - 1909	8 653
1910 - 1919	10 094
1920 - 1929	9 292
1930 - 1940	6 234
Total	34 273

Source: Dickey & Suthern, p.368.

5.14 The above figure of 34 000 is broadly comparable to the CLAN data which estimates 28 400 admissions from the 1900s to 1930s.

South Australia

5.15 Table 5.4 indicates that some 23 000 children were in institutional care from the 1900s to the 1980s, and a further 128 000 were in other forms of care. This data would involve double counting as it relates to numbers for each year.

Table 5.4: South Australia - children in state care

Time Period	In institutions	Others
1900-1909	2 115	10 953
1910-1919	2 120	14 603
1920-1929	2 679	15 180
1930-1939	2 307	8 945
1940-1949	2 176	9 599
1950-1959	2 766	8 923
1960-1969	5 206	28 038
1970-1979	3 584	31 760
Total	22 953	128 001

'Others' = not defined in source document.

Source: Dickey B & Suthern K, 'Social Welfare', in Vamplew W, (ed) Australians: Historical Statistics, Fairfax, Syme & Weldon, 1987, p.367.

5.16 CLAN provided limited data for selected years, based on State Government data, on the number of children placed under guardianship, or as state wards during 1925-1975. The annual figures over that period vary from 1 007 in 1950 to 3 330 in 1970. The data does not provide a complete picture of the number of state wards due to the non recording of figures and varying practices regarding children's placements at different times.[786]

Tasmania

5.17 Table 5.5 indicates that there were some 1 500 children in institutional care from the 1900s to the 1960s and some 14 600 in other forms of care, including foster care, in the same period. This data would involve double counting as it relates to numbers for each year.

Table 5.5: Tasmania - children in state care

Time Period	In institutions	Others (a)
1900-1909	201	1 684
1910-1919	314	2 161
1920-1929	242	3 435
1930-1939	292	3 798
1940-1949	294	2 616
1950-	161 (to 1956)	928 (to 1957)
Total	1 504	14 622

^(a) includes children boarded out to foster parents.

Source: Dickey & Suthern, p.370.

Numbers of state wards

5.18 Based on the above discussion the 'best estimates' of the numbers of state wards are presented in Table 5.6.

Table 5.6: Estimated numbers of state wards^(a)

State	Time Period	No. of state wards
New South Wales	1900-1975	100 000
Victoria	1928-2003	59 000
Western Australia	1920-2003	56 000

^(a) Other states = no reliable data

5.19 In NSW, Victoria, and Western Australia alone there were probably over 215 000 state wards during the course of the 20^th century. Other States' data also indicates significant numbers of wards in these States.

Children who were not state wards

5.20 As discussed, not all children in institutional care were state wards. CLAN described the children who were not state wards, probably at least half of all children in care in the 20^th century, as inhabiting 'a statistical limbo'.

5.21 In addition to state wards, children were placed in institutional care voluntarily by parents who felt unable to care for them, some children had disabilities which led to them being placed in care and some young people in care were offenders who were detained in institutions. These children only became state wards in certain circumstances. The proportion of children who became wards changed along with policy and legislative changes.

5.22 In NSW, in 1961 the number of children in non-government homes, most of whom were not state wards, was 3 890, comparable to the 3 893 in that year in government-run homes. CLAN estimates that in NSW there were 100 000 state wards and possibly a similar number of non-wards from 1900 to 1975 and based on these estimates could - 'arrive at a figure of 200 000 children growing up in care in NSW in the 20^th century'.[787]

5.23 The Victorian Government stated that in 1928-1970s there were large numbers of children placed in care voluntarily by their parents, who did not become state wards in that State.

In the period 1949 to 1954 there were at least 1,900 children in children's homes who were not wards at any one time, compared to 1,100 state wards in the same children's homes. It is not known how many of these 1,900 children went on to become state wards, and it is not known whether periods of time in care were similar for both groups.[788]

5.24 These figures clearly show that at least for certain periods of time it is known that there were about the same number of children who were not state wards as there were state wards in care.

5.25 CLAN argued that if NSW and Victoria between them account for around 300 000 children, both state wards and others, then 'we could perhaps assume that the number of children we are talking about...is at least 400 000 and perhaps close to half a million' nationally.

Total numbers in care

Table 5.7: Estimated numbers in care[789]

State	Time Period	Nos. in care
New South Wales	1900-1975	200 000
Victoria	1928-2003	100 000
Queensland	1900s-1970s	72 000
Western Australia	1920-2003	56 000[790]
South Australia	1900s-1980s	150 000
Tasmania	1900s-1960s	16 000

Numbers of children in care by church/agency

5.26 Limited data on numbers of children in institutions operated by churches and agencies is available from which it appears that the Catholic Church, the Salvation Army and Barnardos were the major churches/agencies providing institutional care.

5.27 Catholic religious orders had very substantial numbers of children in their care. MacKillop Family Services' database covers approximately 115 000 individual client records relating to more than 12 500 mothers and 63 159 children who were in Catholic orphanages and homes operated in Victoria by the Christian Brothers, Sisters of Mercy and Sisters of St Joseph from 1857 until the 1990s. An additional number of children were placed with foster care services, family group homes and smaller residential care units which operated from the closure of the original homes until the formation of MacKillops.[791] These large numbers do not represent the total number of children in the many other Catholic orphanages in Victoria.[792]

5.28 Catholic religious orders in other States had large numbers of children in their care. Some data on Catholic orphanages in NSW and Western Australia shows that large numbers of children were in Catholic orphanages in the 19^th and 20^th centuries.

Table 5.8: Numbers of children in care

Church/Agency	Time Period	Numbers
Catholic Church[793]
Salvation Army	1950-1979	30 0002
Barnardos	1920s-	30 0003
Burnside	1911-	11 0004
Wesley Mission	1893-	8-10 0005
United Protestant Association	1938-1980s	3 3006
UnitingCare Victoria & Tasmania (Methodist/Presbyterian)		n.a.7
Anglican Church		n.a.

n.a. = numbers not available

¹ CWA, personal communication, 2.8.04 ⁵ Submission 178, p.ii.

² Submission 46, Supp. Info, 8.6.04 ⁶ Submission 30, p.1.

³ Submission 37, p.2. ⁷ Submission 52, p.4.

⁴ Submission 59, p.5.

5.29 Compared with some of the other Churches, the Methodist and Presbyterian Churches had less involvement in institutional care, although data is very limited. For example Mofflyn (WA) provided a figure of 250 children, based on selected years.[794]

5.30 The Committee is concerned that the Catholic Church has no overall estimates of numbers of children under its care and the Salvation Army's figures relate only to the second half of the 20^th century. The Committee, while recognising resource constraints in these periods, also believes that some of the smaller care providers should have better data if only because the smaller numbers in care would have entailed less onerous record keeping.

5.31 Information in Table 5.9 shows that while Australian State legislation to deal with out-of-home care children had a similar intent, that is, to allow government intervention in placing children in some type of care, its actual effects varied from one State to another and the types of care utilised for children varied significantly among the States.

Although the legislation was remarkably similar in its intention, the system which established it varied, as did the proportion of children swept into the net.[795]

5.32 The Committee was able to locate information from a range of sources regarding particular institutions and orphanages and has consolidated this into Tables 5.10 and 5.11.

Numbers of orphanages

5.33 It is also difficult to determine the number of orphanages that operated nationally. CLAN estimated that in NSW there were approximately 300 homes in 1956, though this figure only includes homes that took children under the age of 7 years because they had to be licensed.[796]

5.34 In Queensland, the Forde Inquiry stated that 150 orphanages and detention centres operated from the early 1900s to the 1990s.[797] In Victoria there were 63 non-government and several government children's homes in operation in 1962-64.[798]

Conclusion

5.35 The Committee believes that possibly upwards of 500 000 children have been placed in institutional care in the last century. Data for Victoria and Western Australia - which is the most comprehensive of the various States' data - indicates that there were some 100 000 children in institutional care in Victoria in the 20^th century (including state wards and non-wards) and over 56 000 in Western Australia (including wards and some non-wards). Large numbers of children were also placed in institutional care in NSW (possibly 100 000 state wards and a similar number of non-wards), 72 000 children in Queensland up to the 1970s with lesser numbers in South Australia and Tasmania. Because of data limitations it is more difficult to establish numbers of children in care in States other than Victoria, NSW and Western Australia.

5.36 The Committee considers that much more work is needed to establish more precise information on the numbers of children placed in institutional care during the 20^th century in all States, especially in States where the data are most deficient.

Table 5.9: Children in institutional and other forms of care

	New South Wales			Victoria			Queensland			South Australia			Western Australia			Tasmania
	Inst care	Other care	% pop <15	Inst care	Other care	% pop <15	Inst care	Other care	% pop <15	Inst care	Other care	% pop <15	Inst care	Other care	% pop <15	Inst care	Other care	% pop <15
1900	1410	3844	1.1	1762	4893	1.6	783		0.4	182	1066	0.9				23	220	0.4
1905	1719	3800		2120	4762		925			212	1091					21	152
1910	1699	4390	1.2	2450	6414	2.2	886		0.4	198	1281	1.2	147	83	0.3	26	142	0.2
1915	2076	4880		2635	9685		1084			247	1487		177	151		32	220
1920	3238	4979	1.2	2332	12189	3.2	1113		0.4	229	1614	1.2				30	295	0.4
1925	4552	5577		2229	13590		1020			263	1510						352
1930	5092	5516		2617	17136		998			330	1024					24	366
1935	4941	4292	1.3	4584	11510	3.4	908		0.3	191	851	0.7				31	388	0.6
1940	4222	3877		5248	11592		155			208	874					30	379
1945		2772	0.4	4297		0.8				199	1060	0.8				31	226	0.3
1950		2604		3080						251	770					22	141
1955		2674	0.3							242	797	0.4				31	109	0.1

Source: Swain S, 'Derivative and indigenous in the history and historiography of child welfare in Australia', Children Australia, vol.26, No.4 2001, p.6.

Table 5.10: Victoria - Non-government children's homes and number of children 1962-64

Type and name of home	No. of children	Type and name of home	No. of children
Babies Homes		Girls' Homes
Alexandra	27	C. of E. Girls	39
Bethany	31	Abbotsford Convent	90
C. of E., Darling	31	Villa Maretta, Oakleigh	24
Berry St Foundling	40	Marillac House	89
Hartnett House	67	Nazareth House	110
Methodist Babies	32	St Agnes	28
Presbyterian Babies	42	Stanhope Legacy	27
St Gabriel's	27	S.A. Catherine Booth	60
St Joseph's, Broadmeadows	91	S.A. William Booth	51
St Joseph's, Kew	9	Pirra	27
The Haven	24
St Luke's	49
Total	470	Total	545
Boys' Homes		Mixed Homes
Blamey House	20	Andrew Kerr	37
Burwood Boys'	52	Antonian Institute	21
Gordon Boys'	46	Ballarat Orphanage	153
Hurlingham Carry On	18	Glastonbury	84
Kilmany Park	27	Harelands	27
Menzies Home	47	Kildonan	72
St Augustine's	126	Lutheran Children's	37
St Cuthbert's	24	Melbourne Orphanage	129
St John of God, Cheltenham	97	Orana	79
St John of God, Yarra View	54	Nazareth Boys	175
St Joseph's, Surrey Hills	71	Northcote School	64
St Paul's	38	Providence	26
St Vincent de Paul	144	Resurrection House	80
S.A. Bayswater, No.2	55	St Aidan's	115
S.A. Box Hill	120	St Anthony's	92
Tally Ho Boys' Village	89	St Catherine's	100
Hillside	38	St John's	82
		St Vincent's	121
		Salem	6
		S.A. Kardinia	42
		Sutherland Homes	63
		Victorian C.A.S.	39
		Sutton Grange	30
		Family Group Homes (all)	96
Total	1 066	Total	1 770
Total of All Homes			3 851

Source: Submission 173, p.15 (Victorian Government).

Table 5.11: Numbers of children in orphanages

Orphanage	Religious Order/Church	Time Period	Nos of Children
Victoria
St Augustine's, Newtown	Christian Brothers	1857-1939	4 825 1
St Augustine's, Highton	Christian Brothers	1939-1987	3 555 1
St Vincent de Paul's, South Melbourne	Christian Brothers	1857-1997	6 120 1
St Catherine's, Newtown	Sisters of Mercy	1862-1928	1 746 1
St Catherine's, Highton	Sisters of Mercy	1928-1975	1 786 1
St Vincent de Paul's, South Melbourne	Sisters of Mercy	1864-1966	5 317 1
St Vincent de Paul's, Black Rock	Sisters of Mercy	1966-1997	540 1
St Joseph's Foundling Home, Broadmeadows	Sisters of St Joseph	1901-1975	20 000 1 (mainly babies/toddlers)
St Joseph's Receiving Home, Carlton	Sisters of St Joseph	1906-1985	10 500 1 (mainly babies/toddlers)
St Anthony's, Kew	Sisters of St Joseph	1922-1975	3 240 1
St Joseph's, Surrey Hills	Sisters of St Joseph	1890-1980	5 530 1
Ballarat	Sisters of Nazareth	1889-1976	2 217 2
Sebastopol	Sisters of Nazareth	1906-1980	2 538 2
Camberwell	Sisters of Nazareth	1953-1975	420 2
Surrey Hills and Kew	Lutheran	1950-1972	600 3
New South Wales
St Magdalen's Retreat, Tempe	Good Samaritan Sisters	1877-1983	5 126 4 (women & children)
Manly Industrial School	Good Samaritan Sisters	1886-1910	1 469 4
Balmain Industrial/Vocational School	Good Samaritan Sisters	1910-1914	316 4
Mater Dei, Narellan	Good Samaritan Sisters	1910-1957	1 869 4
St Brigid's, Ryde	Sisters of Mercy	1902-1923	703 5

Western Australia
St Joseph's, Wembley	Sisters of Mercy	1957-1968	Average of 87 children each year 6
St Vincent's Foundling Home, Wembley	Sisters of Mercy	1957-1968	Average of 95 children each year 6
Geraldton	Sisters of Nazareth	1942-1977	1 152 6
Clontarf, Castledare, Tardun, Bindoon	Christian Brothers	1901-1983	4 000 7
Queensland
Nazareth House, Wynnum	Sisters of Nazareth	1926-1982	1 714 2
St Vincent's, Nudgee	Sisters of Mercy	1867-1970	10 500 8
St Joseph's, Neerkol	Sisters of Mercy	1880-1978	4 000 9

Sources: ¹ Submission 50, Additional Information, 22.6.04 (MacKillop Family Services).

² Submission 22, Additional Information, 2.4.04 (CLAN).

³ Submission 22, Additional Information, 21.7.04 (CLAN).

⁴ Submission 22, Additional Information, 13.5.04 (CLAN).

⁵ McGrath M, 'Catholic Orphanages 1890s-1950s', Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society, vol.77, October 1991, p.26.

⁶ Submission 61, pp.5-6 (Mercy Community Services).

⁷ Submission 65, Appendix 1 (Christian Brothers).

⁸ Submission 22, Additional Information, 9.8.04 (CLAN).

⁹ Committee Hansard 12.3.04, pp.107-8.