A thematic heritage study on australia’s benevolent and other care institutions thematic Study

introduction

The Department of the Environment has commissioned a thematic heritage study focusing on the topic of benevolent and other care institutions. This topic is part of a wider thematic group called Nation Building which seeks to provide an understanding of Australia’s heritage in relation to historic processes which have helped shape and define our system of governance, public and private institutions and other distinctively Australian national characteristics.

The thematic essay is presented within the context of broad events and movements at national, colony and state level in Australia from1788–2001. Convict populations, gold rush immigration, economic depressions and war impacted on prevailing philosophies about welfare and the types of welfare services extended to the Australian population. The essay is organised into broad chronological periods in which prevailing ideas about welfare are examined, along with the impact these ideas had on the sorts of care offered to particular groups within Australian society.

IMAGE: The image below is a graphic picture of the National Heritage List classified into themes. For example 14.7% of the places listed on the National Heritage List are places which can be classified within the theme of Ancient Country.

In order to structure the essay, a framework grid was established (see Table 1 page 9–12). For each chronological period, the historical context, ideas about how welfare was provided, the main recipients and providers, the experience of welfare and a typology of places was provided. This has proved to be a useful tool, but also highlights the limitations of trying to place society’s major welfare shifts and changes in a chronological setting when the major ideas were often competing and overlapping.

IMAGE: Image shows a photo of some people entering the Great Hall, Parliament House, 2009. These people are coming to hear the national apology to the Forgotten Australians. Photo credit: George Serras, courtesy of the National Museum of Australia

Table 1. Thematic framework grid for history essay

	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
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 Provision (or lack of) for newly-arrived assisted and non-assisted immigrants	Aged Mentally ill Orphan and destitute children Delinquent children ‘Fallen’ women Aboriginal people (in some colonies) Immigrants ‘Deserving’ poor	Unemployed Homeless Elderly poor Children Destitute Mothers Aboriginal people	Children Single parents Aboriginal people Disabled	Recipients of welfare
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 provision during the period	Factories Outdoor relief Barracks Gaols (before other institutions were available) Missions	Female refuges Benevolent asylums Immigration depots/shelters Lunatic asylums Orphanages Industrial schools Reformatories Missions	The rise of the babies’ home Institutionalised congregate care Women’s refuges Soup kitchens Free kindergartens Homeless shelters Missions	Often intangible, and difficult to attribute to specific heritage places Cottage homes Family group homes Single mothers’ shelters Missions	Often intangible, and difficult to attribute to specific heritage places Welfare benefits Public housing Refuges for victims of domestic violence