AGY-4178 | Royleston

Full description

Royleston, situated at 270 Glebe Road, Glebe, operated as a receiving depot for boys aged from 6 to 18 years of age, providing temporary dormitory accommodation for wards in transit. (1) Although stated to have been first occupied on 13 May 1924, with conveyance to the Crown completed on 11 July 1925 (2), Royleston is listed as having 19 residents, with 4 admissions and 3 discharges, on 5 April 1922. On 31 December 1923 there had been 229 admissions and 203 discharges, with 20 currently resident, and on 31 December 1924, there had been 392 admissions and 396 discharges, with 46 remaining in residence. (3)

From mid 1935 to mid 1936, there had been 685 admissions and 676 discharges, increasing to 904 admissions over the next 12 months, 48 remaining after discharges. (4) By 1951 the majority of those admitted were aged between 6 to 10 years. (5)

Following the establishment of a school at the premises, with a special school building provided, a Teacher in Charge was appointed on 17 January 1936, with manual training given by a visiting teacher. In 1939 additions to the school provided increased facilities for manual work (6), but by the end of 1980 the school had been closed. (7)

A decline in the number of foster homes available resulted in over-crowding at establishments and depots where children awaited placement, and in 1973 a teamwork approach, consisting of regular case conferences conducted by the placement officer, psychologist, manager, and periodically an Executive Officer of the Child Welfare and Social Welfare Division, assessed the boys at Royleston. Their combined assessments assisted in determining the ultimate placement of the child concerned and in formulating a long-term plan of care – whether in an establishment, in foster care or with natural parents. (8) In 1973 Royleston receiving depot provided temporary accommodation to 43 residents awaiting placement in foster homes, transfer to other establishments, or in transit from foster homes to hospitals or other foster homes. (9)

Royleston was closed as a residential care unit for children and adolescents in 1983. The premises were refurbished and reopened in May 1984 as a District Officer Training Centre. (10)

Endnotes
1. Brian Boyle, The Child Welfare Schools, p.264.
2. ibid.
3. Child Welfare Department, Report on the work of 1921-22-23-24-25, in Parliamentary Papers 1926-27, Vol 1, p.672.
4. Brian Boyle, op. cit.
5. ibid, p.265.
6. ibid, p.264.
7. ibid, p.266.
8. Annual Report of the Department of Child Welfare and Social Welfare, for the year ended 30/6/1973, p.30.
9. ibid, p.58.
10. Brian Boyle, op. cit., p.267.