AGY-6427 | Brush Farm Home, Eastwood

Full description

In July 1922 Brush Farm, Eastwood became a home for girls with intellectual disabilities, most of whom were State wards. The Brush Farm Estate had previously been a reformatory school for boys (1895-1912), and the Eastwood Home for Mothers and Babies (1915-1922).

Girls from May Villa at Dundas, then a home for mentally deficient children, were transferred to Brush Farm, (1) leaving May Villa as a boys home only. Brush Farm home was intended to provide children considered to be "feeble minded" with schooling using methods gleaned from Montessori and Kindergarten principles, and to provide some degree of vocational training. (2) Brush Farm Home continued to be a home for girls with intellectual disabilities until boys were admitted in 1978. (3)

A rebuilding programme was undertaken in the early part of the 1960s, with the intention of breaking away from the dormitory system that was by then considered outdated. Two new cottages, each accommodating 20 girls, and a new school were occupied by mid-1966, (4) and a further two cottages opened in January 1968. The latter cottages could accommodate 80 children under 12 years of age, cared for by married couples, who provided basic training in personal hygiene and self care. Girls aged 12-14 were accommodated in separate cottages under the care of assistant matrons, where household tasks were allocated to the girls to encourage greater self sufficiency. The new cottages had been intended to replace accommodation built in 1906 to house boys from NSS Sobraon, but ultimately the older accommodation had to be retained, despite its age and unsuitability, due to the increasing rate of intellectually handicapped girls in care. The dormitory and dining area accommodated 20 senior girls, who were given the opportunity to develop independence by being allocated daily programmes of work with minimal supervision. (5)

On 8 November 1968 Brush Farm Infants' Home opened in the grounds. (6) It accommodated 40 infants of both sexes and sometimes older children as well. (7) From August 1980 its function changed so it became a home for temporary residential care of disabled children, mainly for respite care when parents or foster parents needed a break or a holiday, as a temporary placement centre pending long term care or during family crises, and also for behaviour training. (8)

Brush Farm Home closed in 1988. The estate was purchased by the Department of Corrective Services, who re-opened it as the Brush Farm Corrective Services Academy on 1 May 1989. (9)

Endnotes
1. NRS 19708, Brush Farm Admission and Discharge Registers.
2. Report of the Work of the Child Welfare Department for Part of the Year 1921, and the Years of 1922, 1923, 1924 and 1925. p.10, in NSW Parliamentary Papers 1926-1927, Vol.1, p.669.
3. Department of Youth and Community Services Annual Report, Year ending 30 June 1978, p.66, in NSW Parliamentary Papers 1978-1979, Vol.5, p.1354.
4. Child Welfare Department, Annual Report 1966, p.21 (A5471).
5. Department of Child Welfare, Annual Report, year ending 30 June 1968, pp.16-17, in NSW Parliamentary Papers 1968-1969, Vol.1, p.372-373.
6. Department of Child Welfare, Annual Report, year ended 30 June 1969, p.9, in NSW Parliamentary Papers 1969-70-71, Vol. 1, p.719.
7. NRS 19728, Brush Farm Infants Home Admission and Discharge Registers.
8. NRS 19728, Brush Farm Infants Home Admission and Discharge Registers.
9. Department of Corrective Services, Annual Report, 1988-1989, p.15.