When the Welstat definitions were applied
in 1979, there were a range of other facilities, operated either by the
Department or non-Government agencies, which were defined as “Other Homes for
Children”. Such a definition referred to “a residential child care
establishment that is mainly for children aged under 15 and/or still at school,
and that consists of either a single dwelling that is not a family group home,
or two or more dwellings that share cooking and eating facilities” and which
are not Institutions or Hostels. Many
facilities, including some of those calling themselves hostels, were captured
by this statistical definition, which included both missions and stations in
the outback.