| Kalumburu (Drysdale River) |
| Years of Operation | 1907 - 1981 |
| Role Of Facility | Dormitory style residential care for boys and girls from an Indigenous background aged from infancy to around 16 years of age. |
| Sponsoring Agency | Benedictine Community of New Norcia (Benedictine monks and nuns worked at Kalumburu). |
Other facilities in
Signposts that are
related to the
Sponsoring Agency | See the entry “Benedictines” in the earlier section of Signposts, “Non-Government Agencies and their Subsidiary Institutions” |
| Address(es) | Pago, then Kalumburu, East Kimberley (formerly, Drysdale River) |
| Aliases | Drysdale River Mission |
| Brief History | The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies website shows Kalumburu being operational from 1907 to 1982. “A Piece of the Story”, the National Directory of Records of Catholic Organisations Caring for Children Separated from Families records the Drysdale River Mission being established at Pago in 1908 and moving to Kalumburu in 1936. In 1981, the Benedictines handed responsibility for Kalumburu to the Broome Diocese.
The Annual Report of the Department for Community Welfare in 1975 notes that Kalumburu received a Mission Grant in Aid for sewerage facilities and a pump.
When the Welstat (national welfare statistical collection) 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”. Kalumburu was defined by this category. 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 were not (detention) Institutions or Hostels.
Now an Aboriginal Community, Kalumburu is not used by the Department as a placement service, but children may be placed with foster parents who live in that community.. |
| Records | “A Piece of the Story”, the National Directory of Records of Catholic Organisations Caring for Children Separated from Families ( www.catholicsocialservices.org.au/publications ) indicates that some records are known to exist. These are held at the Archives at New Norcia, contact details below.
Departmental records for children placed by the Department of Community Welfare or the Department of Native Welfare may exist.
Additionally, the Department for Child Protection’s Aboriginal Index and the guide, “Looking West”, should be consulted for information.
According to the The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies website www.aiatsis.gov.au , the State Records Office in Western Australia “holds extensive records relating to missions.” Contact details are below. |
| Access | While access to records is restricted to protect the privacy of individuals, people are encouraged to enquire. |
| Contact Details | The Archivist, Benedictine Community of New Norcia
Holy Trinity Abbey, New Norcia WA 6509
Telephone: (08) 9654 8018
Facsimile: (08) 9654 8097
Email: archives@newnorcia.wa.edu.au
Freedom of Information
Department of Communities
Locked Bag 5000, Fremantle WA 6959
Telephone: (08) 6217 6888
Country free call: 1800 176 888
Email: foi@communities.wa.gov.au
Website: www.communities.wa.gov.au
For general information relating to missions:
State Records Office, Alexander Library Building
James St West Entrance
Perth WA 6000.
Search Centre: GroundFloor Mon-Fri:9.30am-4.30pm
Telephone: (08) 9427 3360
Facsimile: (08) 9427 3368
Email: sro@sro.wa.gov.au |
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