| Laverton (Craiggie Street) Hostel |
| Years of Operation | From 1984 for an unknown period |
| Role Of Facility | Residential child care in a hostel setting for secondary school children. Originally, the hostel was built to provide both student and emergency care accommodation to a ratio of 7:3. |
| Sponsoring Agency | Departmental - predessors to the current Department for Child Protection. |
| Address(es) | Lot 476 Craiggie Street, Laverton |
| Aliases | Craiggie Street Hostel, possibly also known as “Raeside”. |
| Brief History | Although established in 1984, the purpose-built Laverton Hostel was following in the tradition of a service that had developed over some years. Education and employment hostels were operated by or in association with the Native Welfare Department mostly from the mid to late 1960s and early 1970s but came under the administration of the Community Welfare Department from 1972. For notes on a general history of these facilities, see the section on Hostels at the beginning of Signposts.
In 1983, the first mention of a “proposed” hostel at Laverton was made. (Annual Report of the Department for Community Welfare, June 30th 1983).
By 1984, the Laverton Hostel was established and operated under the auspices of the Goldfields Division, Kalgoorlie office of the Department as part of the Department’s policy to “continue to encourage students to study within their own communities wherever possible. The Laverton Hostel provides for those where there are no other education resources.” (Annual Report of the Department for Community Welfare, June 30th 1984).
By 1986, the hostel provided emergency child care services, “especially for pre-school children.” (Annual Report of the Department for Community Services, June 30th 1986).
In 1995, it was reported that the Laverton Hostel was no longer an education and employment hostel and had “become more closely aligned with the care and protection programme area. These hostels provide short to medium term accommodation primarily for children for whom fostering is not an immediate option. In the Goldfields area, hostels have also been used to address the special needs of petrol sniffers and offenders on remand with specific welfare needs.” It was also reported that Laverton had, up to 1995, been “part of an integrated programme to address the petrol sniffing problem in the Central Desert.” Two factors (the conversion to Avgas for Central Desert fuel supplies and the development of a Hostel service managed by the Ngaanyatjarra Council in the Central Reserves) impacted on the demand for services at Laverton. Its role at the time of review was a bail and transit facility for the Ministry of Justice. During the 1993/94 year, Laverton had 49 admissions (ranging in age from 0-6 to 18+ years, with only one non-Aboriginal admission), but its average occupancy was 1.5 children and there were 57 days with only one resident and a further 163 days with only one resident. Laverton township was also undergoing considerable change with the closure of nickel mines. (OHAC Cost Project, Department for Community Services, June 1995). |
| Records | Departmental records for children or young people placed by the Department or the Children’s Court may exist.
Additionally, the Department for Community Development’s Aboriginal Index and the guide, “Looking West”, should be consulted for information. |
| Access | While access to records is restricted to protect the privacy of individuals, people are encouraged to enquire. |
| Contact Details | 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 |
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