| St Joseph’s Hostel, Derby |
| Years of Operation | 1958 - 1986 (The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies website www.aiatsis.gov.au reported that St Joseph’s Hostel in Derby continued to operate in 2004, but was not specific about its purpose). |
| Role Of Facility | Boarding facility for secondary school age boys and girls from Indigenous backgrounds. |
| Sponsoring Agency | Society of the Catholic Apostolate (Pallottines) |
Other facilities in
Signposts that are
related to the
Sponsoring Agency | See the entry “Pallottines” in the earlier section of Signposts, “Non-Government Agencies and their Subsidiary Institutions” |
| Address(es) | Derby |
| Brief History | “A Piece of the Story”, the National Directory of Records of Catholic Organisations Caring for Children Separated from Families ( www.catholicsocialservices.org.au/storage/A%20Piece%20of%20the%20Story.pdf ) records that St Joseph’s Hostel was “established in 1958 by the Archdiocese of Broome. It was operated on a day to day basis by the Priests and Brothers of the Society of the Catholic Apostalates (Pallottines) with the assistance of Lay Missionaries”. For more information about the Pallottines, see the entry for the Pallottine Centre, Rossmoyne in Signposts.
Children in whom the Department had a interest were recorded as being placed at St Joseph’s from the late 1950’s, and St Joseph’s was mentioned in the Annual reports prior to the handover of education and employment hostels from the Native Welfare Department in 1972, though it was not listed among the Department’s education hostels after that date.
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.
St Joseph’s Hostel continued to have some relationship with the Department in 1991 as it could purchase stores through Departmental accounts. Payments were recouped later. (Annual Report of the Department for Community Services, June 30th 1991).
A limited chronology of St Joseph’s Hostel, including admissions and discharges, is included in Table 42. |
| Records | 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.
The Pallottines may be a good source of information about records. |
| Access | While access to records is restricted to protect the privacy of individuals, people are encouraged to enquire. |
| Contact Details | For information about personal records:
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
The Archivist, Pallottines Centre
60 Fifth Ave, Rossmoyne WA 6148
Telephone: (08) 9354 0208
Facsimile: (08) 9457 0344
Email: archives@pallottine.org.au
Web: www.pallottine.org.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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