Liaison and Advocacy Unit history in brief
The Liaison and Advocacy Unit within the Practice Quality Branch was established by the Department of Community Welfare Services, later Community Services Victoria.
The unit advocated for the rights of children and young people living in institutions, and maintain pressure on the department to ensure quality client service.
The unit was part of the central departmental administration, but each residential facility had a Liaison and Advocacy Officer to work with the institution’s residents, such as the Allambie Reception Centre, Winlaton and Turana Youth Training Centres.
The Liaison and Advocacy Officers acted as departmental ‘watchdogs’ with responsibility for appraising internal procedures and programs within reception centres and youth training centres, advocating for young people, and ensuring that their legal and civil rights were upheld. They liaised with external officials from the Children’s Court and other bodies, as well as departmental and institutional staff.
In July 1990, the Liaison and Advocacy Unit, then part of Community Services Victoria, was disbanded.
Warning about distressing information
This guide contains information that some people may find distressing. If you experienced abuse as a child or young person in an institution mentioned in this guide, it may be a difficult reading experience. Guides may also contain references to previous views, policies and practices that are regrettable and do not reflect the current views, policies or practices of the department or the State of Victoria. If you find this content distressing, please consult with a support person either from the Department of Health and Human Services or another agency.
Disclaimer
Please note that the content of this administrative history is provided for general information only and does not purport to be comprehensive. The department does not guarantee the accuracy of this administrative history. For more information on the history of child welfare in Australia, see Find & .
Source
Administrative history files of the department.
List of records held by the department
For information relating to the central management of care leavers and wards of state, please consult the guide to Central department wardship and out-of-home care records. These collections date back to the 1860s and include ward registers, index cards and ward files.
Officer in Charge of the Liaison and Advocacy Unit subject files (1980-90)
File; Permanent (Unappraised)
Contents: This series comprises the remnants of a filing system from the Officer in Charge of the Liaison and Advocacy Unit, which was established within the Practice Quality Branch of the Department of Community Welfare Services, later Community Services Victoria and the Department of Health and Community Services.
These records represent the central administration of the unit, and reporting process for the Liaison and Advocacy Unit Officers located at each reception and youth training centre.
The records therefore do not reflect a particular residential institution, but rather the development of policy and procedures at the departmental level that affected the officers deployed to the respective institutions.
The file subjects reflect the central issues, including the role of the unit and liaison with other government departments. File titles include:
- Intellectual Disability Services
- Children’s Services
- Magistrates and Clerks
- Human Rights Working Group etc.
Both boxes of files hold the same subject category and part file numbering system. The files are arranged by subject with several having multiple part files, for example, the Advocacy Working Group is 5.25
Reviewed 26 August 2016