Alexandra Parade Clinic history in brief
Alexandra Parade Clinic 1960–?
Alexandra Parade Clinic opened in 1960 – the second mental health clinic the Victorian Government opened. A number of staff from the clinic also treated prisoners in the Pentridge Penal Clinic, which was helpful since Alexandra Parade Clinic also followed up with forensic patients from Pentridge or Fairlea (women’s prison) who needed continued assistance after discharge.
Alexandra Parade Clinic also:
- treated alcoholism. Patients self-referred (20 per cent); or were referred by GPs, social agencies, police, Alcoholics Anonymous.
- hosted Alcoholics Anonymous meetings
- followed up with former patients of the Royal Park, Sunbury, Larundel or other alcoholism treatment unit whose psychiatrists attended sessions at Alexandra Parade.
- supervised a hostel for nine people with alcohol addiction issues in crisis situations, i.e. post-discharge from Royal Park with nowhere to stay.
- had six casualty beds for overnight or day patients who experienced relapses.
- Liaised closely with probation officers, police, Social Welfare Department, Alcoholics Anonymous, the Alcoholism Foundation, the Parole Board, and Melbourne University’s Department of Criminology.
Alexandra Parade Clinic also housed the Personal Emergency Advisory Service providing a 24-hour contact service for people experiencing anxiety and distress. This was the first service of its kind, and arose from concern about numbers of suicides in the state.
The clinic also trained 130 volunteers, selected from 200 applicants.
Elizabeth Street Clinic 1970s, 1980s
After Alexandra Parade Clinic closed (date unknown), the Elizabeth Street Clinic assumed its responsibilities and continued for some years (1970s and 1980s) performing:
- general psychiatric treatment for adults
- psychiatric emergency treatment – a walk-in crisis service offering individual, group and family therapy
- community mental health services – various preventive, therapeutic and consultative services.
Appointments were preferred but not essential. Patients self-referred or were referred by local doctors and various agencies.
Ellery Clinic c.1986–current
Ellery Clinic developed in the late ‘80s from the Alexandra Parade and Elizabeth Street clinics.
Ellery Clinic operates as a Community Mental Health Service within Inner North Community Mental Health Services, also referred to as Region 6 (Inner North and North West Community Mental Health Services). Ellery Clinic will eventually be mainstreamed with Royal Melbourne Hospital.
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
Agency history is from the department’s collated histories.
Patient information
PLEASE NOTE: Patients could be admitted to a Receiving House for short-term treatment and care, but were not permitted to remain longer than two months.
Patients still needing treatment after two months could be sent to a Psychiatric Hospital, in the same institution/complex or another.
Hence, there could be more than one set of records for any one person. Please check each location for former patient records.
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.
Alexandra Parade; Elizabeth Street Clinic Case History Index Cards (1960–86)
Card; Unappraised
Content: These cards provide an index to the clinic's patient case histories for patients who attended the Alexandra Parade, Elizabeth Street Clinics. There is very little information on the cards except for the file number, the patient's name, date of birth and telephone number. Some cards have a UR number. The index cards are in alphabetical order and were compiled to provide access to the patient case histories (see below).
Alexandra Parade; Elizabeth Street Clinic patient case histories (1960–86)
File ; Temporary
Content: Case histories of patients attending either or both the Alexandra Parade or Elizabeth Street Clinics. These records give details of their treatment and progress.
Reviewed 10 August 2016