Children's Court Clinic

Children's Court Clinic history in brief

In 1942, the Children’s Court Clinic was founded within the Law Department and operated in association with the Central Children’s Court in Melbourne.
It was a small-scale service that provided the court with clinical psychology services and assessments of children.

Over time, the Children's Court Clinic grew into a larger service that operated as the investigative arm of the Children's Court.

In 1943, the Victorian Government approved a full-time clinic for Children’s Court purposes to replace the existing part-time clinic. The clinic was to be under the control of the Department of Health and it was established in 1944 within the Maternal and Child Hygiene Branch.

The children were mostly referred from the court for examination and recommendation. Other clients were referred by their doctors or social agencies, and some were brought by their parents who had heard of the clinic.

The clients included both children in residential care at institutions like Winlaton and Turana, as well as children still living with their parents or guardians.

1944–45, the Children’s Court Clinic closed, due to wartime staff shortages. It appears to have re-opened in 1948.

In 2016, the Children’s Court Clinic is a state-wide service funded by the Department of Justice and Regulation. Its current functions are defined in s. 546(2) of the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005, to:

• make clinical assessments of children
• submit reports to courts and other bodies
• provide clinical services to children and their families.

Operating independently, the Children's Court Clinic undertakes assessments at the request of the Children's Court, and also assists the Magistrate's Court in dealing with child witnesses.

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 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 and Connect.

Sources

• The Children’s Court of Victoria, Website: www.childrenscourt.vic.gov.au
• Victoria Government gazette, 15 March 1944, p. 891
• Victoria Government gazette, 19 April 1944, p 1060
• Victoria government gazette, 28 June 1944, pp. 1604–05
• VPRS 6345/P0000/083-77 Organisation of Department of Health – Conference 6 1944 – Transfer of Psychiatric Clinic Childrens Court Clinic to the Mental Hygiene Branch
• VPRS 6345/P0000/095-82 Childrens Court Clinic – Transfer – Mental Hygiene Branch

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.

Children’s Court Clinic client case files - 1945–79 (sample only), 1950-2003, 1981–86

File; Temporary

Content: Children’s Court Clinic client case files. Children were referred to the Children’s Clinic for assessment (psychologist, social worker et cetera) and assistance, for example using an interpreter, prior to their court appearance.

The Children’s Court Clinic worked in association with the Central Children’s Court in Melbourne and started c.1948. The children were mostly referred from the court for examination and recommendation; other clients were referred by their doctors or social agencies; some clients were brought by their parents who had heard of the clinic.

The clients included both children in residential care at institutions like Winlaton and Turana, as well as children still living with their parents or guardians.

The functions of the Children’s Court Clinic were as follows:

• Children’s Court referrals – to assess, report on and treat juveniles referred by magistrates from metropolitan and country children’s courts throughout Victoria
• consultation service – to probation, parole and police departments
• private referrals – from community sources, provided that the proposed patient is an anti-social adolescent but has no police charges pending
• special services – patient and youth discussion groups, sex education courses, remedial education facilities et cetera
• youth training centres – provision of psychiatric services to Turana, Winlaton, Malmsbury and Langi Kal Kal Youth Training Centres and Baltara Child Centre.

The Children’s Court assessment files contain:

• psychological assessment summary
• psychological report / psychiatric report
• WAIS record form / WECHSLER scale for children / progressive matrices – IQ assessment and handwritten notes
• educational assessment form, for example Schonell arithmetic tests / ACER silent reading test – form C / sentence completions
• a pre-sentence report compiled by a regional social worker, providing detailed information about the trainee’s background and history of offences
• handwritten client history sheet from the residential centre containing family details and the date of admittance, of any absconding and of court appearance
• correspondence from doctors and psychiatrists
• correspondence from the department.

The files were originally registered with both annual single number and annual multiple number filing systems. They have since been arranged alphabetically in accordance with the subject’s family name.

Note: The original selection of Children’s Court Clinic files, dating from 1945 to 1979, was only a sample from a larger collection.

The records had been stored in loose bundles with a large amount of loose disordered papers separate from the files.
The files and loose pages were too disordered to reconstruct. Most of the collection was destroyed with only a small sample transferred into the department’s archives.

Children’s Court Clinic client case record books (1964–71)

Volume; Unappraised

Content: This series consists of Children’s Court Clinic client case record books. The clients included both children in residential care at institutions like Winlaton and Turana, as well as children still living with their parents or guardians. These volumes recorded each client who was referred to the Children’s Clinic for assessment (psychiatrist / social worker et cetera) and assistance, for example using an interpreter, prior to their court appearance.

The volumes record information on clients referred to the Children’s Court Clinic for assessment and assistance. The volumes detail: client name; client number; suburb of residence; charge; assessment details; determination of the court; dates of court sittings.

Information may include action taken by clinic staff, for example psychiatric examination. Volume entries in record books are chronological by court sittings.

Client medical treatment index cards (1964–71)

Card; Unappraised

Content: This series consists of Children’s Court Clinic client medical index cards for children who attended the clinic.

Some of the cards are for children resident at Allambie or Turana during the period. The cards are arranged in alphabetical order by family name.

Information in the cards includes name, address, year of birth, religion, whether Australian born, country of birth and year of arrival, school attended and standard achieved, next of kin details, dates of treatment and diagnosis.