Collins Street Clinic history in brief
In 1952, Melbourne had two children’s mental health clinics: the Collins Street Clinic and the Children's Court Clinic. The Collins Street Clinic was a small unit in the middle of a house divided into four medical consulting rooms. The clinic opened during ordinary office hours only.
In 1956, the centre was renamed the Bouverie Clinic following its relocation from Collins Street, in the CBD of Melbourne to Bouverie Street, Carlton. In the mid 1970’s, The Bouverie Centre made the transition from a child psychiatric clinic to the first family therapy centre in Australia. In 1984, The Bouverie Centre moved to a new site in Parkville, and was re-named the Bouverie Family Therapy Centre.
In 1996, following the mainstreaming of mental health care, La Trobe University took over the management of The Bouverie Centre and added the subtitle Victoria’s Family Institute.
The Bouverie Centre now has over 40 staff, with clinical staff typically working across a number of different service areas including: clinical services in family therapy; academic award courses; professional development and research.
In 2007, The Bouverie Centre moved into a $5 million, state-government funded, purpose-built building in Gardiner Street, Brunswick.
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 & .
Sources
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.
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.
Patient histories (1947–90)
File; Temporary
Contents: Case histories of children and families patients who attended the centre as out-patients. These files give details of their treatment and progress at the centre. The files include the following details: first name and surname; address; examination and investigation details: psychiatric history: referral notes: clinical notes: observation notes: tests. The patient histories are arranged in numerical order by an imposed file numbering system.
Patient index cards (1947–90)
Card; Unappraised
Contents: Index cards giving summary details of patients treated at the centre. They also act as an index to client files. The index cards are arranged alphabetically by family name in three sequences according to year.
Reviewed 26 August 2016