Footscray Hospital (Adoption Agency)

Footscray Hospital (Adoption Agency) history in brief

In 1921, a site in Gordon Street, Footscray, was bought with community funds raised to establish a hospital. In 1938, the Footscray Outpatients and Welfare Centre opened. In 1947, construction started on the Footscray and District Hospital, which opened in 1953.

In 1972, it was renamed as the Western General Hospital. In 1986 Western General Hospital amalgamated with Sunshine and District Hospital to form Maribyrnong Medical Centre.

1989, Maribyrnong Medical Centre was renamed the Western Hospital. In 1996, Western Hospital became part of Western Health Care Network and in 1997 further expansion created the North Western Health Care Network.

In 2000 the network was reduced and Western, Sunshine and Williamstown hospitals formed Western Health. In 2014 Western Hospital’s name reverted to Footscray Hospital but remained part of Western Health.

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 & Connect.

Sources

Western Health website, www.westernhealth.org.au, viewed 13 September 2016.

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.

Defunct Agency Adoption Records (Adoption Information Service) (1940–97)

File and Card; Unappraised

Content: The Adoption Act 1984 allowed approved agencies to arrange and negotiate the adoption of children. It also required that agencies keep certain records. If an agency’s approval or operations ceased, their records were to be forwarded to the Secretary of the Department.

The Act also required the Department to establish an adoption information service (AIS), with access to both records created by the Department and the records of the former approved agencies. The adoption records now held by the Department were created by as many as 30 different adoption agencies that were in operation at different times. After the AIS was formed, circa 1985, it gathered the records of the various former agencies, numbered the files sequentially with an “A” prefix and created a full index.

Other AIS unnumbered adoption files and card indexes were also transferred at a later date. The records management unit allocated these records different numbering systems to distinguish between the card indexes from the files. The categories of files were grouped by the adoption agency they related to and the function of the file. Some of the file sequences also hold an "A" prefix as adoption files. However, the numbering system is separate to the first collection transferred from the AIS.

Content of files will vary but may include.

Application to Adopt form

• Documents and correspondence supporting the application.
• Consent to Adopt and correspondence.
• Legal documents
• Birth certificates
• Photographs

Two types of records are attributed to the Footscray Hospital in the second transfer of records:

• Adoptive parent and birth parent files, number range A12701 to A12984, where the first three digits of the file number equate to the box number in which the file was located when transferred. Date range c.1956–77.
• Birth mother name card index, date range c.1956–77.

Western General Hospital, Hartnett House adoptions, child adoption register (1966–71)

Volume; Unappraised

Content: A single A5-sized volume containing entries in alphabetical sections by mothers’ names. Entries record information about the mothers of children proposed for adoption (and possibly placed) at Hartnett House. Information may include:

• mother’s name, address, date of birth, age, education, interests, condition and physical description
• father’s name, occupation, education, physical description
• date or expected date of birth of child
• comments
• attached correspondence, e.g., from doctors outlining the mothers’ circumstances.

Adoption files, Western General Hospital, Hartnett House adoptions, child files (1942–84)

Volume; Unappraised

Content: A single box containing files arranged alphabetically by children’s birth names. They document the placement of children for adoption and are described as relating to either the Western General Hospital or Hartnett House.

Consent to adoption orders (1942–44)

File; Unappraised

Content: This single file contains forms completed by mothers of infants to provide consent for an adoption order to be made for the child named in the form. Information includes: babies’ names, mothers’ names, addresses and signatures of witnesses.

The forms relate to children born at a number of different hospitals. The mothers’ addresses (and those of witnesses) indicate that the mothers were a mix of protestant and catholic.