Kingsbury Training Centre history in brief
In 1974, the Kingsbury Training Centre commenced as a residential institution catering for patients with an intellectual disability, located in the large Mont Park site in Bundoora (along with a number of other institutions).
The following extract from the Heritage Victoria website explains:
“The former Mont Park/Bundoora Psychiatric and Repatriation Hospitals Complex consisted of seven hospitals on a site of 185 hectares. The site comprising the Mont Park and Strathallen estates was consolidated by the Victorian government by purchase and transfer from the Closer Settlement Board in 1909. The Mont Park Hospital commenced in 1910 with the building of the Farm Workers Block (later part of Kingsbury Training Centre). In 1912 the landscape gardener Hugh Linaker was employed to layout the grounds of Mont Park and other State mental hospitals. The other hospitals were gradually split off from the Mont Park administration to form separate entities. These were the Macleod Repatriation Hospital (1915), the Bundoora Repatriation Hospital (1920), the Gresswell Sanatorium (1933), Larundel Mental Hospital (1938 opened 1951), the Plenty Mental Hospital (1963) and the Kingsbury Training Centre (1974).
Kingsbury was closed by 1996. In October 1997, the former residents of both Janefield and Kingsbury Training Centres whose support needs were assessed as high, we sent to purpose-built facilities, Plenty Residential Services – community residential houses.
The Department’s records listed in this guide also include many from Janefield Training Centre.
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. See Find & for more detail on the history of child welare in Australia.Sources
Janefield and Kingsbury Records Finding Aid – Compiled by Cathy Farrell, Department of Human Services, March 1997
Department of Human Services media release (21 October 1997)
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 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.Download Collection guide
Reviewed 23 September 2016