Organisational Structure and Location of Records
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- Transfer of Records
- Organisational Structure and Location of Records
Organisational Structure
The Australian Red Cross (ARC) organisation can be divided into three Agencies /or Parties:
- National Office (sometimes referred to as Head Office or Headquarters)
- Divisional Offices (e.g. State or Territory Divisions)
- Branches / Units (local groups, which were part of larger Regional groups)
About this Guide
This Guide is intended to direct Care Leavers, and their advocates, to the most relevant sources of information about Australia Red cross (ARC) run Hospitals and Homes. It provides detailed information about ARC records held at the University of Melbourne Archives, and links to ARC records held in interstate libraries and archives.
Please note: Australian Red Cross records at UMA contain no personal ‘case files’ relating to individual Care Leavers. These historic records are primarily adminstrative, relating to the management of Australian Red Cross homes and hospitals. Some of the types of records include: reports, minutes, administrative correspondence, admission numbers, staffing, financial expenditure, building plans as well as photographs of buildings and children. Amongst these are very small references to Care Leavers.
Location of Records of Australian Red Cross - National Office
Records which have relevance to Care Leavers are held at the
- Australian Red Cross Archives, Melbourne, and
- University of Melbourne Archives
It is important to note that Child Welfare, Social Welfare and the running of Hospitals & Homes were managed and administered by the Divisional level in each state & territory
See: Table 2: ‘Location of Australian Red Cross - Divisional Office records.’
However, there are several record series in the National Office records which contain records relating to Children’s Homes, from periods when the Divisional Offices reported back to National Office. See: Table 1: ‘Records of Australian Red Cross - National Office held by University of Melbourne Archives’
One series in particular is the‘Correspondence Files, National Headquarters' (2015.0033). When searching this series, it is important to be mindful that:
- These titles are historic. For example, there are 207 references to ‘Convalescent Homes.’ ‘Convalescent’ appears to be a term that is used to describe homes for rehabilitating soldiers, and at times (occasionally), also used for hospitalising and housing children, for example with Convalescent Home - Margate, QLD.
- Correspondence regarding homes, expenditure, staffing (and infrequently individuals) are at folio level (i.e. contained in individual pages), in this continuous file series and are consequently hard to locate. Manual searching is required by date.
- Names of homes may be listed under previous names, or the correspondence may not explicitly discuss children – so it can be difficult to discern (for a reader who is not familiar with the histories of these homes) which acted as children’s homes.
Table 1: Records of Australian Red Cross - National Office held by University of Melbourne Archives which relate to Care Leavers (as of 9 November 2020)
AUSTRALIAN RED CROSS | UMA SERIES NUMBER | SERIES TITLE | DATE RANGE | ARC PREVIOUS CONTROL NUMBER | FINDING AID LIST ONLINE |
NATIONAL OFFICE | 2015.0027 | 1914-2009 | NO13 | Yes | |
NATIONAL OFFICE | 2015.0028 | 1914-2002 | NO14 | Yes | |
NATIONAL OFFICE | 2015.0029 | 1914-2007 | NO26 | Yes | |
NATIONAL OFFICE | 2015.0033 | 1914-1995 | NO33 | Yes | |
NATIONAL OFFICE | 2016.0051 | PUBLICATIONS - JUNIOR RED CROSS AND AUSTRALIAN RED CROSS YOUTH | 1939-2010 | NO6 | Yes |
NATIONAL OFFICE | 2016.0054 | 1914-1998 | NO9 | Yes | |
NATIONAL OFFICE | 2016.0055 | 1914-2003 | NO11 | Yes | |
NATIONAL OFFICE | 2016.0058 | 1950-2002 | NO21 | Yes | |
NATIONAL OFFICE | 2016.0059 | 1940-2006 | NO22 | Yes | |
NATIONAL OFFICE | 2016.0060 | 1940-1997 | NO28 | Yes | |
NATIONAL OFFICE | 2016.0077 | c.1940-c.1970 | N/A | Yes | |
NATIONAL OFFICE | 2016.0081 | TBA | N/A | Yes |
Location of Records of Australian Red Cross – Divisional Offices
The records of Australian Red Cross – Divisional Offices (e.g. State & Territory) are held across many locations in Australia. Operational activities including Social Work and the management of Hospitals & Homes were administered at the Divisional level. Note that even if records have been transferred to the UMA, it may not be a complete or total transfer, and records relating to Child Welfare may still sit within the Divisional office.
Table 2: Location of Australian Red Cross Divisional Office Records (as of 9 November 2020)
AUSTRALIAN RED CROSS | RECORDS HAVE BEEN TRANSFERRED TO | LINK TO RECORDS DESCRIPTIONS |
Victorian Division | University of Melbourne Archives | Several series are relevant. See Table 3 of this document |
New South Wales Division | State Library of New South Wales | Archives of the Australian Red Cross Society, New South Wales Division, 1914-2014 Includes records and objects from ARC run children’s homes |
New South Wales Division | Index cards containing Admission details to Children’s homes in NSW (1950’s – 2010). This collection is neither complete, nor comprehensive; individuals are identified but often not the homes they were in. Further records to be documented | |
South Australian Division | State Library of South Australia | Australian Red Cross Society, South Australian Division, 1914-2011 |
Tasmanian Division | Libraries Tasmania - Tasmanian Archives & Heritage | |
Northern Territory Division | TBA | |
Western Australian Division | Western Australian Division Office | TBA |
Queensland Division | TBA | TBA |
Australian Capital Territory Division | TBA | TBA |
Papua New Guinea Division | University of Melbourne Archives | Papua New Guinea - Division Records, 1940-1997 Records created 1940-1947 during the time Papua New Guinea was a Territory of Australia |
Table 3: Records of Australian Red Cross – Victorian Division held by University of Melbourne Archives which relate to Care Leavers (as of 9 November 2020)
AUSTRALIAN RED CROSS | UMA SERIES NUMBER | SERIES TITLE | DATE RANGE | ARC PREVIOUS CONTROL NUMBER | ITEM LEVEL FINDING AID ONLINE |
VICTORIAN DIVISION | 2015.0026 | 1931-1998 | V61 | Yes | |
VICTORIAN DIVISION | 2016.0063 | 1914-2005 | V01 | Yes | |
VICTORIAN DIVISION | 2016.0066 | 1914-1999 | V09 | Yes | |
VICTORIAN DIVISION | 2016.0070 | 1938-1996 | V94 | Yes | |
VICTORIAN DIVISION | 2016.0071 | 1914-1999 | V99 | Yes | |
VICTORIAN DIVISION | 2016.0072 | 1940-1990 | V11 | Yes |
Each Australian Red Cross series at UMA has a detailed description and item level finding aid listing (pdf) published on the UMA online catalogue. Item descriptions are at a broad level.
As with the Correspondence Files, National Headquarters, The Victorian Division - Executive Office Correspondence (2015.0026) presents specific issues in searching the series:
- Correspondence regarding expenditure, staffing (and infrequently individuals) are at folio level (i.e. contained in individual pages), in this continuous file series and are consequently hard to locate. Manual searching is required by date.
- Names of homes may be listed under previous names, or the correspondence may not explicitly discuss children – so it can be difficult to discern (for a reader who is not familiar with the histories of these homes) which acted as children’s homes.
Here are some useful words to search, when using the Finding Aid listings:
- Child
- Children
- Home
- Hospital
- Convalescent Home
- Welfare Service
- Social Service
- Polio
- Property
- Name of home (e.g. Lady Dugan, Margate)
- Location of home (e.g. Cronulla, Malvern)
Additional Information on discovering records
Please note that several ARC Homes have had name changes over the years. The history of individual ARC Homes can be discovered at Find & Connect (either by name or location) https://www.findandconnect.gov.au/
For example, Find & Connect has an entry with the history of the Lady Dugan Red Cross Home (1946-1970). It indicates alternative names for this Home, e.g. Kooringa Convalescent Home.
The Australian Red Cross has published a list of Children's homes operated/managed by Red Cross. For example:
‘No records available’ in the example above refers to no records being held at the ARC Archives due to the transfer of records to UMA. For the example there are records held at UMA in the Victorian Division - Executive Office Correspondence (2015.0026).
Item Number | Item Title | Dates |
2015.0026.00702 | Homes: Lady Dugan - Committee Minutes | 1946-1963 |
2015.0026.00703 | Homes: Lady Dugan - Committee Minutes | 1964-1970 |
2015.0026.00704 | Homes: Lady Dugan - Correspondence (2 Folders) | 1950-1976 |
2015.0026.00705 | Homes: Lady Dugan - Correspondence | 1955-1963 |
Table: Example from UMA finding aid for 2015.0026 (Accessed 9 November 2020)
Additionally, in the NATIONAL OFFICE – PHOTOGRAPHS there are photographs of children at Lady Dugan Home (Item listing in progress).
Reference and Support Services
Care Leavers can request to view records directly through University of Melbourne Archives (UMA), or via a support service. archives@archives.unimelb.edu.au +61 3 9035 4337 +61 3 834 40590
Find out more via the UMA Child Welfare Records - Accessing Records page
ARC Archives offers a free reference service and may be able to assist in the discovery of records:privacy@redcross.org.au
Find & Connect Support Services provide extra services for Care Leavers and their families : https://www.findandconnect.gov.au/
Freecall 1800 16 11 09 Monday-Friday 9am-5pm