Remembering the Horrors of Australia’s Orphanages

As Geelong becomes home to the second temporary home of the Australian National Orphanage Museum, there are hopes the Federal Government can help it secure a permanent home in Geelong.

The Museum has been moved from Sydney to its current home on McKillop Street in Geelong and houses hundreds of artefacts from Orphanages that operated up until the mid-1970s.

These include items such as cots, images, suitcases and dolls which were the prized possessions of many Orphans, also known as Care Leavers, who lived in what has been described as “hell holes”.

Leonie Sheedy is the co-founder and CEO of Care Leavers Australasia Network, she is in charge of the Museum and it’s artefacts.

She said life for Care Leavers was extremley hard after they were separated from their families.

“To be parentless and being raised with 100 plus other hurt children has a legacy that lasts a lifetime.” she said.

“The separation of children, the siblings... you weren’t allowed to talk to your brother, or the brother wasn’t put in the same home, or you weren’t allowed to speak to your sister because they were in a different dormitory,

You hardly saw your siblings... Children had their names changed; they were called a number.”

Leonie experienced this firsthand as she too, was a Care Leaver.

“I am one of seven Sheedy Children and I went into an Orphanage at three and I became a state ward about a couple of months later because the parent didn’t pay maintenance...didn’t pay the fees,”

“And so, we were automatically made state wards.”

“Out of those seven Sheedy children we went to a total of 26 Victorian orphanages,”

“My brother (Anthony), who is now deceased, went to nine orphanages plus a hospital.”

Leonie wonders if he had been treated better, how much different his life would have been.

“I found him after 40 years,” she said.

“He died at 69 having never had a birthday party in his whole life, he never married.”

Leonie’s story is one example of thousands of Australians who grew up in an Orphanage, some, in even worse situations.

That is why she wants to purchase a building to house a permanent museum and memorial.

Her goal is to buy the old Orphanage Asylum on McCurdy road in Herne Hill.

It was built in 1854 and at one point housed more than 100 children before the Orphanage moved to a new site in Belmont.

“There were 13 Orphanages or children’s homes in the Geelong and district, that’s the largest number of Orphanages outside a capital city of Australia. “ Leonie said.

She is hoping the Federal Government can pitch in and help out with the costs of buying the property and renovating it, which Leonie estimates could be in the millions of dollars.

“When Scott Morison, our Prime Minster, apologised last October (he) committed $2.5 million to a museum and a memorial,” she said.

“We are hoping to get the building up on McCurdy road with some of that funding.”

CLAN is also asking anyone who may have an artefact from an Orphanage to consider donating it to the museum, where it will be looked after and added to the growing collection.

CLAN can be contacted on 1800 008 774 or via www.clan.org.au

Images: Some of many artefacts from Orphanages across Australia on display at the second temporary Australian Orphanage Museum in Geelong (A. Spencer \ Geelong Broadcasters)