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NTRS 3757 Correspondence files relating to state children with 'SC' prefix

Recording Agency:	Welfare Branch (695); Welfare Division (696); Department of Community Development (562); Department of Health and Community Services [I] (570)
Date Range:	1952 - 1995
Access:	Agreement Pending
Location:	Darwin (NTAC)
Legacy Series Id:	F944

How to Use the Records

An index relating to client information contained in these files was completed in 2012. The date range of the series reflects the former practice of agency staff adding notes to files when they were withdrawn from the Northern Territory Archives Service to follow up on external enquiries.

Function / Content

This series consists of files relating to children who were under the supervision and/or control of the Director of Child Welfare, most of whom were described as a 'State Child', and includes State Children from the Northern Territory and other jurisdictions. A 'State Child' included a destitute child, neglected child, convicted child, or any child received into an institution to be apprenticed or placed out. Depending on the court order a child could be committed to care for any length of time up until the age of 17 years. The files contain correspondence associated with the provision of 'care' for children in a variety of circumstances relating to one or more of the following matters; Children's Court hearings and convictions, probation supervision, investigations into suspected child abuse and/or neglect, arrangements relating to the movement of children from or to other states for the purpose of relocation to interstate foster parents or transfer to welfare, medical, community or educational institutions, affiliation proceedings, and adoptions. Files may include pre-sentence reports prepared for the Children's Court, legal papers for adoption cases, case conference reports, extension or termination of care orders, social worker assessments, and medical, psychiatric and/or psychological reports. The Welfare of Children Ordinance 1958 established Children's Courts which referred any convicted child to be committed to the care of the Director of Child Welfare, or committed to the Juvenile Section of an adult prison (and transferred to the adult section at 17 years of age). Welfare Officers were responsible for the supervision of children on Good Behaviour Bonds. Some files relate to cases referred from Children's Court where a child was charged with being Neglected or Uncontrollable and committed to the care of the Director of Child Welfare. A number of files contain enquiries from other jurisdictions relating to transferring State Children, or other children

Recordkeeping System

Single number, with SC (State Child) prefix

Recording Agency

Period	Title	Agency Id
1955 - 1970	Welfare Branch	695
1970 - 1972	Welfare Division	696
1978 - 1987	Department of Community Development	562
1987 - 1995	Department of Health and Community Services [I]	570

Agency Responsible

Period	Title	Agency Id
1955 - 1970	Welfare Branch	695
1970 - 1972	Welfare Division	696
1978 - 1987	Department of Community Development	562
1987 - 1995	Department of Health and Community Services [I]	570
1995 - 2001	Territory Health Services	687
2001 - 2008	Department of Health and Community Services [II]	571
2016 - 2020	Territory Families	1291

Controlling Series

Period	Series	Series Id
952 - 1995	Master index to correspondence files relating to state children with 'SC' prefix [NTRS 3757]	NTRS 3768
1952 - 1995	Preservation copy of index to correspondence files relating to state children with 'SC' prefix [NTRS 3757]	NTRS 3769
1952 - 1995	Reference copy of index to correspondence files relating to state children with 'SC' prefix [NTRS 3757]	NTRS 3770

Related Series

Transfer Date	Series	Series Id
1952 - 1995	Correspondence files relating to alleviation of distress with 'A' prefix	NTRS 3690
1952 - 1995	Correspondence files relating to children with 'C' prefix	NTRS 3756
1956 - 1995	Correspondence files with 'SD' (Social Development) prefix	NTRS 3758
1952 - 1994	Correspondence files, annual single number	NTRS 3755
1969 - 1983	Dundas House admissions register	NTRS 3907
1977 - 1979	Dundas House report books	NTRS 3906
1978 - 1978	Dundas House treatment book	NTRS 3908
1952 - 1995	Fostering files with 'F' prefix	NTRS 3754
1969 - 1985	Register of children in state care and Register of children in foster care	NTRS 5023
1963 - 1980	Register relating to adoptions	NTRS 3883
1967 - 1980	Register relating to foster parents and children	NTRS 3882

Consignments

Consignment Id	Number of Units	Contents Date Range	Public Access	Description
P0001	50	1952 - 1995	Agreement Pending