Warminda Hostel

The Warminda Hostel in East Victoria Park was first established in the 1960s as part of efforts to provide accommodation for young Aboriginal people in Western Australia. The modern red-brick building was constructed in 1960 but it wasn’t until 1968 that the site became known as Warminda Hostel, operated by the Methodist Homes for Children.

 

The hostel was created under an agreement with the Department of Native Welfare, with the specific purpose of housing Aboriginal girls who were working in the Perth area. It was part of the broader assimilation policies of the time, aimed at integrating young Aboriginal women into the workforce and away from their home communities.

 

Expansion and Changing Role

In 1972, ownership of the hostel was formally transferred to the Department for Community Welfare, although the Methodist Homes for Children continued to manage the facility until 1977. By the mid-1970s, Warminda expanded its services to include both boys and girls, generally between the ages of 5 to 16 years old. Records from 1975 show that the average stay at the hostel was around one year, though it also accommodated children for shorter periods when necessary.

 

The hostel was primarily used to accommodate children who were Wards of the State, meaning those placed under the legal care of the government.

 

Facilities included a swimming pool, a basketball court and a house with one single bedroom and three shared bedrooms, which could each sleep several children.

 

Systemic Abuses

Many institutions in Western Australia that housed Wards of the State, particularly Aboriginal children, have been implicated in cases of mistreatment, neglect, and abuse, as documented in the Bringing Them Home Report (1997) and later inquiries like the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (2017).

 

Warminda, as a government and church-run facility for vulnerable children, especially during the 1960s–1980s, operated during a period when systemic failings were common in children’s institutions.

 

Later Operations and Closure

Following the creation of the Uniting Church in Australia in 1977, Warminda came under the management of the Uniting Church Child and Family Care Services, continuing to operate until 1984. After this, the Department for Community Welfare (later known as the Department of Justice from 1993) took over direct control. By this time, Warminda had shifted from a residential hostel for school-aged children to a community support hostel, providing care for children unable to return home or as a safer alternative to youth remand or incarceration.

 

Heritage Information

While the building is not formally listed on the State Register of Heritage Places, Warminda is recognised in community histories as part of the broader system of institutional care for Aboriginal children in Western Australia. Its operation ties into the story of the Stolen Generations, as many of the children placed there were forcibly removed from their families under government policy.

 

No recent heritage listing or conservation proposals for the Warminda building are available publicly and it appears the site remains vacant or repurposed, though further local council records may provide more detail on its current status.

 

Warminda Hostel is an example of how government and church groups ran children’s care facilities during the 20th century, especially for Aboriginal children. The history of Warminda reflects the changes in child welfare policies over the years. Today, the building and its story remain important because they help people understand the lasting impact of removing Aboriginal children from their families and placing them in institutions. The Department of Justice’s Education, Employment and Transitional Services now operates from Warminda Hostel.