Organisation Kilmany Park Farm Home for Boys (1923 - 1978)

The Kilmany Park Farm Home for Boys in Sale, Gippsland, was purchased by the Presbyterian Church in 1923 and operated as a farm for boys from February 1924.

The goals of Kilmany Park are captured in the Presbyterian Messenger of 19 January 1923:

Every week our slum workers and mission preachers have brought before them boys that if they got away from present surroundings, would reform and grow into good citizens, but if left where they are in poverty and in a corrupting atmosphere, will sink from folly and petty delinquencies into utter criminality. They cannot be sent to ordinary farms till they are disciplined and brushed up, and taught enough about farming to make them useful and trustworthy£¼The idea of not just to provide labour for farms, but to make out of what may become waste human material valuable citizens for the state.

Many boys who had been at Kildonan's homes in North Melbourne and Burwood were sent at the age of 11 to Kilmany Park Farm Home for Boys in Sale in regional Victoria for training in farm work. A large number of Kildonan children moved to Kilmany Park in 1933/4.

In his memoirs, Better off in a home (1982), Bill Smith describes his experiences as a resident of Kilmany Park between 1929 and 1936. He documents the day-to-day of being in 'care', including the highlights of having an egg once a year on your birthday and butter on Sundays.

An historical guide developed by the Uniting Church in Australia describes Smith's account of Kilmany as 'a mix of real harshness and fear', but also describes the development of strong relationships with other children:

In spite of restrictions and severe punishments, everything became relative, and friendships partly compensated for the pleasures and love that many children enjoyed living in normal circumstances [p.152]

One former resident gave evidence to the 'Forgotten Australians' Inquiry about his time at Kilmany Park:

From Baltara I was sent to Kilmany Park in Sale ...When I did go to school and spoke to my family, and the home found out, I was constantly belted ...We showered together and our penises were measured. I was abused by the superintendent's son and, when I told the superintendent, I was constantly pulled out of bed … probably at about 11 o'clock at night … for telling lies, made to do a three or four-mile run, made to swim in a freezing cold swimming pool and sent back to bed … this was a Presbyterian home. We went to church every Sunday and were told of this God of love and understanding who was watching over us. I could not understand, because I thought: 'Jeez, what's happening? He's not watching over me.' I was told my mother was nothing but a drunken slut who had never been any good to me. I was given a foot up the bum and sent back to school … The abuse, sexual abuse and torture abuse that I suffered at Kilmany Park … No child should have to go through it.(para 2.128, pages 46-47)

In January 1956, Kilmany Park Farm Home for Boys was declared an approved children's home under the Children's Welfare Act 1954.

By the 1960s, Kilmany Park and its farm training program was seen by the State of Victoria as a valuable alternative to Turana in Melbourne.

However by the mid 1970s Kilmany's style of 'care' was not in keeping with government child welfare policies and the facility closed in 1978.

In 2005, the building was turned into 'bed and breakfast' accommodation.

Events

1923

Kilmany Park Farm Home for Boys is situated in Sale, Gippsland. Location: Sale

Books

• Georgeff, Diana, Delinquent Angel, The biography of poet Shelton Lea, who was adopted and later made a ward of the state, and being sent to Kilmany Park, Turana and other institutions in Victoria., Random House, 2007. Details
• Robinson, Marjorie, Kildonan: one hundred years of caring 1881-1981, The Council of the Uniting Church Kildonan Homes for Children, Camberwell, 1981. Details
• Smith, Bill, Better off in a Home, Bill Smith, 1982. Details

Reports

• 'Historical Details', This internally produced document provides details of the history of the organisation since 1881 up to the time of writing in 1997., Kildonan Uniting Care, 7 September 2007. Details
• UnitingCare Victoria and Tasmania, Uniting Church in Australia: agencies in Victoria delivering substitute care services, Updated April 2008. Details

Online Resources

• Victoria Government Gazette Online Archive 1836-1997, State Library of Victoria, 2009, http://gazette.slv.vic.gov.au/. Details
• Senate Community Affairs References Committee Secretariat, Parliament of Australia, Forgotten Australians: A report on Australians who experienced institutional or out-of-home care as children, Commonwealth of Australia, 2004, http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/clac_ctte/completed_inquiries/2004-07/inst_care/report/report.pdf. Details