We hold historical records about children who were:

  • wards of the State.
  • in State-based care.
  • adopted.

For records about your own time in care, apply for access to restricted records through the Department for Child Protection.

The Find and Connect website may have information about non-government institutions.

Records of the Destitute Asylum are described separately.

Access conditions

Records of the State Children's Department are restricted from public access for 100 years to 31 December from the last year noted in the record (e.g. a record ending in June 1935 would be restricted to 31 December 2035 and publicly accessible from 1 January 2036). This is to protect sensitive personal information of children.

You may have a right to apply for access to restricted records.

Researching the records

This is an outline of the progress a child made through the state care system:

  • a child is committed to the care of the Department - often via a mandate (GRG29/121)
  • placed in an industrial school or reformatory - often Magill or Edwardstown (GRG27/9, GRG27/10, and others)
  • boarded out with a foster family - often recorded in GRG27/5
  • may be re-admitted to an industrial school and boarded out again, if the circumstances were unsatisfactory.

Staff can help with ordering individual case records.

The Boarding-out system

The main duty of the State Children's Council was the boarding-out system, which included the:

  • boarding-out (fostering) of children under thirteen years of age.
  • adoption of young children.
  • licensing to service of children over thirteen years of age.
  • apprenticeships to trades.
  • licensing of children on probation to their parents, who were proved to be respectable and worthy of trust.

In 1927, the State Children's Department and the Destitute Persons' Department combined to form the Children's Welfare and Public Relief Department.

In 1966, it became the Social Welfare Department.

Industrial Schools

The State Children's Council was established as An Act to amend ‘The Destitute Persons Act, 1881’ of 1886 (No. 387). It controlled the Industrial and Reformatory Schools and the boarding-out (fostering) of children.

According to the first Secretary of the State Children's Council the objective of the Council was ‘to take control of the “children of the street” and to train them to become virtuous, honest and useful citizens.’ (South Australian Parliamentary Paper No. 39A of 1887).

Children came to the Industrial Schools when they were considered:

  • deserted
  • orphaned
  • neglected.

Children remained in the Industrial School waiting to be placed with foster parents, in service or in an apprenticeship.

Children who committed an offence and placed in state care remained in the Industrial School before being sentenced to a reformatory.

The Girls Reformatory was located in the southern wing of the Magill Industrial School.

The Boys Reformatory was located on the Hulk Fitzjames, an out-of-service ship moored off Largs Bay.

Indexes and Digitised Records

The index provides information about how to access these records online.

Index to GRG 27/5 Ledgers of Children Boarded Out 1862-1913 arranged alphabetically by name of both the child and the person with whom placed.

Digitised records on FamilySearch - Ledgers of children boarded out from 1862 (GRG 27/5 units 1-9 covering open access period).

Index to GRG28/9 Admissions to Industrial School, Boys Reformatory School and Girls Reformatory School, 1862 to 1882 arranged alphabetically by surname of child.

Digitised records on Family Search

- Admissions to Industrial School, Boys Reformatory School and Girls Reformatory School GRG28/9

Register of admissions - Boys' Reformatory, Magill, 1877 to 1913 GRG29/110

Register of admissions to the Reformatory Hulk 'Fitzjames', 1879 to 1893 GRG28/12

Index to GRG 27/10 Register of admissions Industrial School Magill 1884-1893  This index is arranged alphabetically by surname.

You can also use a Keyword Search in ArchivesSearch

Register of admissions to the Industrial School, Magill and Edwardstown 1886-1929 GRG 27/9

For index, use a Keyword Search in ArchivesSearch for the open period.

Digitised records on FamilySearch - Register of admissions, Industrial School GRG27/9 and GRG27/10

This index is arranged alphabetically by the surname of the child.

Index to GRG 27/18 Register of children placed with licensed foster mothers 1902-1910

Register of applications for foster mothers' licences considered by the State Children's Council 1899-1910 (GRG 27/16)

This index records the name of the applicant, date they applied, page in the volume and their address.

Where the index shows a '+' symbol, the licence was granted and where it shows a '-' symbol the licence was refused or declined. A '*' symbol indicates a child.

Index to GRG 27/16 Licences granted to Foster Mothers 1900-1910 alphabetical by surname of applicant.

This index is arranged chronologically by year. It also contains information about the Department and its business.

Index to GRG 27/1 Correspondence of the State Children's Department 1887-1899

For the period before 1891 many files are missing.

See index for further instructions about how to access these files.

Index to GRG27/4 Applications for the release to State Children, 1914-1920

The index provides information about how to access these records online.

Index to GRS 3822 Nominal list of orphan and deserted children taken out of the Destitute Asylum 1855 - 1861

Page last updated: 20 April 2023