The Evolution of BUSHkids

From this........	To this

Our story – 75 years so far......

1935 was a time when the health needs of children living in bush communities were evident and they required a credible, practical and sustained response from the whole community.  The Governor of Qld Sir Leslie Orme Wilson was greatly concerned for their welfare and decided to act.  He reasoned that future generations would suffer more complex and pressing medical conditions unless something was done immediately – ‘intervention’ and ‘prevention’ were his working agenda.

What should or could be done?  What was possible within the resources available? 

It seemed a holiday home at the beach for access to city medical/surgical services and time for recuperation would do, in other words a project similar to that which had been established in New South Wales by the Reverend Stanley Drummond through his Far West Scheme. 

Who could lead the Project? 

The members of TOC H; they had the resources and the personnel, and had already tried a holiday program for a group of children in Torquay.  All was in place; it merely needed a committed group to pull resources and needs together.  That happened, at the Governor’s urging, at a meeting convened by the Lord Mayor of Brisbane in the City Hall on the night of Wednesday 6^th December 1935 – 75 years ago. The first home was opened in Scarborough on the Redcliffe peninsula.

In the following years Yeppoon (1937) and Hervey Bay (1938) were established.  At the end of the War, the use of the former army base at Rowes Bay, Townsville with its huts were purchased by the local Rotary Club and gifted to the Organisation as a place the children of the north and north–west could use as a Home. The framework was in place.  Eventually, the Homes were registered as hospitals and greatly supported by various Departments of Health.  The enduring support of the Red Cross Ladies Auxiliaries enabled the children to travel to and from the Homes. 

Services continued through the following years despite the polio epidemic and many other medical and social difficulties that arose.

Need for Change

Sensing the need to change its approach to services because of the changing health needs of the children, the Council of the Organisation began, in 1990, the establishment of family support services in some smaller rural communities such as Clermont and Miles.  They also started re-structuring services within the Homes from dormitory to family, or domestic settings, employing ‘House Parents’ to care for the children during their admissions.  Speech Pathology services had already been established, and were closely followed by Psychology and Occupational Therapy programs. 

The shift in focus from straight access to medical /surgical services had begun. This development was also impacted by changing Queensland Health service systems and priorities. In 1994, at a community meeting in Brisbane, following a consultation with families and service providers in the rural areas, the decision was taken to totally change the way services were delivered.  Child and Family Therapy Centres better suited to working with the emerging developmental and behavioural needs of children would replace the coastal home/hospitals.  Services would be offered by a multi-professional team and the focus would be ‘early intervention’.  The first of these Centres was opened in 1995 in Mount Isa, thereby offering services to a group of children who would formerly have used the Townsville Home.  Other community-based Centres followed.

The Centres

Redcliffe Centre closed its children’s residential programs in 1998 and relocated its family programs to Hayes Inlet at Clontarf. These programs functioned on that site till 2005 when all residential programs ceased. This completed the re-arrangement of services according to the framework developed as part of the strategic development of services set out in 1994. With this closure resources were put into two new rural centres - Warwick and Bundaberg.

Mount Isa Centre - Townsville Home was the first to close in the final months of 1994. In its place came the Mount Isa Centre. This Child and Family Therapy Centre began in 1995 working from the former Mt Isa Family Home that the Organistion owned in the city. With purchase of land on the corner of Trainor and Marian Streets, a new brick Centre was built and the service now had a permanent home on the main road into the city. Services continue from that location today. Click here to find out about the Mount Isa Centre of today.

Emerald Centre - Yeppoon Home was closed in 1995. The Emerald Centre and the service centre at Longreach which functioned out of the Longreach School of Distance Education were established. Longreach service closed in 2002 when CYMHS and RFDS established therapeutic services within the town. Emerald Centre has continued offering allied health services across the years and in 2001 moved into its present site in a former Child Care centre in Clermont Street. Click here to find out about the Emerald Centre of today.

Dalby Centre - The services for disabled children ceased at Hervey Bay Home in 1997 when all the clients had been relocated in response to changes in government policy. With the resources from the sale of that Home, Dalby Centre was established and opened its doors in 2000 with the services of a psychologist. The full team was established in the following years and they offered services to the surrounding communities of Miles, Chinchilla and Tara. Click here to find out about the Dalby Centre of today.

Inglewood Service - This service was established in 1990. It is the one remaining fully functioning service from the four, Inglewood, Miles, Clermont and Warwick, which began at the end of the 1980’s. These services were to offer support to families within their local setting. General health and parenting support programs are offered still from Inglewood Bush Children’s which functions out of the Inglewood Multipurpose Health Centre. Click here to find out about the Inglewood services  of today.

Warwick Centre began operations with a psychologist and a speech pathologist in 2006. The following year a full team began the work of building a client service to children of this town with outreach services to Inglewood, and Stanthorpe. The Centre was officially opened by the Governor of Queensland, Ms Penelope Wensley, AO in May 2009. Click here to find out about the Warwick Centre of today.

Bundaberg Centre began operations in 2006 when a psychologist began limited services to the area. The new Centre was officially opened by the Governor of Queensland, Ms Quentin Bryce, AO in 2007. A full therapy team is now in place. Click here to find out about the Bundaberg Centre of today.