The building at 237 Cecil St South Melbourne was Victoria’s first purpose-built Catholic orphanage. Constructed from 1855 – 1857, it is one of the oldest remaining orphanage buildings in Australia. Today, the building is home to MacKillop Family Services, an organisation that continues to support children who are unable to live at home.
Please watch our welcome video below which explains some of our history and shows footage from our 2019 Open House Melbourne tour.
We recognise that orphanages, while an important part of Australia’s social history, in some circumstances failed to provide the care and protection children deserved, and this resulted in life-long suffering. We apologise to our former residents, and we would like to warn that the stories shared in our interactive tour and Q&As may be difficult for some to watch.
Take our virtual tour
This year’s Open House Melbourne tour is hosted on an interactive map. The map depicts the ground floor of the building. The upstairs mostly hosted the dormitories where the young boys slept. Today the space is used as workspaces, offices and meeting rooms.
We hope you enjoy the tour. Simply start at our entranceway and click on the pins in each section to reveal videos, photos and stories that provide an insight into both our social and architectural history.
Hear from those with a care experience
These two Q&As shine a light on how the experience of children and young people in state care has changed through the years. In John and Maureen’s Q&A, former resident of the orphanage, John Ellis shares his childhood experiences growing up in the building in the early 1950s. Tayla, in her Q&A, talks about her more recent experience growing up in out of home care.
Tayla
For all of her teenage years, Tayla lived in foster care or residential care. She frequently moved home and lived in the care of various different agencies before arriving at MacKillop when she was 15. Tayla shares her experiences of state care, and the impact it’s had on her life today in her interview with Sam Patterson, Community Engagement Director at MacKillop.
John and Maureen
John arrived at St Vincent’s Orphanage in 1948 when he was just 8 years of age. We first met John when he and Maureen reached out to arrange a visit of the former orphanage, seeking to return to his childhood home after almost 70 years had past. John shares his experiences growing up in the orphanage. Be sure to check out the photo of John and his family on their recent tour of the building in our interactive tour!
MacKillop Family Services relies on community support to work with children and families experiencing distress. To make a donation, please click on the button below.
What did you think of our virtual tour?
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