South Australia

Convent of the Good Shepherd

‘The Pines’
Drawn from Annual report of the Children’s Welfare and Public Relief Board, 1944,p.4
GENERAL INFORMATION
Years of operation: 1941-1974
Also known as: The Pines
Home of the Good Shepherd
Run by: The Catholic Church – Order of the Good Shepherd Sisters under the control of the Children’s Welfare and Public Relief Board and its successors
Address: 336 Marion Road, Plympton, South Australia

*"Girls committed to this home are accommodated in good wholesome
surroundings, and keen interest is taken in their welfare by the matron
and staff. During the week days the girls are fully occupied with various
phases of laundry work, and their leisure hours are carefully provided
for by means of concerts and other features."

"The official '  sanitized HISTORY

In 1941 the Good Shepherd Sisters were asked by the Archbishop of Adelaide to establish a home in Adelaide for teenage girls with ‘behavioural problems’. The convent was established in a large home in Plympton called The Pines, originally owned by the John Martin family. Set on nineteen acres of grounds, it was remodelled to accommodate up to eighty children. Many of the girls admitted to the home were under the care of the Children’s Welfare Department, although the Good Shepherd sisters did also take in girls who were not wards of the State.
Three sisters originally ran the home. Later they were joined by five more as the number of girls increased. The first seven children to be placed in the home were transferred from the care of the Sistersof St Joseph, when their home for Catholic girls at Parkside closed in January 1943. In the late 1960s institutional-style dormitory accommodation was replaced by smaller group care. In1974 a decision was taken to phase out residential care due to the increasing complexity of referrals and the limitations of large institutional buildings.

*Source: The "official"history drawn from various historical information provided
by the Good Shepherd Sisters, Abbotsford, Victoria.