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Series VPRS 12513
Children's Court Register, Family Division
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Date Range: Series 1935 - cont
  Series in Custody 1935 - 2000
  Contents 1935 - 2000
Public Access: Closed
Location: North Melbourne
Format of Records: Physical
 
Agency which created this SeriesAgency which created this Series
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Date Range Agency Title Agency Number
1935 - cont Melbourne Children's Court VA 4190
Agency currently responsible for this SeriesAgency currently responsible for this Series
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Date Range Agency Title Agency Number
1935 - cont Melbourne Children's Court VA 4190
Description of this SeriesDescription of this Series
  • How to use the Records
    Cases were recorded in Children's Court Protection Application/Family Registers in chronological order by the date of hearing.

  • Function / Content
    Children's Courts were established in Victoria by the Children's Courts Act 1906. This Act came into operation on 1 December 1906. Children's Courts could sit at any place where a Court of Petty Sessions/Magistrates' Court sat.

    The 1906 Act and subsequent legislation required clerks of Children's Courts to keep a register of all cases and decisions of the court. The Acts also set out the form that the register should take. The Children's Court Register records the case number, the name of the informant or applicant, the name of the accused or defendant, his or her age or apparent age, how the defendant was brought to court (arrest warrant or summons), the court fees due, the nature of the information, charge or application, the court's decision and order and any remarks. The payment of fines or fees is often recorded in the remarks column.

    Essentially the cases referred to in these registers relate to Protection Applications or cases involving Irreconcilable Differences.

    These registers were separated from the Ordinary Registers (VPRS 12509) in 1935 to deal with the increasing number of Protection Applications made to the court. Originally these applications were known as Neglected Children Applications. In 1957 the title of these applications was changed to Protection Applications. In 1990 the title of the applications was again changed, this time to Family Applications.

  • Recordkeeping System
    Entries in the volumes were made in chronological order by the date the child came before the court and each case received a consecutive number. An annual single numbering system was usually used, thus the numbering sequence reverted to 1 at the beginning of each year. Most courts did not create a name index to children's court cases.

    The case number, allocated at the time of entry in the register, was also annotated onto all documents lodged with the court during the case. The documents were known as "process" and were placed together to create a case file. In most instances these files were destroyed about fifteen years after the completion of the case to which they related.
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Consignment Number Contents Date Range Public Access No. of Units
P0001 1973 - 1988 Closed 35
P0002 1935 - 1973 Closed 7
P0003 1988 - 1994 Closed 96
P0004 1995 - 2000 Closed 143
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