South Australian Hospitals Department (1940 - 1978)

Summary

The Hospitals Department was created out of the Inspector General of Hospitals Office (1914 - 1940) in 1940. In 1977 the Hospitals Department alongside the Department of Public Health (1951 - 1977) became part of the South Australian Health Commission (1977 - 2004). It appears that the Hospitals Department played a significant oversight role in the operation and regulation of hospitals and 'asylums' in the state of South Australia. Towards the end of the 1930s enquiries were held into the treatment of people in psychiatric institutions, then known as asylums. These included a prominent 1938 inquiry in Western Australia. It is possible the creation of the Hospitals Department (1940 - 1978) was at least in part a result of changing attitudes towards and understanding of psychiatry and mental health.

Details

The legislation relating to the formation of this department appears to be a 1939 amendment to the Mental Defectives Act 1913 a 1940 amendment to the Health Act 1935 - 1936 and the Public Services Act, 1936 -1938. There is also reference made to "Moseley's Royal Commission" presumably the 1938 Western Australian Royal Commission into the Heathcote Mental Reception Home and the Administration of Mental Hospitals Generally.

Related entries

Timeline

 1836 - 1914 South Australian Colonial Surgeons Office
       1914 - 1940 South Australian Inspector General of Hospitals Office
             1940 - 1978 South Australian Hospitals Department
                   1978 - 2008 South Australian Health Commission
                         2004 - 2012 South Australian Department of Health
                               2012 - 2018 South Australian Department of Health and Ageing
                                     2018 - South Australian Department of Health and Wellbeing

Published resources

Journal Articles

• Bell, Maureen, 'From the 1870s to the 1970s: the Changing Face of Public Psychiatry in South Australia', Australasian Psychiatry, 11 (1) (2003), 79-86. Details

Newspaper Articles

• 'Inspector General Of Hospitals: Department To Be Discontinued - A New Department To Be Formed', Northern Argus (1940), 5. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/97258507. Details

Reports

• Mosley, Henry Doyle, Report of the Royal Commissioner appointed to inquire into The Heathcote Mental Reception Home and the Administration of Mental Hospitals generally. (Perth, Western Australia: Parliament of Western Australia, 1938). Details

Resources

• Governor and Legislative Council of South Australia, The Mental Defectives Act 1913, Act 1913 No.1122, Legislation, Australasian Legal Information Institute (AUSTLII), 1913. https://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/sa/num_act/tmda1122o1913244.pdf. Details

Resource Sections

• 'GA83 Hospitals Department', in Agency Details, State Records of South Australia, State Records of South Australia. Details
• 'GRG78 Hospitals Department, and predecessors', in Agency Details, State Records of South Australia, State Records of South Australia. Details