The Westbrook Reformatory for Boys was a reformatory school in the town of Westbrook, in the Toowoomba Region, Queensland, in Australia. The Westbrook Reformatory was created in 1900 after the closure of earlier versions of the institution on the former prison hulk, the Proserpine, and at Lytton, Queensland. The Reformatory changed its name to the Westbrook Farm Home for Boys in 1919. Under this later name, it was the subject of a major scandal which culminated in a government inquiry. The institution was renamed twice more before its closure in 1994. Since its closure, the Westbrook institution has become known as a site of serious institutional abuse. It was described at length in the 1999 Forde Inquiry and the 2004 Forgotten Australians report.
The reformatory was located on the Toowoomba Athol Road (to the north), between the Westbrook Wyreema Road (to the West) and Althaus Road (to the east).
Early history
The Industrial and Reformatory Schools Act of 1865 was the first legislation created to allow youth justice institutions to be created in the colony of Queensland. The Act, which was based on the English Poor Laws, provided for two distinct forms of institution: reformatory schools, for children convicted of offences, and industrial schools, for children found to be neglected. The first institution created in Queensland under this legislation was the reformatory for boys on the former prison hulk, the Proserpine, in 1871. The institution was moored on the Brisbane River.
In February 1881, in part due to problems with the poor upkeep of the ship, the institution was moved to dry land at Signal Hill at Lytton, Queensland. Here, the institution shared space with the Queensland Defence Force. Historian Alan Savige writes that "[t]he boys were located in the middle of a military defensive position that could not hide the fact that it served a double purpose in restraining them while they were on dry land and provided easy surveillance of the Brisbane River mouth and the southern section of Moreton Bay." He describes the situation as similar to the famous Mettray Penal Colony in France, where the architecture made the purpose of the institution clear.
In 1889, after tensions arose between the military staff and the institution, the reformatory was moved temporarily to the site of the Diamantina Orphanage, named for Diamantina Bowen while new facilities were built at Westbrook. The institution at Westbrook was opened on 5 May 1900.
The Westbrook Reformatory for Boys
Between 5 May 1900 and 30 October 1919, the institution was known as the Westbrook Reformatory for Boys. Despite the name "reformatory," the institution held both boys convicted of criminal offences and those found to be neglected. This was a continuation of practices established as early as 1871, when the Proserpine was designated a reformatory without the government creating any industrial schools. As a result, between 1871 and 1900, around half of the boys sentenced to the institution were committed as "neglected," while most boys who had been sentenced as offenders were recorded as having committed minor offences such as larceny. At Westbrook, boys underwent a system of training for "moral reformation" which included formal education, agricultural labour, and apprenticeships through a system known as "hiring out."
In 1916, public concern began to increase about the conditions of the children in the reformatory, with the Home Secretary, the government official ultimately responsible for the institution, stating after a visit that "Westbrook is called a reformatory, but there is as much chance of reforming the inmates under existing conditions as there is of my developing wings." In response to these concerns, then-Superintendent, Walter Richmond, was replaced with Thomas Jones, former head of a state experimental farm. Under Jones, the institution further emphasised farming.
Westbrook Farm Home for Boys
From 1919 to 1966, the institution was known as the Westbrook Farm Home for Boys. This change of name was the result of Thomas Jones's insistence that a new name be created which better fit the agricultural ethos of the institution. Under this name, the institution became known for its excellence in agricultural outputs, including prize-winning entries in local and state-level agricultural contests. During the 1950s and 1960s, under the leadership of Superintendent Roy Golledge, the Farm Home was the site of considerable mistreatment and abuse. It was identified in the report of the 1999 Forde Inquiry as having had one of the worst cultures of abuse of any Queensland institutions for children.
