The Dictionary of Sydney
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Health and Welfare Institutions
Refuges

Refuges

Subject

Forty years of the Elsie Refuge for Women and Children

Elsie

Judge's House Kent Street

Minnie

Refuge for Destitute Females

City Night Refuge and Soup Kitchen

Elsie Women's Refuge

House of the Good Shepherd Pitt Street

Matthew Talbot Hostel

Open All Night Refuge

Dakers, Jennifer

Summers, Anne

St Michael's Hostel

Swanton Lodge

Elsie Women's Refuge, Glebe 1974

Entrance to the All Night Refuge for Women and Children in Beauchamp Lane, Surry Hills March 1939

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Refuges

Forty years of the Elsie Refuge for Women and Children

Elsie Refuge, in Glebe, is an icon of Sydney feminism and Australian domestic violence services. Established in 1974 by Women's Liberation, it was the first refuge for women and children organised on feminist principles and was pivotal to the recognition of the social problem of domestic violence. In 2014, after changes to government funding arrangements, Elsie is no longer independently-run, but the story of the foundation of this pioneering service is a vital part of the history of Glebe, of Sydney, and of Australian feminism.

Elsie

Nineteenth century cottage owned by the Anglican church which was converted for use as a refuge for women.

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Judge's House Kent Street

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Elegant home at 531 Kent Street that was built for surveyor William Harper in 1827. It is the only example of an 1820s Colonial Georgian single storey bungalow to survive in the city. It was leased to the judge James Dowling from 1828 until 1831. In 1879 the house was sold to the City Night Refuge and Soup Kitchen trustees, who had been leasing the property since 1868. In the 1970s some of the outbuildings were demolished and the house sold to commercial owners and converted for use as a restaurant.

Minnie

Small cottage that, with its neighbour Elsie, was used as a women's refuge in 1974.

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Refuge for Destitute Females

Refuge established in Pitt Street by the Sydney Female Refuge Society in part of the old Carters Barracks in 1848 to assist prostitutes to abandon their work and learn needlework and laundering skills. A new building was completed for the refuge in 1871. In 1901 the building was resumed for Central Railway and the society moved to the refuge to St Peters.

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City Night Refuge and Soup Kitchen

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Shelter and soup kitchen established in 1868 at The Judge's House, in Kent Street by a group of businessmen. It was taken over by the Sydney City Mission in 1945.

Elsie Women's Refuge

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Refuge for women and children, the first in Australia, set up in disused houses by women's liberationists in 1974. A visit by Social Security Minister Bill Hayden shortly after it opened led to Elsie receiving Commonwealth funding.

House of the Good Shepherd Pitt Street

Refuge for destitute women which operated in part of the old Carter's Barracks in Pitt Street before the building was demolished for the new Central railway station. The refuge's work was continued at St Magdalene's Retreat House in Tempe.

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Matthew Talbot Hostel

Homeless men's hostel established by the St Vincent de Paul Society in 1938, which has functioned at various sites in Sydney, and is still a centre for services to the homeless.

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Open All Night Refuge

Refuge opened in 1884 to provide meals and beds for homeless women and children. The refuge opened at 403 Sussex Street but operated in many different locations until its closure in the 1950s.

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Dakers, Jennifer

Women's liberationist who sought to provide practical help to women and children who were victims of domestic violence.

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Summers, Anne

Feminist, editor and publisher who helped found the Women's Liberation Movement in Australia and began many practical initiatives to assist victims of domestic violence.

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