And your petitioners humbly pray ...
150 years of petitions in Victoria
Mental Health & Disability
Lunatic Asylum 1858
Presented by Henry Langlands MP
Residents of the Melbourne suburb of Kew expressed their "astonishment and alarm" at plans to build a lunatic asylum in their local area in this petition. They claimed that the asylum would injuriously affect their lifestyle and property values. Despite their opposition, the Kew Asylum was opened in 1871.
PROV, VPRS 3253/P0, Unit 96
Click on image to read transcription.
Kew Cottages 2003
Presented by Andrew McIntosh MP
Kew Cottages opened in 1887. By 2001, as Kew Residential Services (KRS), it was the largest institution in Australia for the intellectually disabled, providing residential care for around 480 people on a 27-acre site.
In 2001, the State Government announced a major redevelopment of KRS, with plans to construct a private housing estate. The Government argued that large institutions such as KRS were the “least effective way to achieve a decent quality of life for people with an intellectual disability”.
Hundreds of Victorians, including families of long-term KRS residents, opposed the redevelopment. They attended protests and signed petitions such as this one, calling for residents of Kew Cottages to be “allowed to live in peace”.
The redevelopment of KRS went ahead and is due for completion by the end of 2006.
Original Papers, Parliament of Victoria
Click on image to read transcription.
Kew Lunatic Asylum, c. 1885-87 - La Trobe Picture Collection, State Library of Victoria
