Karrala House (Training Home For Girls)

Karrala House was situated on the site of Ipswich Mental Hospital.

On the 18th January 1963, Karrala House (Training Home for Girls), was opened under the provisions of the State Children’s Act 1911 – 1955 and came under the jurisdiction of the State Children Department, not the Asylum.  It was operated by the State Government to accommodate “wayward” and “delinquent” girls.  It was located in a separate building from the rest of the Hospital.

The institution was closed in 1971 following the opening of a Remand and Assessment Centre for Girls at Wilson Youth Hospital.   At this time, the remaining girls at Karrala were transferred to Wilson Youth Hospital.  A total of 547 girls were to passed through Karrala before its closure.

The site became known as Challinor Centre in 1968 and was transformed into the Ipswich Campus of the University of Queensland which opened in 1999. The two buildings that constituted Karrala House, Byron House and Claire House, are preserved as Buildings 3 and 4, Ipswich Campus, University of Queensland. A memorial plaque dedicated to the residents of Karrala House is also situated on the Ipswich Campus.

For further information about this Home, please refer to Missing Pieces.