Australian
Screen

an NFSA website

Homes for Crippled Children (c.1940)

play Please note: this clip is silent
clip Collaroy Home education content clip 3

Original classification rating: not rated. This clip chosen to be G

Clip description

On the sunlit veranda of Collaroy Home, convalescing children are shown in their beds, tended by nursing staff. A young bedridden boy is covered by a sheet as he holds his books. The front of the home is visible as the Reverend Dobbinson and a nurse walk the grounds. Another view of the home’s veranda is seen and the Reverend Dobbinson talks to one of the children.

Curator’s notes

Dobbinson regularly visited convalescent children at the St Giles home in Tasmania (which he helped establish). His passionate support for children with disabilities, especially those affected by polio, was probably one of the motivations for making this film.