Catholic Migrant Centre (1984 - )

The Catholic Migrant Centre has been crucial to the provision of support services to immigrants to Perth for over twenty years.

The Catholic Episcopal Migrqation and Welfare Association was set up shortly after the end of World War Two to assist Catholic Children from the United Kingdom, Ireland and Malta who had been brought to Western Australia without their parents. In 1970, the Catholic Family Welfare Bureau was established to monitor the placement of these kids in various institutions; by 1972 it had developed into a general counselling and welfare agency, receiving funding from the Department of Immigration, Local Government and Ethnic Affairs (DILGEA) to employ a dedicated migrant worker. In 1973, a separate Catholic Immigration Office was established, placed under the care of the Catholic Family Welfare Bureau.

The Ctholic Immigration Office grew and evolved, first changing its name to the Catholic Migrant Resource Centre and eventually becoming the Catholic Migrant Centre in 1984. In 1985 the Catholic Migrant Centre became an autonomous body accountable to the Western Australian Catholic Social Welfare Commission

Featured Organisation

• Being Seen And Heard: Migrant Women Organising In Australia, A Documentary History (2006 - )

Reports

• Scaramella, Maria, The Situation of Filipino Brides in the Northern Areas of Western Australia, Catholic Migrant Centre, Perth, Western Australia. [ Details... ]
• Vogels, Guido, Mail Order Brides: A West Australian Study on Filipino Australian Marriages, Catholic Migrant Centre, Perth, Western Australia, 1984. [ Details... ]