Ngala

An early start

Ngala's history began in 1890 as The House of Mercy, a refuge and maternity home for young pregnant women. It later became known as the Alexandra Home for Women.

Strong social pressure and stigma on unmarried mothers to give up their babies resulted in many of the children born at home being placed in foster care or adopted. This practice continued until the 1980s. Ngala recognises the trauma that the era of forced adoptions caused for many families and we sincerely regret the role our organisation played in what we now know to be a harmful practice.

In 1949, the Alexandra Home for Women opened its first training facility in WA for Mothercraft nurses. It was named the Alexandra Home for Mothers and Babies and Mothercraft Training School and later renamed Ngala Mothercraft Home and Training Centre Inc.

The name Ngala comes from the Noongar Aboriginal language and means "we two, the duo between parents and children". The centre soon began offering training as a neonatal nurse (now known as paediatric nursing) for registered nurses and midwives.

A new direction

Ngala's first childcare centre opened in 1971 with places for 54 children. It was one of the few registered not-for-profit childcare centres in Perth and responded to the community's need for affordable childcare.

In the 1980s, Ngala shifted its focus to a family-centred approach and was no longer involved in out-of-home child care or maternal education. Paediatric nursing training was transferred to Curtin University in 1985.

100 years in service

In 1990, the Child Health Hotline was first operated by paediatric nurses outside of business hours. This laid the foundation for the Ngala Helpline (now known as the Ngala Parenting Line).

Exciting new insights into early brain development and perinatal mental health have emerged, which have been used to improve Ngala's services. We have taken a holistic approach to early education and support.

The move to the current premises in Kensington in 1995 marked a new phase of growth for the Ngala Family Resource Centre, as it was then known, with expansion into outer metropolitan and rural communities beginning with group and educational programs.

The 1990s also marked the beginning of Ngala's strong partnership approach. Our focus on working with the whole family, not just mothers and babies, enabled Ngala to advance father-involving practice in its early years with our Hey Dad program, now DadsWA.

2021 and beyond

Today, Ngala operates across Western Australia and continues to use the latest internal and external research and training, as well as stories and experiences from the community, to develop and deliver services that meet the needs of today's parents and children.

*Ngala sincerely regrets the trauma caused to parents, children and families by past adoption practices. You can read our apology statement here.