Female Wards 9 and 10 were part of the Kirkbride Complex at Callan Park, designed to house female patients under the moral therapy model of the late 19th century. Intended as a progressive approach, the reality soon became one of overcrowding and long-term institutionalization.
Many women confined here were not suffering from severe mental illness but conditions like postnatal depression, grief, or anxiety—symptoms often misunderstood by the medical practices of the time. The wards featured dormitory-style sleeping arrangements, treatment rooms, and internal courtyards, separated from the rest of the complex by administrative buildings.
Over the decades, as psychiatric care evolved, Female Wards 9 and 10 became relics of an outdated system. By the time Callan Park closed in 2008, these spaces had borne witness to both the progress and failures of mental health care in Australia.
Today, the abandoned wards remain largely intact, their aging walls and empty corridors serving as a haunting reminder of an era when mental illness was poorly understood, and institutionalization was often a life sentence.
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