Our History

– 150 years of history at The Royal Children’s Hospital –

A concise and chronological record of the rich and diverse 150-year history of The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH).
Please feel free to scroll through all 150 years or easily filter information via categories or tags.

The historical images have been sourced from the RCH Archives and Collections, unless stated otherwise.
Images have been chosen to illustrate the subject matter and may not necessarily reflect the date of the event.

The RCH has produced such an immense amount of groundbreaking achievements and we cannot assume to have captured them all here.
Do you think an achievement, person, or event is missing? Please send your suggestion to: archives@rch.org.au. We hope you enjoy exploring!

Showing Events Tagged with: play therapy

1936
Ruth Drake
Drake initiated services that became known as Speech Therapy, Audiology, and Psychotherapy. She introduced the hospital to the concept of ‘play therapy’. She was with the hospital until 1964.
Departments and Campuses People
1930-1939 allied health audiology Carlton innovation play therapy The Children’s Hospital women
1977
Play Therapy Program Instigated
Fiona Anderson was head-hunted from Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital to develop the programme.
Departments and Campuses
1970-1979 allied health innovation Parkville play therapy The Royal Children’s Hospital
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