In the Shadow of

Progress

Treating Mental Health at Larundel

Mental Asylum in the Mid-Twentieth
Century

Matthew Micallef
18918968
 Matthew Micallef
18918968
Abstract methods that were in contrast to the
archaic treatments of the past.
Shrouded in mystery, intrigue and
speculation, the former Larundel Context of the Site
Mental Asylum stands as a Larundel Mental Asylum was
representation of an innovative and
established in 1938 as a means of
progressive phase in mental health
replacing the outdated Kew Mental
during the twentieth century. The
Asylum by creating a ‘less instituted’
structure’s history and purpose run
facility for the mentally ill. This
concurrently with changing societal
introduced an alternative to societal
views on mental health and acted as
norms of the period with Larundel
the testing grounds for experimental
acting as a smaller affiliate of the larger
application of ‘lithium carbonate as a
mood stabiliser’, pioneered by Dr John Mont Park Asylum3. After the

Cade in 19471. This medical construction was temporarily stopped

breakthrough paved the way for more due to World War Two, the site’s
‘wonder drugs’ to be introduced purpose was altered and discussed,
throughout the mid-twentieth century, with the primary functions being
with Larundel being at the forefront of between a ‘U.S military hospital’ or as a
treating and destigmatising mental ‘Children’s Welfare Depot’4. In 1946,
illness and health2. During the period of the site was provided to the Department
1945-1970, the site was expanded and
of Housing for ‘emergency housing’
improved further through the
with the ‘first civilian’ moving into the
introduction of alternative
repurposed site on 26 April 19465.
pharmaceutics and rehabilitative

1 3
Cassie May, ‘Lithium and lost souls’: the role of
Bundoora Homestead as a repatriation mental
hospital 1920-1993’, Provenance: The Journal of
Public Record Office Victoria, 14 (2015), para. 25,
https://prov.vic.gov.au/index.php/explore-
collection/provenance-journal/provenance-
2015/lithium-and-lost-souls#_ednref5, accessed 5
Oct. 2019.
2
Laurie Reed, ‘History of Psychiatric Care’, Mont
Park to Springthorpe [website], (2016)
<https://www.montparktospringthorpe.com/histo
ry-of-psychiatric-care/> para. 11, accessed 5 Oct.
2019.
Rachel Tsoumbakos, ‘The History of Larundel:
Part 1 (1938-1950)’, Word Press [website], (2012)
<https://racheltsoumbakos.wordpress.com/2012/
09/25/the-history-of-larundel-part-1-1938-1950/>
para.3, accessed 6 Oct. 2019.
4
Darebin Heritage, ‘Larundel Mental Asylum’,
Darebin Heritage [website], (2019)
<http://heritage.darebinlibraries.vic.gov.au/article
/328> para. 1, accessed 4 Oct. 2019.
5
Rachel Tsoumbakos, ‘The History of Larundel:
Part 1 (1938-1950)’, Word Press [website], (2012)
<https://racheltsoumbakos.wordpress.com/2012/
09/25/the-history-of-larundel-part-1-1938-1950/>
para.9, accessed 6 Oct. 2019.

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 Matthew Micallef
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At the peak of the relocation scheme, establishment under the direction of Dr
‘109 families’ resided on Larundel’s David Barlow, the chief psychiatrist
confides in 1948. In late 1949, the superintendent, who removed he walls
families were moved out of Larundel as surrounding the facility and began
‘thirty male patients’ were moved from ‘desegregating the male and female
Mont Park to Larundel due to wards’9.
overcrowding despite the site being
considered ‘unfinished’6. This aspect
highlighted the need for another mental
health facility to reelevate the patient
intake issues present at both Mont Park
and Bundoora Repatriation Hospital in
the region respectively. When Larundel
was formally opened as a mental
hospital in 1953, it had 387 patients with
a quarter of the population being
female7. In 1958, the site was formally
recognised on the ninth of June 1958 as
Larundel Mental Hospital in accordance
with the Land Act 1958, with three male
and three female ‘hospital blocks’ being Figure A. The proposed plan of Larundel
established8. The 1960s was a Mental Hospital Area10.

progressive period for the

6
Only Melbourne, ‘Larundel Mental Asylum’, Only
Melbourne [website], (2019)
<https://www.onlymelbourne.com.au/larundel-
mental-asylum>, accessed 6 Oct. 2019.
7
Darebin Heritage, ‘Larundel Mental Asylum’,
Darebin Heritage [website], (2019)
<http://heritage.darebinlibraries.vic.gov.au/article
/328> para. 3, accessed 4 Oct. 2019.
8 10
Victoria Government Gazette, ‘Land Act 1958 –
Area of Land Comprised in Certain Classes
Diminished or Increased’, Victorian Government
Gazette, 3 Jun. 1959, para.2,
<http://gazette.slv.vic.gov.au/images/1959/V/gen
eral/49.pdf>, accessed 6 Oct. 2019.
9
James Button, ‘Down the Rabbit Hole: A Closer
Look at Larundel’, Darebin Arts [website], (2018)
<https://www.darebinarts.com.au/wp-
content/uploads/2018/06/2018-335-City-Of-
Darebin-This-Place-Proof04-1.pdf>, para.13,
accessed 14 Oct. 2019.
Victorian Government Gazette, Plan of Larundel
Mental Asylum [image], (3 June 1959)
<http://gazette.slv.vic.gov.au/images/1959/V/gen
eral/49.pdf>, accessed 6 Oct. 2019.

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 Matthew Micallef
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Progression of Medicine Cade hypothesised that though the use
of ‘lithium citrate and lithium carbonate’,
Alongside the push for initial de-
both substances may have beneficial
institutionalisation of facilities during the
effects on patients suffering from
mid-twentieth century, progress was
‘mania’13. The experimental treatment
being made in the realm of psychiatry
was in stark contrast with the standard
as a means of integrating the mentally
remedies for mental disorders of the
ill back into society. Innovation was
period, predominantly being ‘full and
taking place at the neighbouring
sub-coma insulin therapy’,
Bundoora Repatriation Hospital by Dr
‘electroconvulsive therapy’; the use of
John Cade through the development of
various forms of ‘anaesthesia and
‘antipsychotic drugs’ which would
relaxants’, in addition to ‘pre-frontal
eliminate the need for ‘long-term
leucotomies’ or lobotomy as they are
hospitalisation’11. commonly referred to14. Summarily,
John Cade’s progress with lithium-
based treatments paved the way for
more pharmacologic remedies for
mental disorders to be implemented
throughout Larundel. Specifically,
drugs such as Largactil, Melleril,
Stelazine, Trilafon and Ritalin; allowed
Figure B. Dr John Cade, the pioneer of lithium-
based treatments for mentally ill patients12. for patients to be integrated into the
larger community, subsequently
removing the stigma attached to

11
Laurie Reed, ‘History of Psychiatric Care’, Mont
Park to Springthorpe [website], (2016)
<https://www.montparktospringthorpe.com/histo
ry-of-psychiatric-care/> para. 11, accessed 5 Oct.
2019.
12
Fairfax, Image of John Cade [image], (6 Oct.
2016)
<https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/
finding-sanity-review-how-john-cade-discovered-
the-benefits-of-lithium-20161006-grw5lt.html>,
accessed 10 Oct. 2019.
13
Edward Shorter, ‘The history of lithium therapy’,
Bipolar Disorder, 11 (2009), para.8,
<https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC
3712976/>, accessed 6 Oct. 2019.
14
Cassie May, ‘Lithium and lost souls’: the role of
Bundoora Homestead as a repatriation mental
hospital 1920-1993’, Provenance: The Journal of
Public Record Office Victoria, 14 (2015), para. 26,
<https://prov.vic.gov.au/index.php/explore-
collection/provenance-journal/provenance-
2015/lithium-and-lost-souls#_ednref5>, accessed
6 Oct. 2019.

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 Matthew Micallef
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individuals with mental incapacities.
Furthermore, it is in this period in which
the World Health Organisation’s Mental
Health Programme sought to ‘improve
the diagnosis and classification of
mental disorders’, leading to more Figure C. Larundel patients undertaking
accurate applications and treatments occupational therapy under supervision17.

being provided to the mentally ill15.

During these supervised workshops,
These developments demonstrate the
patients were able to work
shifting societal views of the mental
illness as a treatable condition rather collaboratively with their fellow patients

than an existential issue for these as they completed medial tasks like

individuals, with their treatments and ‘dismantling telephone, cleaning

reintegration into society being the second hand bricks, or packaging
main focus of mental facilities. manufactured goods’; subsequently

providing the patients with an income

Occupational Therapy
during their treatment18. Nurses were
In addition to the pharmaceutical
also instructed to encourage the
remedies prescribed to the patients of
integration aspects of occupational
Larundel, the use of ‘industrial
therapy to be ‘gender mixing of patients
workshops’ were implemented in order
and staff’ and wearing ‘civilian clothes’
to engage in structures tasks that
in an effort to ease the assimilation
contrasted their previously ‘dull and
process of discharged patients19.
restrictive lives’16.

15
World Health Organisation, ‘The ICD-10
Classification of Mental and Behavioural Disorders
– Clinical descriptions and diagnostic guidelines’,
World Health Organisation, (1983)
<https://www.who.int/classifications/icd/en/blue
book.pdf?ua=1>, para. 1, accessed 9 Oct. 2019.
16
Kathy Andrewartha, ‘Occupational Therapy and
Mental Health Hospitals – Mont Park and
Larundel’, Mont Park to Springthorpe [website],
(2016)
<https://www.montparktospringthorpe.com/occu
pational-therapy-and-mental-health-hospitals-
mont-park-and-larundel/> para. 10, accessed 7
Oct. 2019.
17
Larundel patients undertaking occupational
therapy under supervision [image], (2016)
<https://www.montparktospringthorpe.com/occu
pational-therapy-and-mental-health-hospitals-
mont-park-and-larundel/>, accessed 11 Oct. 2019.
18
Ibid. para. 10.
19
Ibid. para. 11.

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 Matthew Micallef
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These aspects demonstrate the Furthermore, the presence of external

mindset of psychiatric professionals of social workers were beneficial to both

the period and also the rehabilitative Larundel and its patients, with their
addition being a part of the Mental
underpinnings found within the
Hygiene Act 1958 which was the
processes found at Larundel. In
amalgamation of Lunacy Act 1928 and
addition to the indoor-based therapies
the Mental Deficiency Act 1939.
offered at Larundel, the site had a

functioning farm that the patients
worked on, ‘growing food and tending
to animals’, as an alternative mode of
rehabilitation20.
Figure D. Map of Larundel site with the
highlighted building still standing; the
Occupational Therapy Centre and Farm are at
In the 1958 Report of the Mental
Hygiene Authority, it is stated that ‘two
social workers’ were connected with the
facility during the year and proved to
have ‘contributed very much’ to the
‘rehabilitation of the patients’22. Also
detailed in the report are the efforts by
the Larundel Patients’ Committee, an
affiliate group consisting of patients that
organise ‘social and sports activities’ for
all the individuals who reside at the
facility23. This initial report
demonstrates the beginning of the
societal shift regarding mental health

the top21. which occurs in the 1960s, which is

apparent when juxtaposed with the
1965 edition.

20 22
Bundoora History, ‘History of Larundel Mental Hygiene Authority, Report of the Mental
Psychiatric Hospital’ [website], (2017) Hygiene Authority for the Year Ended 31st
<http://bundoorahistory.weebly.com/larundel- December 1957 (1958),
psychiatric-hospital.html>, accessed 11 Oct. 2019. <https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/papers/govp
21
Larundel Psychiatric Hospital Circa 1978 to 1986 ub/VPARL1958-59No38.pdf>, 51, accessed 18 Oct.
[image], (2012) 2019.
23
<https://racheltsoumbakos.wordpress.com/2012/ Ibid, 51.
09/25/the-history-of-larundel-part-1-1938-1950/>
, accessed 11 Oct. 2019.

5

In the mid-sixties, Larundel
equipped with two occupational therapy
departments – ‘Occupational Therapy
and Industrial Therapy’ – which are
detailed as a ‘well integrated group’ that
had a ‘good relationship’ with both staff
and patients24. Integration activities
were also introduced to the patients,
with ‘regular shopping trips and visits’ to
off-site locations, and admission to a
‘holiday camp’ in Dromana provided a
break from the mundanity
institutionalised life, having a ‘beneficial
and stimulating’ effect25.
A Woman’s Touch
The aforementioned occupational
therapy program was propelled by
Elspeth Pearson, Senior Occupational
Therapist who worked at Larundel
between 1960 to 1985. During her
tenor, Pearson helped develop and
alter activities that improved
patient’s ‘practical and social skills’ as a
24
Mental Hygiene Authority, Report of the Mental
Health Authority for the Period 1st January, 1964 to
31st December, 1965 (1967), <
https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/papers/govpu
b/VPARL1967-68No5.pdf>, 169-170, accessed 18
Oct. 2019.
25
Ibid, 170.
26
Kathy Andrewartha, Elspeth Pearson –
Occupational Therapist from Larundel honoured
Matthew Micallef
18918968
was means of transitioning patients ‘back
into the community’. 26
Figure E. Elspeth Pearson, Senior
Occupational Therapist from 1960-198527.
of One of the initiatives that Pearson
pioneered was a shop that allowed
patients to ‘purchase small items’ to
teach them how to ‘manage their own
finances’28. The aim of the shop was to
‘modify certain behaviours’ as a result
of ‘long periods of institutional living’,
which encompasses occupational
therapy process as a whole. Pearson is
one of the many individuals that
improved the lives of Larundel’s
patients and positively, making the
individuals feel people once more and
less of the problem or a burden that
the they were labelled as.
by the Queen in 1990, Mont Park to Springthorpe
[website], (2018),
<https://www.montparktospringthorpe.com/1410-
2/ >, para. 6, accessed 17 Oct. 2019.
27
Elspeth Pearson, Senior Occupational Therapist
from 1960-1985 [image] (2018)
<https://www.montparktospringthorpe.com/1410
-2/>, accessed 17 Oct. 2019.
28
Ibid, para.6.
6

Conclusion
In summation, Larundel Mental Asylum
has always been considered to be the
local haunt of the Northern Suburbs,
with its dilapidated façade provoking
benevolent and sinister imagery due to
its segregated history and clientele
base. However, the truth regarding the
site is more comparable to the staff and
pioneering individuals that helped the
damaged and suffering residents that
were admitted to Larundel,
subsequently building a beacon of
hope, healing and rehabilitation. The
former hospital ran parallel with Dr John
Cade’s influential medical breakthrough
with lithium-based treatments for manic
and schizophrenic patients,
Matthew Micallef
18918968
which in turn aimed to remove the
stigma associated with mental illness
and reintegrate these individuals into
mainstream society. Larundel also
boasted the contributions of people like
Elspeth Pearson who instigated change
and programs that provided patients
with invaluable assimilative practices
that enabled their successful transition.
However, the foreclosure of the site is
indicative of the change in
contemporary views regarding mental
illness, instead allowing the hospital
itself to now be absorbed into society,
much like its patients.
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Reference List

Primary Sources

Mental Hygiene Authority, Report of the Mental Hygiene Authority for the Year
Ended 31st December 1957 (1958),
<https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/papers/govpub/VPARL1958-59No38.pdf>, 51,
accessed 18 Oct. 2019.

Mental Hygiene Authority, Report of the Mental Health Authority for the Period 1st
January, 1964 to 31st December, 1965 (1967),
<https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/papers/govpub/VPARL1967-68No5.pdf>, 169-
170, accessed 18 Oct. 2019.

Victoria Government Gazette, ‘Land Act 1958 – Area of Land Comprised in Certain
Classes Diminished or Increased’, Victorian Government Gazette, 3 Jun. 1959,
para.2, <http://gazette.slv.vic.gov.au/images/1959/V/general/49.pdf>, accessed 6
Oct. 2019.

Victorian Government Gazette, Plan of Larundel Mental Asylum [image], (3 June

1959) <http://gazette.slv.vic.gov.au/images/1959/V/general/49.pdf>, accessed 6 Oct.
2019.

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Andrewartha, Kathy, ‘Occupational Therapy and Mental Health Hospitals – Mont Park
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<https://www.montparktospringthorpe.com/occupational-therapy-and-mental-health-
hospitals-mont-park-and-larundel/> para. 10, accessed 7 Oct. 2019.

Andrewartha, Kathy, ‘Elspeth Pearson - Occupational Therapist from Larundel

honoured by the Queen in 1990’, Mont Park to Springthorpe [website], (2018)
<https://www.montparktospringthorpe.com/1410-2/>, para. 6, accessed 17 Oct. 2019.

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 Matthew Micallef
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Elspeth Pearson, Senior Occupational Therapist from 1960-1985 [image] (2018) <
https://www.montparktospringthorpe.com/1410-2/>, accessed 17 Oct. 2019.

Bundoora History, ‘History of Larundel Psychiatric Hospital’ [website], Bundoora

History (2017) <http://bundoorahistory.weebly.com/larundel-psychiatric-
hospital.html>, accessed 11 Oct. 2019

Button, James, ‘Down the Rabbit Hole: A Closer Look at Larundel’, Darebin Arts
[website], (2018) <https://www.darebinarts.com.au/wp-
content/uploads/2018/06/2018-335-City-Of-Darebin-This-Place-Proof04-1.pdf>,
para.13, accessed 14 Oct. 2019.

Darebin Heritage, ‘Larundel Mental Asylum’, Darebin Heritage [website], (2019)

<http://heritage.darebinlibraries.vic.gov.au/article/328> para. 1, accessed 4 Oct. 2019.

Fairfax, Image of John Cade [image], (6 Oct. 2016)

<https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/finding-sanity-review-how-john-cade-
discovered-the-benefits-of-lithium-20161006-grw5lt.html>, accessed 10 Oct. 2019.

Larundel patients undertaking occupational therapy under supervision [image], (2016)

<https://www.montparktospringthorpe.com/occupational-therapy-and-mental-health-
hospitals-mont-park-and-larundel/>, accessed 11 Oct. 2019.

Larundel Psychiatric Hospital Circa 1978 to 1986 [image], (2012)

<https://racheltsoumbakos.wordpress.com/2012/09/25/the-history-of-larundel-part-1-
1938-1950/> , accessed 11 Oct. 2019.

May, Cassie, ‘Lithium and lost souls’: the role of Bundoora Homestead as a
repatriation mental hospital 1920-1993’, Provenance: The Journal of Public Record
Office Victoria, 14 (2015), para. 26, https://prov.vic.gov.au/index.php/explore-
collection/provenance-journal/provenance-2015/lithium-and-lost-souls#_ednref5,
accessed 6 Oct. 2019.

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 Matthew Micallef
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Only Melbourne, ‘Larundel Mental Asylum’, Only Melbourne [website], (2019)
<https://www.onlymelbourne.com.au/larundel-mental-asylum>, accessed 6 Oct.
2019.

Reed, Laurie, ‘History of Psychiatric Care’, Mont Park to Springthorpe [website],

(2016) <https://www.montparktospringthorpe.com/history-of-psychiatric-care/> para.
11, accessed 5 Oct. 2019.

Edward Shorter, ‘The history of lithium therapy’, Bipolar Disorder, 11 (2009), para.8,
<https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3712976/>, accessed 6 Oct. 2019.

Tsoumbakos, Rachel, ‘The History of Larundel: Part 1 (1938-1950)’, Word Press

[website], (2012) <https://racheltsoumbakos.wordpress.com/2012/09/25/the-history-
of-larundel-part-1-1938-1950/> para.3, accessed 6 Oct. 2019.

World Health Organisation, ‘The ICD-10 Classification of Mental and Behavioural

Disorders – Clinical descriptions and diagnostic guidelines’, World Health
Organisation, (1983) <https://www.who.int/classifications/icd/en/bluebook.pdf?ua=1>,
para. 1, accessed 9 Oct. 2019.

10