Tardun is a small town in the
Mid West
The Mid West region is one of the nine regions of Western Australia. It is a sparsely populated region extending from the west coast of Western Australia, about north and south of its administrative centre of Geraldton and inland to east of W ...
region of
Western Australia
Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...
.
The townsite is located along the
Mullewa to
Wongan Hills
Wongan Hills is a range of low flat-topped hills in the Avon Wheatbelt bioregion of Western Australia. It is located at , in the Shire of Wongan–Ballidu.
History
The range was first recorded in 1836 by Surveyor General of Western Australia Jo ...
railway line
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to road ...
. The location of the town was decided in 1913 when the route of the
railway
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
was being planned.
The name of the town was originally Undatarra when it was gazetted in 1913, it was then changed to Tardun in 1925 and lots were surveyed in 1927.
Education
The
Christian Brothers Agricultural School was founded in Tardun in 1928 for child migrants from Britain. It closed in 2009.
In testimony before a British parliamentary committee investigating British child migrants sent to Australia in the late 1990s, one boy spoke of the criminal abuse he received from Catholic priests at Tardun. He testified that several of them competed to see who would be the first to rape him 100 times. They liked his blue eyes, so he repeatedly beat himself in the hope they would change colour. As parliamentarians reflected at the time, the term "sexual abuse" seemed wholly inadequate given the awfulness of his experience.
In December 2014, the
found that "Christian Brothers leaders knew of allegations of sexual abuse of children at four WA orphanages, including Tardun, and failed to manage the homes to prevent the systemic ill-treatment for decades." It also found that the institution was concerned by the cost of legal proceedings, and "there was no sentiment of recognising the suffering of the survivors."
Report of Case Study no. 11 - Congregation of Christian Brothers in Western Australia response to child sexual abuse at Castledare Junior Orphanage, St Vincent’s Orphanage Clontarf, St Mary’s Agricultural School Tardun and Bindoon Farm School
PDF at official web site, 19 December 2014, p. 13 (folio 8)
Further reading
* ''Our Home in the Bush: Tales of Tardun'' by David H. Plowman, published by Tardun Old Boys' Association (1994), ASIN B001AC4T0E
References
{{authority control
Mid West (Western Australia)