Episode notes
On the outskirts of Ararat, two imposing sandstone buildings still stand as relics of Australia’s mental health past.
Aradale Lunatic Asylum, formerly known locally as mad mans hill — was once the largest psychiatric hospital in Victoria.
Just down the road, J Ward confined the state’s most violent and “criminally insane.”
Behind their thick stone walls, treatments blurred with punishment, and the line between care and cruelty disappeared.
Sources:
Book your visit — Aradale, Lunatic Asylum
Books: The J Ward Story – Graeme Burgin
Aradale, The Making of a Haunted Asylum – David Waldron, Sharn Waldron and Nathaniel Buchanan
Yarra Bend (Asylum 1848-1905; Hospital for the Insane 1905-1925)
vhd.heritage.vic.gov.au/search/nattrust_result_detail/67299
Public Record Office Victoria Collection | PROV VPRS 7446/P0001, Ararat Asylum
Public Record Office Victoria Collection | PROV VA 2841
Lunacy Act, 1903, No. 1873 - Legislation - Australian Psychiatric Care
Aradale Lunatic Asylum History
Dr Eric Cunningham Dax | Mont Park to Springthorpe report.pdf
LLIFS - The story of Mr Bill Wallace - J Ward's oldest inmate | llifs.com.au
Aradale: A Historical Overview 1867-1994 | Making History
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