The Brookside Reformatory for Girls was in Cape Clear, ten miles from Scarsdale Victoria. Award-winning education journalist Erica Cervini delves into its cruel and unusual treatment of girls, their multiple escapes, and what we can learn from its ultimate failure. The Brookside girls is episode 14 of Look history in the eye. Erica recently wrote an article for Public Record Office Victoria's Provenance Journal 

Presented by Tara Oldfield and Public Record Office Victoria.

The featured song, A bird in a gilded cage, is performed by Tara Oldfield (vocals) and Sarah Harris (piano). Additional voice acting is done by Natasha Cantwell, Asa Letourneau and Sebastian Gurciullo.

Please note that this episode contains details of child abuse in institutional care and may be upsetting for some listeners.

Visit the episode page to see original records related to the Brookside girls, and for a link to Erica's Provenance article: https://prov.vic.gov.au/podcast-episode-14-brookside-girls

This podcast is produced by Public Record Office Victoria the archive of the state government of Victoria. To view the podcast homepage and all episodes, and to view records related to this episode go to https://prov.vic.gov.au/look-history-eye-podcast