2011 marks a major milestone in the history of Noah’s Ark Inc. It is our 40th birthday. To mark this special event one of the inaugural patrons, Dame Elisabeth Murdoch, has released a special message of support.

"Knowledge arises neither from objects nor the child, but from interactions between the child and those objects."
- Jean Piaget

Noah's Ark Inc began in Victoria, Australia, in 1971 as as the Noah’s Ark Toy Library for Handicapped Children. It began during a period when families began refusing to put their children with disabilities into institutional care and institutions stopped admitting young children. This social change meant that children began to live at home and new services were needed. Annetine Forell, a parent of a child with a disability, and co-founder Mary Glue recognised that there needed to be support for the whole family.

Toy libraries for children with a disability were established with a dual role. They recognised the importance of play to the development of the child. They also provided a venue for families to discuss the challenges of parenting a child with a disability. These needs were not being met by the traditional education and therapy services of the era. This dual role was outlined in Noah's Ark first newsletter.

“We believe that this type of library can provide the special toys which handicapped children need; we believe that the library can act as an ancillary service to the skilled training programs provided in centres and institutions specifically orientated towards the education and training of handicapped children. Finally, we believe that by helping the handicapped child, we can ease the lot of parents and other members of the family and this must be one of our most important functions."

Nat Myers, President of Noah’s Ark Toy Library for Handicapped Children, first newsletter, 1972




Noah's Ark opened its doors with several key programs and philosophies.

These were as follows: (From Philosophy of Noah’s Ark 1971/1972)

Children learn through play
Families should be offered the opportunity for peer support.
Families should be integral to any therapy program for their children, so that the program can be consistent across
          a range of environments.
Toys, games and resources are a tool that can enhance children’s development.
A Toy Library is a non threatening place to come and discuss your concerns about your child’s development.
Any family can access the Toy Library if they have concerns for their child’s development. This includes children
          with severe asthma, minor learning issues and short term illnesses such as a broken leg.
All parents concerns are taken seriously.
Parents are given the opportunity to chat informally to a therapist and express their concerns and needs.
Playgroups are an excellent way of providing parent to parent support, as well as play and learning opportunities for
          the children.
The different needs of Fathers, Grandparents and Siblings are recognised, and a specialised support service for
          these groups is offered.


Nat Myers, President of Noah’s Ark Toy Library for Handicapped Children, first newsletter, 1972

Families of children with any type of disability were welcome at Noah’s Ark. This included children with autism, intellectual disabilities, physical disabilities and parents who wanted to discuss their child’s development as they were feeling worried. The environment was friendly, informal and welcoming.

The type of support developed by Noah’s Ark met a profound need by parents and the idea spread through Victoria and across Australia. In Victoria the library developed through van visits that originally set up in people’s living rooms and then went on to find more permanent homes. Specialist toy libraries were set up in 8 locations in Victoria by Noah’s Ark and in other States and territories different organisations, often called Noah’s Ark, established similar services. These libraries came to offer a wide range of services for the whole family, including:

Lending toys, books, videos, computer software and specialist equipment
Producing newsletters covering relevant topics
Information and resources regarding specific disabilities and related services
Individual advice regarding toy selection
Groups of parents and children in therapy and play sessions
Parent education groups, in-services or workshops
Sibling groups and family camps
Referral networks
Assessments, curriculum packages and resources to schools
Secondary consultation and loans to related services
          Elkins et al, 1981

In the 1990s Noah’s Ark developed its focus from the toy libraries to include a greater role in early intervention and inclusion. Early intervention developed as the traditional hospital and school based services were replaced by services provided at the neighbourhood level. These services were often set up by small community organisations established by or involving parents. These services were less formal and more responsive to family needs and began to meet the family’s needs for information and support. They remained focused on providing therapy until the late eighties, when the importance of parents as teachers became recognised. Passing skills to parents meant that the child could be supported all the time, as opposed to something in the order of a one hour group program once a week.

The work being done by early intervention services and the Noah’s Ark playgroups gradually blurred and the playgroups became part of the statewide network of early intervention services for families. This led to a greater emphasis on employing staff from the full range of therapies. Noah’s Ark also went through a series of amalgamations. In western metropolitan Melbourne it amalgamated with ‘The Cottage’ and ‘Coverdale Autism Program’ to create Westarc. The Noah’s Ark West services remain the largest group of staff in Victoria.

In the Gippsland region Noah’s Ark amalgamated with Kiama Kindergarten and Parent to Parent Gippsland to create a stronger base for local involvement.

The 1990s also involved Noah’s Ark increasing its role in inclusion in Child Care. Many children with disabilities had remained segregated at home or in specialist services. With the passing of the national anti-discrimination legislation, the Commonwealth Government started to provide greater support to Child Care services to include children with disabilities. The Playworks Resource and Training Agency was established to provide training support focused on children with a disability. This role expanded to managing Children’s Services Resource and Development Officers in part of the southern metropolitan region and an outreach service to much of rural Victoria. Playworks played a pioneering role in support for children’s services throughout Victoria. Another innovation was the establishment of the Specialist Equipment and Toys resource team who provided a visiting library of equipment that supported children in inclusion. There had been an increasing involvement of children with disabilities in Kindergarten from the mid 1980s after similar anti discrimination legislation had been enacted.

The 2000’s began with a period of consolidation. Noah’s Ark had tripled in size in a period of three years. The consolidation proved to be the basis for the next stage of growth. During this phase the organisation began to pay more attention to the research in its area, with the twin focus of inclusion and families. This led to a range of reports developed with the support of philanthropic foundations including: New Frontiers in Early Childhood Inclusion (2002), A framework that addresses the social dimensions of disability (2003), Inclusion in children’s services: The next steps (2006), The outcomes of inclusion: what the stakeholders say (2009) and Looking at the world differently: The experience of having a child with additional needs (2009). These reports have assisted in the further refinement of services and attention of the process of taking research and putting it into practice.

In 2006 Noah’s Ark established a regional structure which allowed it to better respond to the local needs of each region. Regional Managers were appointed with responsibilities for the four main areas of Noah’s Ark activities in the North / Western and Southern metropolitan regions and the Gippsland and Loddon Mallee regional areas with responsibilities for services in other areas. At about the same time, the Australian Government reorganised its programs into the Inclusion and Professional Support Program for Child Care and Noah’s Ark was successful in tendering to operate 8 of the 15 Inclusion Support Agencies in Victoria. Six teams of Inclusion Support Facilitators, involving 30 staff, were established and new branches in Ballarat and Mildura opened. In operating Inclusion support Agencies, Noah’s Ark expanded its target group to include children with a range of additional needs, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander children, refugee children and children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

Between 2005 and 2009 the Victorian Government significantly increased the number of families being funded in early childhood intervention in an attempt to reduce waiting times for services. This led to a dramatic expansion in all existing Noahs Ark services and to the opening of new branches in Mornington, Frankston, Springvale and Roxburgh Park. In addition, new teams were set up in both the inner and outer Western suburbs at existing locations.

Today Noah’s Ark is a thriving organisation that provides a range of services to children with additional needs and their families. It employs over 160 staff and provides services to 900 families and approximately 1500 child care services. It is driven by a strong philosophy and values which still place families at the centre of the work it does.