An office of the Welfare Branch of the Northern Territory Administration was located in Adelaide by 1963, although extant records in the Adelaide agency date back to 1957.
 
By 1964 the agency was known as the Welfare Branch although it is also referred to in correspondence as Welfare Section, Welfare Office and by 1972, Welfare Division.
 
In 1966 the Adelaide office had an establishment of two Welfare Officers whose duties were to:
 
- investigate and report on families wishing to foster or adopt    
  children from the Northern Territory;
- investigate and report on institutions, boarding schools, etc.  
  wishing to take children from the Territory under the education  
  scheme;
- regularly inspect and supervise children in homes, institutions  
  where both State wards and State children were being held,
  ie mental homes, spastic centres, old persons' and inebriates'  
  homes, reformatories, special remedial centres; and
- meet incoming cases and conduct and introduce to institutions.  

Clients were referred by District Welfare Officers in the Northern Territory and included State Children, children under the Part/Aboriginal Education Scheme, children referred for medical treatment or mental patients.  As there were no mental hospitals in the Northern Territory, all cases were sent to South Australia.  In some cases children were committed in Court to the care of the Director of Welfare and became State Wards or in the cases of Aboriginal children, State Children.  The Welfare Branch took on the role of legal guardian of State Children.  

Correspondence from the Adelaide office or from District and Divisional offices in the Northern Territory were directed to Head office in Darwin (CA 2835). 
 
As a result of the administrative changes of 19 December, 1972, the functions of the Welfare Division were divided between the newly created Department of Aboriginal Affirs and the Department of Health and Education. Initially all positions in all offices of the Welfare Division were transferred to the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and then in early 1973, health and aboriginal education were transferred to the Departments of Health and Education, respectively.  
 
SOURCES:
 
1. AT1732 File 2-3   Personnel- Operational
2. AT1732 File SA1-1
3. AT1732 File 3/6
4. AT1732 File 5A2-1 Personnel
5. AT1732 File 7-1
6. AT1732 File 3/11
7. AT1732 File 8-1
8. Commonwealth Directory 1972
9. Adelaide Telephone Directories 1968-1972
Historical agency address
by1964-1967: Da Costa Building, 68 Grenfell Street, Adelaide
by1968-1972: Cambridge Credit House, 196 North Terrace, Adelaide