Kahlin Compound

Kahlin Compound was an institution for part-Aboriginal people in Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia between 1913 and 1939.

In 1913 the Northern Territory Protector of Aborigines Baldwin Spencer decided to solve what he called the ‘half-caste problem’ by rounding up hundreds of Aboriginal children and removing them from the 'native camps'. The Kahlin Compound and Half Caste Home was established on Lambell Terrace at Myilly Point, overlooking Mindil Beach in Darwin. Spencer envisaged that the compound would be self-sufficient, providing housing, schooling and domestic training for each Aboriginal family. The whole compound was to be fenced with access for Aboriginals and Departmental officials only.

The compound was damaged in the 1937 cyclone.

All residents were moved to the new Bagot Aboriginal Reserve in 1938. The Kahlin Compound closed in 1939 and was revoked as an Aboriginal Reserve on 3 July 1940. The site was then used as an emergency hospital during a meningitis outbreak in 1940.

The site of the Kahlin Compound remains a vacant block. An attempt was made to heritage list the site recognising its cultural history in 2003. It was unsuccessful.

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