Established in 1865

The Woogaroo Lunatic Asylum was Queensland's first public health institution, located on the banks of the Brisbane River near Goodna on Tuesday the 10th of January 1865.  A Border Police Station was previously located on the site, serving as a vital outpost for protecting the interests of the growing community. Over the years, the surrounding landscape became the location of many of the State's major institutional facilities, including prisons, an army barracks, and a migration hostel. On Tuesday the 10th January of 1865, under the supervision of warder, John Phillips seven prison warders (two of them women) along with ten police constables escorted 57 male and 12 female patients, female patients were under the charge of two female warders were moved from the Brisbane Gaol to the newly built asylum at Woogaroo since 1859, Queensland patients had no longer been sent to Sydney but were lodged instead at the Brisbane Gaol. When the asylum was ready, patients were loaded into cabs and taken down to the Brisbane River where they boarded a steamer named "Settler'. They were conveyed down the Brisbane River to the landing point just before Woogaroo Creek. The embarkment was successfully managed, considering that there were 57 males and 12 females, and they were all safely lodged in their new quarters patients were accommodated in a two-storeyed brick building initially intended to be the administration block. Male patients were accommodated on the first floor and part of the ground floor while female patients occupied a section of the ground floor. A tall timber fence surrounded the building and timber outbuildings accommodated a kitchen, bathroom and staff areas. Dr Kersey Cannan was appointed as Superintendent and a residence was constructed for him on-site, northeast of the main asylum buildings.​

Indigenous people would be among the earliest inhabitants of the asylum, but not in great numbers. Instead, the institution was rapidly filled from its earliest days with the immigrant settlers who made up most of the colony’s growing population. At least 45 of the 57 males first brought to the new asylum were still there two years later, when an inquiry was held. Immigrants came from the many countries that fed the colonial population, especially Ireland, England, Germany, Scotland, and China.

The first buildings consisted of a male division, erected near the creek, and a female division, located further up the hill. The superintendent's quarters stood in between due to recurring floods additional buildings were erected further up the hill to where the current complex is located today. Over the years the complex has also comprised several public health institutions, several of which have now been decommissioned. The site of the original asylum today serves as the Wolston Park golf club & course.

The Asylum has been a long-time dominant institution in the region and has recently changed greatly.

Over the years, sections and services have been closed, and buildings are handed over to other government departments and service organisations.​

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