The work of the Catholic church in the area of aged care began in 1868 when Mary Mackillop and Father Julian Tenison-Woods opened a 'House of Providence' in Adelaide, as an extension of the Josephite sister's work with the poor of the city. Until 1897 this was the only charitable institution in South Australia providing residential aged care. The 1954 (Commonwealth) Aged Persons Home Act provided the first government assistance for the mostly church-run homes operating across Australia. The Catholic men's organisation, Knights of the Southern Cross, opened the first Southern Cross homes in South Australia in 1968. In 2003 the old home, 'Bucklands Park' on Marion Road at Plympton, was incorporated into the existing Southern Cross nursing home complex in that suburb.