<Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This section needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (May 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This section needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (May 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> The first Salvation Army meeting in Australia was held in 1880 . Edward Saunders and John Gore led the meeting from the back of a greengrocer's cart in Adelaide Botanic Park with an offer of food for those who had not eaten . In 1883, Major James Barker led the way to establish the first Salvation Army social institution anywhere in the world on a permanent basis, known as the "Prison Gate" program . Barker saw that prisoners being released from the Melbourne Gaol had nowhere to go and no work, so they inevitably re-offended and returned to gaol . Barker leased a small house in Lygon Street, Carlton, to provide accommodation for prisoners discharged from Melbourne's gaols . This led to the formation of the Prison-Gate Brigade, the members of which met discharged prisoners upon their release and offered them a home and the prospect of a job . The Salvos also involved themselves in finding work for the unemployed and in re-uniting families . In Melbourne from 1897 to 1910, The Army's Limelight Department was established as Australia's first film production company . </P> <P> Eighty - four cents in every dollar donated to The Salvation Army goes directly to those in need . This is one of the most efficient rates of any charity in Australia . It is thought that the name of the popular biscuit by Arnotts, SAO, stands for' Salvation Army Officer' . </P>

When did the salvation army start in australia