This paper describes changes in the number of residents and admissions to public psychiatric hospitals in Australia, and in the state of Queensland in particular, from 1883 to 2003. It identifies when the deinstitutionalisation of dedicated psychiatric institutions began in Queensland and finds that the policy described as 'opening the back door' (discharging residents) began around 1952-53, while the policy of 'closing the front door' (reducing admissions) began in 1962-63. Deinstitutionalisation in Queensland thus began earlier than most contemporary writers suggest.