Jingle bells, Cardinal Pell. An orchestrated campaign has been mounted in belated defence of Cardinal George Pell who told the Child Abuse Royal Commission at the last minute that he was too ill to fly to Australia to give vital evidence (here). There was wide-spread skepticism since it was widely known that he had flown […]
Care Leavers Absent from Higher Education
This a revised item first posted in June 2015. It draws attention to an important article found in the Australian Journal of Education, May 14, 2015: A forgotten cohort? Including people from out-of-home care in Australian higher education policy, by Andrew Harvey, Lisa Andrewartha and Patricia McNamara. The Abstract reads: People from out-of-home care backgrounds are largely absent from Australian […]
Blame the Victims for Child Sexual Abuse
This is an important update on a blog first posted on 8 July 2015. It concerned an outrageous claim made by the Parenting Research Centre and the University of Melbourne in a ‘research’ report called, ‘Scoping review: Evaluations of out-of-home care practice elements that aim to prevent child sexual abuse’. The report was commissioned by […]
No Light Shines for the ‘Forgotten Australians’
Of all the things that happened to vulnerable children in institutional ‘care’, the word ‘forgotten’ is so lame and tame. New Comment ‘The forgotten Aussies crying out to be noticed,’ said the headline. ‘They have little influence on the national agenda, they struggle to stay connected and the things they care about are at the bottom […]
A Charter of Rights to Childhood Records
A Charter of Rights to Childhood Records: Updated version Following some very helpful, constructive comments on an early draft, this revised draft (3 March 2016) is posted with a further invitation to comment. It is also posted on the CLAN website. We particularly welcome and value comment by Care Leavers, ‘Forgotten Australians’, people formerly placed in foster families, members of […]
Travel Makes You Tired But…
Not many posts in the past month. Just back from overseas. This is a light-hearted account of the trials of becoming tired and not always rational. Long distance travelling can make you tired and cranky. You need those brief moments of absurdity to keep you sane. §§§ On the plane, for instance, you fiddle and twiddle […]
A Mother 12 Storeys High with a Letterhead
Is fact stranger than fiction? Comments on Ginger Briggs, Staunch, Affirm Press, Melbourne, 2012. I was so stirred up by this disturbing book that instead of placing it with my regular short reviews of books (here) I wanted to make a closer examination of this fascinating work. On face value, Staunch is a novel, based on a true story. […]
Learning from Abbott’s Downfall
Tony Abbott never got it. The day he was toppled as Prime Minister, Tony Abbott looked confused and crushed. And in shock. His leadership had been suddenly snatched from him—and he did not understand why. He could not see that creating a macho government of socially-conservative white men and governing in the interests of a […]
Nothing About Us Without Us
The axiom “Nihil de nobis, sine nobis”—“Nothing About Us Without Us”—has its origins in the politics of 16th century Poland. And the idea lives on in Poland. Recently, university students used the slogan again when strenuously protesting against high-handed changes that the University of Warsaw imposed without consulting the students who would be seriously disadvantaged […]
No light shines for the forgotten Australians. Why?
Another letter to The Age which didn’t make it. But let me share it with you. Simon Gardner (Royal commission can shine a light on ‘forgotten’ people – Age 5/8) writes: ‘Mention the stolen generations and child migrants and eyes light up in recognition…No such light shines for the forgotten Australians. Why?’ I can supply […]