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 […]