Author, Researcher, Historian
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. […]
I wish we didn’t need so many kids to be placed in the care of foster families. But, with more than 40,000 Australian kids unable to be looked after by their parents because of poverty, family breakdown, drug and alcohol issues and violence – and lack of support in a crisis – things are in a very bad […]
UPDATE The ten worst blunders in child welfare in Australia since 1788. COUNT DOWN TO NUMBER 1 It has been hard deciding which of all the many mistakes of the past – and those which continue to be made – warrants the title “the worst”. But here it is. BLUNDER # 1: Having inflicted significant damage on children […]