MEDIA ALERT – THURSDAY 10 APRIL 2014 Grandmothers to protest on steps of Tamworth FACS for return of ‘stolen’ children TOMORROW 12.30PM Tamworth FACS Office Bourke Street Tamworth Speakers include: Aunty Hazel, Grand-mothers Against Removals, Gunnedah David Shoebridge, Greens NSW MP Karen Fusi, Brisbane Aboriginal Soveriegn Embassy Uncle Ray Jackson, Indigenous Social Justice Association Mary Moore, Australian Legislative Ethics Commission MEDIA CONTACT: OLIVIA NIGRO - 0401 955 405 Say NO to continuing Stolen Generations STOP the DOCS Friday snatch STOP Gowards new laws Support and opportunity for families NOT child removal The removal of Aboriginal children from families across NSW and Australia is at crisis point. A higher number of Aboriginal children are currently in out of home care than were removed from their families at any time in the twentieth century. The Bringing them Home report in 1997 argued that the paternalism and discrimination of the Stolen Generations era remained alive in many of the practices of child protection agencies. It showed that the majority of children were being removed for neglect, a consequence of the social inequality suffered by Aboriginal people. Bringing them Homes recommendations for reform were ignored and the number of Aboriginal children in out of home care has increased more than five times since 1997. In NSW, approximately one in ten Aboriginal children is currently in care. The pain in communities is immense and many are taking about a new stolen generation. New amendments to Child Protection legislation have been introduced by Community Services Minister Pru Goward and passed by the NSW Parliament. These laws will make it even harder for families who have lost children to DOCS removals to be reunited. Adoption will become possible once a child has been in care for just six months if they are under two year old, or twelve months if older than two. Guardianship orders are also being introduced which would similarly strip families of rights to reunification. Aboriginal people and supporters across Australia mobilising for change - demanding children are returned and demanding investment in the community development and support services needed to assist struggling families. A new group Grand-mothers Against Removals recently formed in Gunnedah, NSW in response to a large number of unjust removals in across the region in recent years. They held a protest outside the NSW Parliament House on February 13 this year, on the anniversary of Kevin Rudds apology to the Stolen Generation. The protest gained international media attention and pressure is building. They are now bringing their protest to the doorstep of Tamworth DOCS - an office notorious for its merciless targeting of Aboriginal families. The rally falls on a Friday to protests against the Friday afternoon special - forced removal of children just before the weekend, leaving families stranded for assistance over the weekend. This protest will be followed by a strategy meeting to discuss how we can build support for struggling families and take the campaign forward. For more info contact Olivia Nigro 0401 955 405 Rally initiated by Grand-Mothers Against Removals Supported by Stop the Intervention Collective Sydney
Posted on: Thu, 10 Apr 2014 03:09:39 +0000
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