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CHANGES - Department of Community Services

1. Transfer Disability Services to Ageing and Disability

2. Remove senior staff in Central office who don't have professional qualifications and experience in child abuse

3. All new graduates employed by Department to undergo training in child protection before they are allocated cases.

4. Re-establish administrative staff in Community services centres in order to allow managers to concentrate on active supervision of cases by staff.

5. Recruit independent specialists to provide supervision to staff

6. Transfer early childhood resources to establish home visitation service

7. Establish regular training for magistrates in child abuse.

8. Establish a mechanism to review magistrates whose decisions on child abuse are questionable.

9. With the money saved ($200 million +) we could distribute it to better children's services, eg Health, Education, etc

10. Removal of Director General's wage and the previous Directors prior to current Director would go a long way in improving services for children in New South Wales.

11. All services in relation to children are to be given out Community organisations that deal with children.

12. Joint Investigation Team Services need to independently make their own assessments with the interference/reliance of DOCS.

13. REPLACEMENT OF THE MINISTER FOR COMMUNITY SERVICES by MINISTER FOR CHILDREN'S SERVICES

14. The closure of the Department of Community Services is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

31 August 1998

Mrs Carmel Niland
Director General
NSW Department of Community Services
Ashfield NSW 2131

BY HAND

Dear Mrs Niland:

RE: Meeting between Care For Us and Department of Community Services Director on 25/08/98.

At a formal meeting of Care For Us held on 20/08/98 it was resolved that Care For Us resume the campaign to get a Royal Commission into the Department of Community Services. This will include airing radio advertisements calling for people who have been harmed by the Department of Community Services to contact Care For Us. Also resolved was that several cases that were unsatisfactorily managed by the Department would be given to the media. We asked for those cases to be fixed up by your department. They were not.

The discussions between the Director General and Care For Us at the subsequent meeting on the 25/08/98 failed to address these concerns yet again even though Derrick Smith promised to bring those cases up at that meeting. Once again the Department fails.

For your information, I did produce a copy of the radio advertising for your perusal. The ad states clearly that we feel that chronic waste, corruption, and systematic mismanagement is rife throughout the Department. Care For Us has collected sufficient documentation and case histories to warrant this concern. The Kids living on the streets or up in K ings Cross selling themselves were the Department's responsibility and yet nothing is being done for them. Knowing this is the case, as the Director General admitted, and refusing to do anything about it is corruption, and mismanagement.

The issue of access by Care For Us to Derrick Smith as a favour to Care For Us is not acceptable. We are allowing the Department to fix its cases up directly through this access.

We are not happy with your services. There has been no changes to the Department, its operations, or its culture in the time that Care For Us has agreed not to put cases to the media and that was taken for granted. Care For Us is now saying that you have two months to put the goods up or get out.

Yours sincerely,
Care For Us

Shane Nicholls
Founder

Letter to the Senator

Dear Senator,

We advocate for a royal commission which will investigate allegations of ABUSE of state wards.We recommend compensation for those state wards, and ex-state wards who were abused while in care. We aim to ensure reform of the department of community services so that it intervenes as early as possible in families where child abuse and neglect is occurring, and that such intervention has the resources to ensure that treatment is provided.

The cycle of abuse and neglect will only be broken when this occurs. We wish to ensure that the department does not do what it has been doing, and that is as we call it "cost shifting", however the department calls it "legal responsibility" . This works where they take the kids in and force them to get on the dole or the pension, and are left on the streets no matter if they don't have a home. The department exists with the mentality of "who cares, we don't as long as we get our pay." At any one time, if you ask the department, where there kids are, they couldn't tell you. If you try and force the department to take responsibility of the wards, they on;y send them to a refuge, where they don't care what happens to them. This includes the DEATHS of our little babies.

Sure they visit the houses after they get informed of an allegation, but by this time they are TOO late. The bottom line is that they have bungled another investigation. On top of this there have been more allegations of disability children being fed dog food, and being tied on the toilets for hours. There are reports of children sufferingmalnutrition. Then there was an investigation into the departments "culture of cover ups" of abuse for a hundred years.

Care for us is proud to of been able to bring out the truth on all of these subjects when we first started childrens rights. This was done whilst being ignored, and left off the last elections agenda. We are now Number5 and will no longer be IGNORED. We will continue to make child abuse and childrens rights an issue. So, Senator, will you join us in fighting for childrens rights and call for a royal commission in parliament before next year, or cowardly turn a blind eye to the sufferings of this states neglected children!!

We WILL be registered as a political party for the next elections. We want to ensure that the australian government meets their obligations under the united nations charter of the child. We have to accept responsibility, and INSIST that children are SAFE, and ENCOURAGED to reach there full potential.

When I say "we" I don't mean, just the public, but the GOVERNMENT AS WELL!

however, we do not want some watered down letter telling us hollow promises.

We will not stop pushing in this area. The only way for the heat to come off, is if the governments call for a full royal commission.

Be a leader of fools or a pioneer of justice. We WILL get a royal commission, so l hope you join us in bringing an end to what has been happening in this state, and AND STAND UP FOR THE RIGHTS AND WELFARE OF THE AUSTRALIAN CHILDREN, OUR FUTURE.

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