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Newsletters
In this issue you will find:
Appointment of first Honorary Life Member
Annual General Meeting
Office Closure over Christmas and New Year
ISS Casework – Branch Profile – Switzerland
Child Rights Corner – The ‘best interests’ of the child after family breakdown
Case Study – Abduction to a country not covered by the Hague Convention
$100,000 Myer Family Philanthropy boost to ISS Australia
By Maria Brett, Executive Director
ISS Australia will receive $100,000 from Myer Family Philanthropy in an unprecedented philanthropic gesture to help alleviate poverty and disadvantage and strengthen the non-profit sector in our community. ISS Australia is one of 37 Australian non-profit organisations to receive a grant from the Commemorative Grants Program, which celebrates 75 years of the Sidney Myer Fund and 50 years of The Myer Foundation.
Sid Myer, Convenor of the 2009 Commemorative Grants Taskforce, said “ISS Australia has served its community extremely well and this grant allows us to recognise that service in a tangible way.”
ISS Australia will use the grant for a two-year organisational Capacity Building Project that will build the capacity of ISS Australia, making it a strong and sustainable organisation, better able to assist families and children affected by inter-country issues.
1996 Hague Convention - Publication launch
By Maria Brett, Executive Director
This month, ISS Australia officially launched its new publication on the 1996 Hague Convention on Child Protection and Parental Responsibility. The report was launched by The Honourable Alastair Nicholson AO RFD QC, former Chief Justice of the Family Court, a noted expert on the Hague Conventions and Patron of ISS Australia.
The publication investigates the application of the Convention in international cases involving children and highlights the need for federal government funding for services to help these children and families.The publication is available at the ISS website, click here to download.
The 1996 Hague Convention is a multi-lateral treaty developed by the Hague Conference on Private International Law to improve the protection of children internationally.
The Convention was ratified by Australia in 2003. Once more countries ratify the Convention, it will start operating with significant changes in the way international cases involving child protection and parental responsibility are dealt with.
The research and publication are part of a project funded by the Ian Potter Foundation. Stage two of the project, which aims to disseminate the research findings and promote ISS services relating to child protection, is now underway.
Appointment of fisrt Honorary Life Member
In October this year, Council of Management awarded the first ever Honorary Life Membership of ISS Australia to Mrs Neilma Gantner, in recognition of her significant and long-standing contribution to the development of the organisation.
Neilma Gantner, eldest daughter of Sidney and Merlyn Myer, is well-known for her low profile philanthropy. She has a long standing involvement in the work and governance of the Australian Branch and she was formerly a Vice President of ISS at the international level. Mrs Gantner continues to support the work and activities of ISS Australia.
Annual General Meeting
ISS Australia held its Annual General Meeting on 30 October 2008. This was our first AGM for 18 months, due to a change to our financial year. For many years we followed the practice of ISS internationally of operating a calendar financial year but this had become increasingly problematic as our government funding is received for the July to June financial year. The change to our financial year has been a significant achievement and now that the transition is complete, we look forward to improved efficiencies in our finance and reporting systems.
The 2008 Annual Report details the organisation’s achievements during this 18-month period, which has seen ISS Australia grow, with new casework positions being created at both the National and NSW Offices and increases in administrative staffing. Despite these achievements, running a small non-profit organisation the size of ISS Australia continues to involve considerable challenges: finding sufficient funding to maintain service delivery, retaining staff and volunteers, and the need to develop the organisation’s infrastructure and increase our organisational capacity. Our Capacity Building Project, funded by Myer Family Philanthropy, will be a major step towards addressing these challenges.
ISS Australia’s 2008 Annual Report is available at our website, click here to download.
The National and NSW Offices of ISS Australia will be closed during the Christmas and New Year holiday. We will close at 4pm on Wednesday 24 December and re-open at 9am on Monday 5 January 2009.
If urgent services are required during this period, please contact the child protection service in your state or territory or the federal Attorney-General’s department for child abduction matters. We wish you all a happy and safe festive season.
ISS CASEWORK
Branch Profile - Switzerland
By Stephan Auerbach, Head of the Casework Department, ISS Switzerland
The Swiss branch of International Social Service has been part of the global ISS network since 1932. Today, we have offices in Geneva and Zurich and thus cover both major language regions of Switzerland (German and French).
An important part of work of ISS Switzerland is international casework handled in common with others in the ISS network. In 2007, we worked on 1271 individual cases, including child abduction cases, custody disputes, international child protection matters including foster care placements, inter-country adoption and tracing family members abroad. Our team handling these cases is an interdisciplinary team of social workers, family mediators and lawyers, as we found that joining this know-how improves outcomes for the children concerned.
ISS Switzerland advocates for children’s rights at both national and international levels and we are an active member of the Child Rights Network Switzerland (a network of 50 Swiss NGOs active in children’s rights). Recently, ISS Switzerland lobbied intensively for the adoption of new child-focused domestic laws on international child abduction and for the ratification of the 1996 Hague Convention on International Child Protection. ISS Switzerland has now been mandated by Swiss Government to coordinate a network of experts in child abduction cases, with the aim of finding more child-focused solutions.
ISS Switzerland also has a project department which runs specific projects for vulnerable children abroad. Projects are currently run in Bulgaria, Ukraine, Algeria, Tunisia and in twelve Western African countries, which aim to:
Through these overseas project activities, ISS Switzerland is also able to identify and strengthen professional partners within local NGOs and government services, which has a positive impact on ISS’s capacity to respond to ISS cases in these countries and thus strengthens the ISS global network.
When parents separate, their continuing conflict can have damaging consequences for the children. Children should not to be exposed to hostility or violence between their parents. It is important for the parents not to drag children into their quarrels or expect them to take sides. Separation can be an extremely stressful time for parents and they need to seek emotional support from family, friends and professionals. Children don't need to be burdened with their parents' worries - they have enough worries of their own adjusting to the new living situation.
As a parent may be feeling bitter and hurt from the separation, it may be difficult to consider the children's needs. It is important for the parent not to say negative things to a child about the other parent. The parent may not like the other parent any more, but he or she is still the child's parent. It can be very confusing for children to hear their parents criticise each other, making them unsure if they are still allowed to love the other parent. Parents should allow the child to retain his or her positive feelings for the other parent and to talk freely about that parent at any time. A child should not have to edit his or her speech for a parent's benefit.
Financial issues when separation occurs can cause huge conflict between parents, and it is important that children are not brought into these arguments. Children have a right to see the other parent regardless of how much that parent is paying towards their care. Parents should avoid trying to get the child on their ‘side' by comments such as ‘we could buy you new trainers if your father paid me for your maintenance' or ‘I don't see why he should be allowed to see you this weekend - if he cared about you he would send enough money'.
When International Social Service works with families in conflict, the needs of the children are paramount. Focusing parents on the needs of their children can significantly contribute to better outcomes, not only for the children but for the whole family.ISS Australia was contacted by a Child Protection Department in Australia regarding a young child with a history of child protection involvement. This child was taken overseas by the father – without the consent of the legal guardian – to a country that had not ratified the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. There was therefore no legal mechanism for seeking the child’s return to Australia. The authorities also had very limited information about the father and his whereabouts, and accessing information was made more difficult by the limited communication channels with the country concerned.
ISS was initially asked to utilize our Correspondent overseas to contact the local child protection authority for information on how a report on the child’s abduction could be made to the relevant authority. The Australian Child Protection Department also sought assistance from ISS to determine the whereabouts of the child and the father and to obtain information about the child’s welfare. There were additional challenges because of fears the father would continue to abscond and be even harder to locate.
The Correspondent was able to contact the father and speak to him over the phone however he was not willing to exchange any information about his or the child’s whereabouts. The overseas Correspondent then made a referral to the local child protection authority so that they could take further action and try to check on the welfare of the child.
This case has alerted ISS to the complexities of the child protection system in the overseas country concerned and has also highlighted the different services requested in abduction matters involving countries that have not ratified the Hague Convention, and the assistance ISS can provide to child protection Departments within Australia in these cases.
All identifying details have been changed to protect the privacy of ISS clients.
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MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION / RENEWAL FORM 2008-09
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