1 post tagged “social work”

News ...news ... where do I begin?

Well my quest to establish working status in Aussie continues. I've now plunged into dealing with Queensland Social Services directly - and joy of joys, it seems they may actually get this social working, therapy thumping chick back into the saddle. Cross fingers, say prayers, throw pennies into your local wishing well!



All this said, I reckon there may be a reason why Social Services is eager to assist me.

From an ideological place, this is not a great time to be heading into Child Protection in Australia. The Howard gov't here has implemented a new strategy to 'help' aboriginal families and communities, as of June 25th or so. Ostensibly, the legislation is an initiative to stop the 'epidemic of child abuse' in aboriginal communities in the Outback/Northern Territories but the entirety of these initiatives is very invasive/paternalistic - well fuck it, I have to say it's down right RACIST! and is of course, likely to impact people's perceptions about aboriginal people, communities and problems (if not the actual policies and services).

Firstly, John Howard (it's possible that George Bush has a twin brother) is sending the military into aboriginal communities and increasing police presence (more like inventing a police state) supposedly to encourage a sense of safety that will allow women and children to disclose their abuses (!?). (It goes without saying the witch hunt has already begun).


All pornography and alcohol is to be banned in these aboriginal communities. The next part of 'the plan' is to withhold all welfare cheques to families who there is reason to believe have substance abuse problems AND to impose medical examinations on all children under the age of 16!! Somehow, all of this (not surprisingly) ties into land claims - what sorta turns my stomach is that the aboriginal community seems to be limiting their outrage to this aspect of the changes - or perhaps it is more accurate to say, the news is reflecting this aspect of aboriginal outrage, more so than any other. I would expect to see (want to see) massive outrage and screaming about the challenge to aboriginal rights and freedoms across the board.

It will be serious fun and games for social workers who will be called to police these social/political and legal sanctions - to withhold money from already impoverished families, to enforce medical examinations of children, to remove children from these homes. It's so over the top and beyond the pale, I cannot believe it is happening. Literally, I am gob smacked.




  I don't know how these bits of legislation will impact my personal and professional integrity as a social worker. Suffice it to say - I have concerns.

If you are interested ...

Australia imposes draconian restrictions on Aboriginal communities;
BIG READ: Charge of the Band-Aid Brigade;
BIG READ: The Charge of the Band-Aid Brigade Part Two;
Little Children Are Sacred report.

The upside to all of this is no one is going to want to do social work, and there won't be enough people to fill the need - and hopefully this means that I will be able to find myself a job.


Who says there isn't a silver lining to every story?