2016

The Australian government must make a stronger commitment to fulfil its human rights obligations, the President of the Australian Association of Social Workers, Professor Karen Healy AM has said on the eve of Human Rights Day.

Courts are further traumatising victims of family violence by allowing perpetrators to continue to abuse women through the process, says Vice President of the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW), Christine Craik, on the eve of International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women/White Ribbon Day 2016.

A social worker with over 20 years’ experience across remote, rural and urban communities has been named the Mary Moylan Northern Territory Social Worker of the Year by the Australian Association of Social Workers.

Committing to better long-term early intervention for vulnerable families and ensuring effective monitoring of out-of-home care providers are the keys to protecting the young Australians in care shown by the ABC’s Four Corners program last night, says the President of the Australian Association of Social Workers, Professor Karen Healy AM.

The AASW welcomes the announcement by Social Services Minister Christian Porter of a compensation fund for survivors of child sexual abuse in faith based and human services institutions. 
 

Children and young people who come into the care of the state are amongst the most vulnerable members of our society. Adoption may not be the best option for many of these children and much care in needed to recognise the best interests of each individual child, says the AASW National President Karen Healy AM.

On Thursday 20 October, South Australian social workers who qualified 40 years ago and more will join new graduates just beginning their careers, current students and university academics in a celebration that will mark 70 years of the Australian Association of Social Workers. 

The current levels of welfare payments are creating entrenched poverty and no longer fulfilling their main function of providing for a minimum acceptable standard of living, the AASW National President, Professor Karen Healy Healy AM, has said on the eve of Anti-Poverty Week.

With mental illness affecting one in five Australians and deaths from suicide at a 10-year high, days like World Mental Health Day can help people discuss issues that they would normally find challenging, says the AASW National President, Professor Karen Healy Healy AM.

As it did the last time this measure was put before parliament, the AASW is urging all politicians to accept that to achieve good policy outcomes the rates of allowances must be raised to just and humane levels that keep young people out of poverty.

The Priority Investment Approach to Welfare will not address the profound challenges disadvantaged young people face in achieving greater participation in education and employment. Intervention programs which leave people in poverty do not work and it is better to invest early in assisting people who are at risk of falling into long term disadvantage.

The Budget Savings (Omnibus) Bill passed by the Senate last night is an improvement on its predecessor, but will still cause distress for the most vulnerable members of society, according to the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW).

Social workers who work in mental health see R U OK Day as a great opportunity for the community to engage with friends, family and colleagues in conversations about their wellbeing.

The Queensland Government has taken a landmark and long-overdue step by introducing legislation next week to remove all 17 year old children from the adult prison system.

While it continues to consider the 260 recommendations of the final report South Australian Child Protection Royal Commission, the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) has endorsed some of its key findings.These include the findings that relate to the developing and maintaining of a child protection department environment that supports and nurtures its staff to allow good decision making.

"The release of the Nauru incident reports reinforce the need to stop using the island as a place to detain refugees and asylum seekers,” said AASW National President, Karen Healy AM, in a media statement today, 10 August 2016.

“It also shows how dangerous the Border Force Act is which tries to stop professional social workers and others from speaking out about the systemic abuse of children.”

The advance recommendations of the SA Royal Commission into Child Protection Systems will ensure the critically needed reforms to this sector are not further delayed, the President of the South Australian Branch of the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW), Dr Mary Hood, said today. She commended the strong stance taken by the Commission that supports an overhaul of the child protection system in South Australia to restore public confidence.

The Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) welcomes the High Court challenge to the secrecy provisions under section 42 of the Australian Border Force Act 2015. National President Professor Karen Healy AM says that the legal challenge by Doctors 4 Refugees highlights how deeply unethical the secrecy provisions in the Act are to health professionals.

AASW President, Karen Healy AM, has written a letter to the Editor of the NT News in response to the ABC Four Corners report on the Don Dale juvenile detention centre

A third of students are regularly going without food and other necessities because of a lack of financial support, a new study conducted by the AASW and James Cook University has revealed.

Reducing homelessness and its strong links to family violence must be a national priority, the President of the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW), Professor Karen Healy AM, has said in a media release today.

Responding to the call by Australia’s largest homelessness service providers for a national plan to reduce homelessness, she said reduced housing affordability and lack of adequate services particularly disadvantages people attempting to leave situations of violence.

The Federal government’s decision to extend the freeze on the Medicare rebate until 2020 puts Australia’s universal health care system at serious risk, says the National President of the Australian Association of Social Workers, Professor Karen Healy AM.

The Australian Association of Social Workers strongly opposes the legalisation of commercial surrogacy in Australia. This is based on the potential for exploitation and problematic outcomes for children. The view is strongly supported in the recommendations from the Parliamentary Inquiry into Surrogacy (Report tabled 4 May 2016),

The nine Save the Children welfare workers deported from Nauru were carrying out their professional and ethical duty and should receive an immediate apology from the Federal government for their shameful treatment, said the President of the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW), Professor Karen Healy AM, today.

Yet again the government has chosen to leave young people and people seeking employment in poverty, missing the opportunity to increase government allowances. Newstart, youth and student allowances remain well below the level on which it is possible to survive without extreme poverty.

The state government’s approach to addressing family violence in its budget will ensure that Victorian women have a better chance of being safe from violence, says Glenda Kerridge, President of the Victorian branch of the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW).

The release of the 19th annual report on child protection, Child Protection Australia 2014-2015, is a cause for concern as well as for hope, says the national president of the Australian Association of Social Workers, Professor Karen Healy AM.

 

The Australian Association of Social Workers calls for immediate action from the Commonwealth, states and territories to provide greater legal assistance for victims of family violence in family law cases.

Family violence is a national emergency and the measures recommended in the Royal Commission’s report today begin to address the structural, attitudinal and service-delivery reforms that are desperately needed to support victims, says the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW).

Lowering the threshold for starting HELP payments to $42,000 as recommended by the latest Grattan Institute Report would affect women and older students studying health, welfare and education courses and could lead to a downturn in enrolments in these courses, says the Australian Association of Social Workers.

The Safe Schools program provides same-sex attracted students with an environment where they can feel safe, and has the potential to save lives, the Australian Association of Social Workers’ President, Professor Karen Healy AM, said today. She is calling on the government to act in accordance with the findings of the Safe Schools review and support the  program so that students can feel safe and thrive at school.

“Sending baby Asha, or any child, to Nauru is immoral and dangerous. Releasing baby Asha and her family into community detention is an important first step, but we are deeply disappointed in the government’s plan to eventually return them to offshore processing” Professor Healy said.

With the release of ACOSS's proposals for the Federal Budget , AASW President Professor Karen Healy AM says now is the time to begin talking about reforming our outdated, unfair and destructive system of welfare allowances.

The refusal of doctors and staff at the Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital in Brisbane to discharge baby Asha so the government can return her to detention on Nauru is to be admired, says Australian Association of Social Workers’ National President, Professor Karen Healy AM.

The Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) urges the Victorian government to invest in more early intervention, prevention and intensive family support services for vulnerable children and their families to ensure that the almost 3,000 thousand children suspected of being abused and neglected are receiving intervention services.

The recommendations in the Close the Gap Campaign Steering Committee’s Progress and Priorities report will contribute to the overall goal to close the gap in the life expectancy, educational achievement and employment opportunities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, says AASW National President, Professor Karen Healy.

There is no justifying sending children into danger, says National President of the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW), Professor Karen Healy, whose voice today joined many around Australia concerned about the prospect of returning young asylum seekers and their families to the abuses of Nauru after last week’s High Court ruling.

The Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) agrees with the recommendation of Labor and Greens' senators in yesterday’s Senate report that the Government should not pass the Social Services Legislation Amendment (Budget Repair) Bill 2015.

The Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) congratulates the head of Tasmania’s child protection services, Mr Tony Kemp, for his careful but clear statements during the Baby Bjay inquest about the risks to children in some abusive or neglectful homes, and the realities of running a child protection service.

In a submission to the Senate, the Australian Association of Social Workers rejects the Government’s proposal to remove the Pensioner Education Supplement (PES) that is worth up to $36.20 per week for approved students who receive the Disability Support Pension.

The AASW is calling on the Government to immediately apologise to and compensate the ten Save the Children welfare workers who were deported from the Regional Processing Centre in Nauru and to close the centre whose conditions increase the likelihood of child abuse.