April - June 2023
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APRIL - JUNE 2023
A MESSAGE FROM THE CEO
Dear Friends and Supporters of ISS Australia,
Directors of the ISS network from around the globe met in Ottawa Canada in early June. There was significant discussion around the forthcoming Hague Special Commissions on the 1980 International Child Abduction Hague Convention and the 1996 Child Protection Convention, which are key conventions underpinning much of ISS Australia’s casework.
I presented on the 1980 Hague Convention with a focus on family safety and the best interests of the child. ISS internationally has submitted to the Hague Special Commission and intends to play a key role as an international observer and competent body providing cross-border casework services. ISS Australia has played a key role for the ISS international network in assisting with the drafting and coordination of these submissions and always promoting the best interests of the child as a paramount and guiding principle.
ISS Australia’s staff continue to provide outstanding social work, legal and mediation services as our caseload grows due to the reopening of international borders. However, some of our work is unfunded as we support our international network partners and disadvantaged children and families dealing with cross-border issues.
As such we would be grateful if you could consider donating to ISS Australia before the end of the financial year as all donations are fully tax deductible. This will help vulnerable children and families reconnect with their loved ones.
In other news, the prominent Australian author, TV personality and parent’s rights advocate Jacqueline Pascarl OAM has joined the ISS (International) Governing Board. Jacqueline has great expertise in ISS operational areas and we look forward to supporting her in this new role.
ISS Australia is relaunching its International Family Mediation in late July 2023, we are grateful to have secured funding from the Alfred Felton Bequest (Equity Trustees) to further strengthen our important service in this area. The relaunched service will be led by ISS Australia staff member, Feray Ergun, from July 2023, building on the great work of Kay Hardefeldt and Eleni Bailey before her. The Honourable Justice Bennett AO will speak at the launch of this service and we look forward to the event with details to follow soon.
Did you know ISS internationally is turning 100 next year in October 2024? Watch this space as there will certainly be lots to celebrate about this amazing organisation which has assisted so many families and children across the world since its inception and has been such a force for good.
Peter van Vliet
CEO, International Social Service Australia
OUR HIGHLIGHTS
A new NSW Special Search Service contract
The NSW Special Search Service has been operational for five years and is ISS Australia’s only domestic service. It provides free and specialised search and reunion services to people separated by NSW Government intervention. We are pleased to announce that our funders, the Department of Communities and Justice, confirmed our tender application to continue delivering the service until June 2026 was successful.
ISS Australia applauds our dedicated Special Search Service social workers who have assisted over 165 clients with their search and reunion journey since the service’s inception. Undoubtedly our greatest search tool is our access to LifeSearch, an online database of NSW Births Deaths and Marriages records, and our success rate at locating family members is a remarkable 70%.
Relaunch of International Family Mediation Service
On 26 July 2023, ISS Australia will officially launch the standalone International Family Mediation Service. The launch will include a keynote speech from The Honorable Justice Victoria Bennett AO. The event will showcase the service being provided while also providing attendees a snapshot of what is aimed for the future.
From the conception of the idea of an International Family Mediation Service, the dedicated and growing team of accredited family dispute resolution practitioners takes great pride in it becoming a standalone service. The very generous funding provided by The Alfred Felton Bequest has enabled ISS Australia to further strengthen and consolidate this service for families and children across borders.
The event will bolster ISS Australia’s relationship with key stakeholders and sector colleagues while also making the exciting announcement of its newly appointed leader, Feray Ergun, who will strive to ensure that where there is a need for international family mediation, ISS Australia is there to assist.
ISS Australia would like to thank The Alfred Felton Bequest for its continued support and contribution to assisting families in need of this unique and significant service.
FRSA Conference
Eleni Bailey, current manager of the International Family Mediation Service and Senior Social Worker in the International Parental Child Abduction Service, had the opportunity to attend the annual Family and Relationship Services Australia (FRSA) National conference at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre on the lands of the people of the Yugambeh language region in May 2023. The theme of the conference was ‘Services within everyone’s reach: choice, connection, collaboration’. It is one of the largest annual gatherings of family relationship practitioners, academics and policy makers collaborating and discussing how to best support children, families and communities at large. This year there were 550 delegates!
The conference was a wonderful time to hear a diverse range of presentations on key issues impacting children and families. Presentations included information about legally assisted family dispute resolution models (which ISS Australia also offers in our IFM service), the importance of supporting children in the crucial first 1000 days of a child’s life, and ways of assisting clients experiencing coercive controlling violence, to name just a few of the 70 presentations in total! It was a wonderful opportunity to network, spread the news about ISS Australia’s support services to practitioners far and wide, and keep up to date with recent research, practice learnings and insights.
OUR IMPACT
Australia and Ireland - Article 33 of the 1996 Hague Convention ‘Contemplating and negotiating a transitional placement’
The NSW Child Protection Authority sought ISS Australia’s assistance to conduct rapid permanency planning for a child in care and determine the suitability of her uncle and aunt in Ireland to provide long-term care to their niece.
A referral was sent to ISS Ireland, based within Tusla (the Irish Child Protection Authority) who assisted in locating a local foster care agency to conduct the urgent assessment. ISS Australia also requested the NSW Child Protection Authority to seek Article 33 consent under the HCCH 1996 Child Protection Convention, as well as seek procedural information on how legal orders could be transferred and registered in the Irish jurisdiction.
Following a positive assessment outcome, consent being obtained by Irish Central Authority and transfer of legal orders, ISS assisted in the development of a comprehensive transition plan with post-placement support. The child transitioned to her new life in Ireland with her uncle and aunt, with ISS remaining involved as an intermediary and administrative support while the NSW Child Protection Authority continued to fund high-level post placement support which is critical during this initial transitional phase.
This case exemplifies ISS’s expertise and efficiency in facilitating this international kinship care process, including the urgent assessment, legal channels and transfer of order, and intermediary support post placement. Having an experienced NGO manage the entire cross-border process was invaluable for both the NSW and Irish Child Protection Authorities, especially when local Child Protection Authorities need to prioritise children at risk of harm in their own jurisdiction and have limited knowledge of the issues and process of international kinship placements.
Australian Government’s budget release
ISS Australia welcomed the announcement in May’s budget release that the government will commit $18.4 million to improving protections for women and children experiencing family violence in Australia’s implementation of the 1980 Hague Convention. That total includes:
- $7.4 million to introduce a financial assistance scheme to enable eligible respondent parents to have equivalent access to legal representation as applicant parents.
- $5.3 million for a package of early alternative dispute resolution intervention measures, designed to divert families from contested Hague Convention proceedings and improve safety outcomes.
- $5.7 million to improve the capability of the Attorney-General’s Department to obtain and make evidence about family violence available to the courts in Hague Convention cases.
GET INVOLVED
Can you support ISS Australia?
ISS Australia is a national, not-for-profit organisation. We believe that all people have the right to belong and know who they are.
ISS Australia has been dedicated to supporting and providing services to children, families and individuals impacted by a range of cross border issues.
As the end of the financial year is looming, please consider donating. Your generous tax-deductible donation to ISS Australia will help us continue to support, protect and reunite vulnerable children and families separated by international borders.
