Appendix 4
Memorandum by the Australian Child Migrant
Foundation Inc.
Child Migrants (CM 131)
IntroductionThe Australian Child Migrant Foundation
(ACMF) is an independent, non-denominational organisation which
has been established by former child migrants to lobby governments,
church groups and other institutions that were a part of the various
child migrant schemes to Australia. The Foundation is a registered
organisation. Its Constitution provides for the following objectives:"...The
purpose of the Foundation is to provide support and assistance
to those persons who were child migrants to Australia during the
twentieth century under the Child Migration Scheme conducted by
the Government of the United Kingdom and similar schemes conducted
by other governments including (but not necessarily limited to)
the following:
counselling services
assistance with citizenship matters
assistance in tracing relatives and history
prior to immigration
assistance with family re-union
any other service or assistance considered by
the Executive Committee to be related to the objectives of the
Foundation..."The Foundation was established by a group
of former child migrants and incorporated in 1996. The Foundation
operates under a Board of Management comprising mainly former
child migrants, two of whom hold the positions of Chair and Deputy
Chair. The Foundation Patron is the Chief Justice of Western Australia,
the Honourable David Malcolm AC.As an association intimately involved
with child migration, the Foundation welcomes the establishment
of the Health Committee inquiry into Child Migration and is grateful
for the opportunity to make a submission.
Family reunionThe ACMF provides a family reunion
program. The main program develops the means to enable child migrants
to fulfil a lifelong ambition to revisit their country of birth
and be reunited with family and relatives. In many cases, such
a visit will be the first and only time they will be able to leave
Australia.The offerings take the form of a single return airfare,
a travelling allowance and travel insurance. Counselling services
are provided on a needs basis to both former migrants and their
UK families.The cost of providing these and other activities are
borne by the Foundation. The reunion initiative is unique and
is not general available through other organisations. Responses
from former child migrants reveals that there is an urgent need
for a body like the Foundation and its vision.So far, the Foundation
has been able to assist some eighty individuals return to their
home country. Unfortunately, the Foundation is now out of funds
and awaits an injection of funding, both private and public, before
it can continue with its family reunion programs.
Family information servicesWe are not aware of any
efforts made by the governments—British, Australian or Western
Australian—to establish any systematic and coordinated mechanisms
whereby former child migrants have been informed of parents or
siblings.We are aware of some church organisations responding
to individual requests for assistance in family tracking, including
the Catholic Migration Centre in Perth. Our discussions with a
number of church organisations in the UK indicate that in many
cases these organisations had few records concerning the number
of children under their former care since these children were
often abandoned. ("We often had to cope with Mothers bringing
their children into the home then vanishing, leaving the barest
of details.")Barnardo's has records on all its former wards
and has been able to assist with information concerning parents.The
Child Migrant Trust has been active in assisting former child
migrants in locating parents and relatives. The UK (Catholic)
Children's Welfare Council has been active, but in our view, less
successful than the Child Migrant Trust in locating relatives.
Independent counselling servicesFormer child migrants
in Australia have access to the range of government funded and
supported social welfare and counselling agencies.In June 1996,
the Western Australian Minister for Family and Children's Service
wrote to the Foundation indicating that:"...It has been
well documented that the practice of child migrants coming to
Western Australia is now seen to have had adverse effects on many
children. Officers from Family and Children's services will provide
relevant information from departmental files to individual child
migrants as well as offering support and counselling..."There
has been no attempt, by governments, however, to provide a service
explicitly designed to assist former child migrants cope with
the effects of child migration.A number of church-run institutions
assist with counselling. Whether these are classified as "neutral
and independent" is a matter of viewpoint. The Christian
Brothers' Ex-Residents' Services (CBERS) offer financial and general
counselling services and would claim to be independent and neutral.
A number of former child migrants would not view CBERS or any
church-run or sponsored institution as either independent or neutral.The
major non-government and non-church organisation active in the
area of child migration is the Child Migrant Trust. This organisation
offers counselling services and claims to be independent and neutral.
Our assessment is that it is dependent on government funding and
is far from neutral. It has succeeded in alienating itself from
a number of institutions capable of assisting former child migrants.
Its membership rules discriminate against those who have worked
with or been involved with other migrant agencies (see below).
In our view, this is unfortunate and reduces the Trust's capacity
to help former child migrants.
Blame and responsibilityThe ACMF has followed a "no
blame" policy believing that to do otherwise would be counterproductive
to the needs of former child migrants. Rather, the ACMF has sought
to encourage governments, churches and agencies to combine resources
to assist people before it is too late. Nevertheless, a "no-blame"
policy does not mean that the ACMF does not believe that those
involved with former child migrant schemes do not have a responsibility
in redressing the long term outcomes of such schemes. The ACMF
is of the view that the British and Australian national and state
governments must accept their responsibilities in relation to
former child migrants. It also sees those churches and other agencies
that were involved in child migration schemes as having to accept
their responsibilities in this area.The ACMF has raised significant
funds from church and religious organisations. These funds are
being used directly to assist former child migrants to return
to their country of birth (particularly for family reunion); to
assist in accommodation; to provide for meals, travel and other
incidental expenses; and to provide for any particular needs of
the individuals concerned.
An apolitical approachThe ACMF believes that none
of the agencies currently providing services for the benefit of
former child migrants are able to perform their duties in an arena
which is free from "negative" politics, political interference,
accusations of child abuse and fear of media interference.Many
agencies purporting to work for, and on behalf of, former child
migrants do not have child migrant representation on their committees.
One of these, the Child Migrant Trust, has actually formed a new
division which specifically excludes some former child migrants:"Former
Child Migrants and family members who have worked for any of the
agencies involved in the Child Migration Schemes, or have been
involved with an organisation which has received funding from
any of those agencies, may be Full Members of the Association,
but may not stand for election to the Committee or sit on any
Sub-Committee. No other persons associated with, or employed by,
any agency formerly involved with child migration will be eligible
for Full or Associate membership."Having effectively
alienated itself from other groups, the Child Migrant Trust is
unlikely to ever be the impartial "Peak Body" capable
of uniting and carrying forward the interests of all former Child
Migrants.The Australian Child Migrant Foundation believes this
"power play" is extremely negative to the cause of former
child migrants, and has more to do with the preservation of the
agency in question. We have therefore produced a number of recommendations
which should govern the charter of any agency working for, and
on behalf of, the Child migrants.
Recommended course of actionFor the reasons expressed
the ACMF would recommend that:
1. A new peak body be formed to pursue the common
objectives of family tracing, counselling, family reunion, and
other activities deemed appropriate by the peak body;
2. The peak body be comprised of government appointees
including a Chair and with former child migrant representation.
No less than two or twenty percent (which ever is the greater)
of the Board of Management's membership should be comprised of
former child migrants;
3. The aims and objectives of the peak body be
similar to, but not necessarily the same as those of the ACMF;
4. Where possible, the appointees be chosen for
their experience and expertise in counselling, business management,
legal matters and fundraising;
5. The peak body be funded publicly by the British
and Australian governments and also by those church and private
organisations currently funding family reunion and other services;
6. This peak body be located in Australia for
its main activities, and be able to liaise with and fund the various
British agencies who will be responsible in providing services
such as counselling, family tracing and facilitating family reunion;
7. A comprehensive database be set up and controlled
by the peak body. The data should include all known child migrants
with any known history of family, institution, health, education,
old photos, or any other information deemed appropriate by the
committee;
8. Information from the database be made available
to any child migrant seeking personal details about themselves
or by written request from their families.
Suggested terms of reference for peak body
(a) To establish a register of former child migrants.
(b) To survey the needs and circumstances of the
former child migrants.
(c) To pressure British, Maltese, Australian
Federal and State governments to acknowledge their involvement
with migration schemes, and their responsibilities to participate
in and fund any necessary remedial action.
(d) To encourage church groups, and other institutions
previously associated with child migration, to acknowledge:
their involvement with migration schemes
their responsibilities to participate in
and fund any necessary remedial action.
(e) To establish, or support the establishment
of services identified by (b) above. Based on our experience to
date, these services are likely to include:
"interest free" loans
literacy and numeracy classes
family counselling and assistance with
treatment for alcoholism, drug dependency, sexual abuse and substance
abuse
citizenship and passport assistance
accommodation and aged care support
group therapy
family reunion services.
(f) To establish, or fund, a "referral centre"
for former child migrants.
(g) To establish family tracing services, or
assist those organisations which have developed guidelines and
expertise in family reunion services.
(h) To establish a register of accommodation
and "foster homes" for former child migrants visiting
homelands for reunion and other purposes.
(i) To develop cooperative, rather than hostile
or competitive, relationships between organisations seeking to
assist former child migrants.
(j) To provide an appropriate British pension,
in addition to any Australian pension already in situ (tax free
and non-means tested), for needy former child migrants.
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