Australian Better Families Party

Homelessness Begins With Policy Failures

contributor — Thu, 24 Sep 2020 01:59:57 +0000

In this story from SBS we hear about the ongoing failures of social policy that leads Australians into homelessness.

The two steps prior to homelessness is experiencing mental health problems and exposure to domestic violence. Sadly both lack the attention and funding needed from government with men denied access to important intervention and prevention services because of their gender.

In Australia, despite government efforts to house people during the pandemic, we still see many on the footpath with their bags and begging signs. They are mostly the men. Women tend to find other ways to manage their homelessness such as couch surfing or staying with adult kids or extended family.

Beyond the human tragedy, what most passers-by fail to see is the cost of homelessness to us all. It includes the bills for police and ambulance call-outs, prison nights, visits to emergency departments, hospital stays and mental health and drying out clinics.

These expenses are rarely collated and tabulated to find the true cost of homelessness to the public. The costs are dispersed over so many government agencies and facilities that they are managed in a piecemeal way, as they always have been in Australia. The result is a hefty hit to the public purse.

Financial case for housing the homeless is clear

To understand this further, we did a global scoping review of research since 2009 that examined the value of providing a secure, stable home for formerly homeless people and the wider taxpaying community. In total, we examined 100 research papers and analysed outcomes across a range of domains including physical and mental health, emergency department use, substance use, well-being, community integration, mortality, criminal justice interaction, service use and cost-effectiveness.

The overriding consensus among the 100 peer-reviewed studies and agency reports was that housing stability brought a raft of benefits to formerly homeless individuals. Reducing the cost of non-shelter services also saved the public money.

Stable housing generally came through a Housing First model. The first priority is to find people a safe and permanent home, with no strings attached. Wraparound support services are provided, which are critical in helping them adjust to a new life in a stable and permanent home.

The savings start with health

The most researched measure was health. Almost all the research found positive changes when people moved into permanent, secure housing. Almost one-third of the studies looked at the fall in use of hospital wards and emergency services once people were housed.

As one Australian study found, people sleeping rough are less likely to have their own GP. When symptoms become too severe to ignore they go to hospital emergency wards. They are admitted to hospital more often and stay longer.

In the 12 months after the 44 clients in this Perth-based study were housed, emergency admissions were reduced by 57 per cent and overnight stays by 53 per cent. The overall health-care saving was A$404,028.

People’s use of sobering services and mental health clinics also declined once housed. A Canadian study looked at whether placement in a permanent home was a solution for those with a severe mental illness. With the right supports, the researchers found, these people were largely able to manage their own housing.

They were able to sleep better. They were more likely to take medications as prescribed. Continuity of care for health problems was better and infection rates were lower. And they experienced less psychological distress, depression and anxiety.

Criminal offending is greatly reduced too

All 18 studies looking at criminality reported improvements once people had a stable home. They had fewer nights in jail, arrests and rearrests, and encounters with police.

A 2013 Californian study found once people were housed, with appropriate support services, police contacts fell by 99 per cent. Health costs fell by 85 per cent.

Another two-year Canadian study of 2,000 people across five cities found, unsurprisingly, a major drop-off in public nuisance offences such as sleeping in public places, urinating in public and washing in public bathrooms.

All 19 studies measuring cost-effectiveness found housing people produced savings across a broad range of areas – including crisis accommodation, the justice system, sobering clinics and hospitals. Even after deducting the cost of housing, a 2011 Australian study of 268 participants found savings of $2,182 per person after 12 months.

Our review found a clear economic case for governments to take a systematic approach to ending homelessness. While this argument might be seen as a capitulation to the “financialisation of everything”, the darkening economic cloud of the pandemic might provide just the right cover for government decision-makers to act on the catastrophe of homelessness.

Here’s the link:

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/insight/if-we-realised-how-much-homelessness-was-costing-us-we-d-fix-it-overnight?fbclid=IwAR1szVtvmxztjrihpH_yIu1SmHhjuAe5bMavrRI1vNEczEY2pmr7wpP_Zqk

Here’s our #PolicySnapShot

HOMELESSNESS

We will end homelessness by ensuring every Australian has access to short-term crisis accommodation with pathways to affordable community housing.

#Homelessness #MentalHealthReform #FamilyViolenceReform #BetterFamilies #BetterNation

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China Espionage Exploits Australia

contributor — Mon, 24 Aug 2020 04:39:44 +0000

The Federal Government is asleep at the wheel when it comes to Chinese influence on our future and our economy.

This from the Australian.

The Chinese government is actively recruiting leading Australian scientists for a secretive research program that offers lucrative salaries and perks but requires their inventions to be patented in China and obliges them to abide by Chinese law.

An investigation by The Australian has revealed dozens of leading scientists at major universities across the country have been recruited to a Chinese government program called the Thousand Talents Plan, which FBI director Christopher Wray describes as economic espionage and a national security threat.

The Australian’s investigation shows that, in many instances, Australian academics have been named in Chinese patent applications despite their Australian universities being unaware of their involvement.

Academics targeted globally under the Thousand Talents Plan may have a field of research with a military application, sparking the risk the Chinese government is misusing their inventions and technology for military advancement and even to develop weapons.

When told about The Australian’s revelations, Andrew Hastie — chair of parliament’s joint intelligence committee — called for a parliamentary inquiry.

Mr Hastie said the revelations demonstrated how national research and intellectual property was “being plundered by the CCP”.

In many of the cases uncovered, universities did not know about academics’ connections to the Thousand Talents Plan and patents lodged in China prior to The Australian presenting the evidence.

UNSW said that at no time had one of its Thousand Talents Plan recipients, Joe Dong, “sold or relinquished patents to any Chinese power companies”.

When presented with evidence that Professor Dong was named in patents lodged with the National Intellectual Property Administration of China just last year, the UNSW spokeswoman said this was done “without his knowledge” and “was in line with the academic culture in China at the time”.

Alongside his salary from UNSW, his institute there has received $15m in Australian government and Australian Research Council funding. But he has also received funding from his Thousand Talents scholarship through the Chinese government’s second largest energy company, China Southern Grid. It paid for Professor Dong to hire researchers at UNSW. He also ran a research program for the company at the university. China’s People’s Daily stated in 2017 that Professor Dong was head of Changsha University of Science and Technology’s School of Electrical and Information Engineering and was part of the Thousand Talents Plan.

Thousand Talents Plan contracts usually legally require the copyright for any research or inventions connected with the program to be registered in China — irrespective of whether the research has been done in Australia or includes Australian funding. In return, academics receive a second salary commonly worth more than $150,000 plus lucrative research grants that can stretch into the millions from a Chinese-affiliated university.

There are a suite of other perks including education for their children, housing allowances and jobs for their spouses.

The Australian’s revelations show the widespread infiltration of Australia’s universities by the Chinese Communist Party, with almost every major institution complicit through its inaction in allowing China to be the beneficiary of its research and inventions.

The Australian can publish the names of more than 30 academics who have been recruited to the Thousand Talents Plan or another similar Chinese government recruitment program, or have registered their intellectual property in China.

In one case uncovered by The Australian, Curtin University’s Optus Chair of Artificial Intelligence, Brad Yu, who has received large amounts of Australian and US government funding, has been working at China’s Hangzhou Dianzi University.

Dianzi is designated “high-risk” for its level of Chinese military defence research. It has two major defence laboratories, five designated defence research areas and holds secret security credentials, “allowing it to undertake classified weapons and defence technology projects”.

Professor Yu specialises in drone automation and artificial intelligence, and has been working on an area of intense interest to the Chinese government: aerial warfare and co-ordinating thousands of unmanned aerial vehicles to co-operate in the air.

Chinese-language reports state he is part of Chinese government recruitment programs including the Qianjiang Scholar of Zhejiang Provincial Talents program and the Taishan Scholars Project, Shandong Province.

Despite being on full-time pay at Curtin, where he receives a 60 per cent loading on a professor’s salary and his research institute has been funded to the tune of $4m, The Australian understands he has spent most of the year in China. After The Australian contacted him and Curtin University, Professor Yu’s Hangzhou Dianzi profile became unavailable for public view.

False Allegations in Family Law

contributor — Thu, 20 Aug 2020 23:51:29 +0000

In a story published in Lexology in October 2019 and written by Amy Sarcevic and Ugur Nedim we hear how

False Accusations are a Crime in New South Wales

As children, many of us heard the fable about the boy who cried wolf. For most of us, the story did its job and we learned never to make false assertions, for fear of being ignored the next time we needed someone to listen. But somewhere along the way, some of us forgot this age-old lesson.

Sadly, false accusations are rife in the legal system, and have the potential to ruin the lives of innocent people.

Perhaps one of the most devastating examples is somebody being falsely accused of abusing his or her own child – a claim sometimes made to bolster the accuser’s position in parenting proceedings.

Instances like this are surprisingly common. Research cited in a report by the Australian Institute of Family Studies suggests that one in five accusations about child sexual abuse may be made out of malice.

The problem is so serious that it caused a retiring Family Court justice to call for additional measures to address the issue of parents using false claims of child abuse as a “weapon” to stop spouses from seeing their children.

Here’s some information that may assist you if you are falsely accused.

A false accuser can face serious consequences

Currently, there are laws which impose severe penalties for such conduct. One of these is under section 314 of the Crimes Act 1900, which prescribes a maximum penalty of seven years in prison for false accusations made with the intention of subjecting an innocent person to an investigation.

In addition, under section 117 of the Family Law Act, the courts have discretionary powers to make “cost orders”, meaning that your spouse may have to pay your legal fees if they are caught out making a false allegation against you.

While many who make false claims escape the direct consequences, there are certainly others who have faced both criminal prosecutions and civil proceedings for compensation over their misconduct.

According to the Judicial Commission of NSW, 50 percent of those who pleaded guilty or were found guilty of making a false accusation between January 2018 to September 2019 were sentenced to full time imprisonment; with the remainder receiving intensive correction orders, community correction orders and section 9 good behaviour bonds.

The statistics are on your side

Consistent with global trends, only a fraction of child abuse claims made in Australia are substantiated. Out of 355,935 child abuse notifications made to the AIHW made in In 2015 to 16, only 60989 were authenticated, while a high number could not be proven.

Also, despite the commonality of false accusations in the Family Court, the research shows that very few result in an unfavourable outcome for the falsely accused parent.

The Australian Institute of Family Studies found that 97 percent of fathers retained visiting or parenting rights, despite allegations made against them.

That said, being the target of such a claim can work against you during court proceedings.

A range of bodies are tasked with determining the credibility of claims

Whether you have a case in the criminal or family law courts, there are various bodies tasked with determining the credibility of claims of child neglect and child abuse offences.

These include state and federal police forces; and special Joint Investigation Response Teams comprising police officers, members of the Department of Family and Community Services (or FACS), medical examiners and counsellors.

These will work together to determine whether a child is at risk and if there is a reasonable suspicion that a crime has occurred.

Criminal defence lawyers also undertake investigations on behalf of those who are charged with – or suspected of – child abuse.

This process can include engaging private investigators and other experts, interviewing witnesses, serving subpoenas on various bodies and communicating with prosecutorial bodies.

They may seek to establish flaws in such claims; prevent charges from being brought; or push to have brought charges withdrawn and false accusers criminally prosecuted.

Establishing good character can help

Part of the investigative process may involve an inquiry into whether the accused person has previously committed similar offences, or any criminal offences at all.

Evidence of good character, such as a clean or unsubstantial criminal record, gainful employment and contributions to the community can help overcome serious claims such as child abuse.

Remaining vigilant is the key

Above all, it is important to be proactive when faced with a false accusation, and not give up in the face of a vindictive party, seeking to use their claims against you as a “weapon” to further their interests.

Keeping or obtaining materials which undermine claims – whether on your own or through a professional on your behalf – can put you in a strong position when it comes to countering the accusations and seeking justice against a false accuser.

So, remain vigilant, be strong and don’t let a vengeful person get the better of you, especially when it comes to your relationship with your children.

Here’s our #PolicySnapShot

FAMILY VIOLENCE REFORM

Our policy will enforce a zero tolerance approach to all family and domestic violence. Domestic violence legislation will be amended to ensure services and support will be provided to all victims regardless of their age, gender or sexuality.

#FamilyViolenceReform #MentalHealthReform #FalseAllegations #BetterFamilies #BetterNation

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The Domestic Violence Sham

contributor — Tue, 04 Aug 2020 01:06:24 +0000

What would you do if when falsely accused of domestic violence the court placed an order on you without providing you with an opportunity to defend yourself?

This is what is happening in Magistrates courts around Australia on a daily basis and often many of the people involved had no idea that they had to be in court.

The domestic violence system is failing Australians by denying procedural fairness on an almost daily bases in court rooms around the country.

Here’s how it happens.

Scenario 1.

You have been accused of domestic violence, and told to appear in the local Magistrates court.

When you turn up at the court you are told by court staff that you are to go home and a duty lawyer would call you, provide you with advice, before taking your instructions before the magistrate where you are seeking to have the matter heard at a hearing because the allegations are false.

Then after waiting all day you to hear from the duty lawyer and court you call and are told that your matter was heard and the Magistrate placed a 5 year order against you.

You are now restricted from seeing your children, accessing your personal effects or going to your home for five years.

When you ask about the process of objecting to the order, you are then told that you must now pay a lawyer and reapply to the court to have the matter reheard.

Why?

Because the Magistrate does not want to deal with unrepresented respondents in his court.

Scenario 2.

You arrive home from work to find your house has been emptied of your families possessions and your wife and kids are gone.

There is a notice on the door that tells you that you are in breach of a domestic violence order for being in your home and you have to leave.

You haven’t been contacted by police or the courts and you have no clue where your family is.

Police arrive at your workplace and give you a temporary protection order and advise you that you will be required to appear in court but do not give you a date.

What you didn’t know was court staff and domestic violence advocates have advised police not notify you of your court date until after the the matter is heard and the order has been made, therefore making it impossible for you to defend yourself or to have the order removed.

Two weeks later you receive a call from police who advise you to attend a police station to collect the protection order, after the matter was heard in your absence.

They read the conditions of the five year protection order to you which includes restrictions placed on you that prevent you from having access to your children, personal property and family assets.

It’s the stuff of nightmares and it’s happening every day around our country to men and fathers who are being discriminated against because of their gender.

Here’s our Family Violence Reform #PolicySnapShot

#FamilyViolenceReform #Equality #Respect #Discrimination #BetterFamilies #BetterNation

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Family Law Inquiry Farce

contributor — Mon, 29 Jun 2020 02:16:02 +0000

It was hailed as a once in a lifetime opportunity to hear the real life stories of Australians who have been forced to deal with the broken adversarial Family Law system that uses unfounded domestic violence allegations as weapons against parents and their children to withhold access and strip the generational wealth of vulnerable families.

Instead the Family Law Inquiry is quickly becoming a farce with hundreds of submissions being hidden from the public’s view, as the families involved name names and provide detailed accounts of the systemic abuse that has been hidden behind the doors of the secretive Family Courts.

This from the Spectator

When Scott Morrison announced the Family Law Inquiry he described it on Channel 7 as an opportunity, “to hear directly from families and listen to them as they give their accounts of how the family law system has been impacting them and how it interacts with the child support system.”

It was billed as the chance for everyday Aussies to speak up and tell their stories in an attempt to force change.

What a joke.

It’s hardly surprising that months down the track, there is mounting anger about the way this Inquiry is being handled.

Hundreds (if not thousands) of submissions have been needlessly classified as confidential and withheld from public view.

Here’s our #PolicySnapShot

BETTER FAMILY LAW

Our policy will ensure families dealing with child access disputes will be supported through long-term mediation and counselling programs to maintain healthy relationships and happy families post-separation.

#BetterFamilyLaw #FamilyViolenceReform #DomesticViolence #BetterFamilies #BetterNation

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An Inconvenient Truth

contributor — Sun, 28 Jun 2020 02:23:17 +0000

Another life lost and we still have domestic violence policy that ignores male victims because of their gender.

Today our thoughts are with Payman Thagipur and the families of those involved who will be struggling with the terrible loss of life because of this senseless act of violence.

A woman who police allege ran over her former lover and killed him after a heated argument was seen calmly walking past his body as he lay helpless in an apartment tower’s car park in Sydney’s inner west.

Shocked witnesses tried to save well-liked Payman “Paul” Thagipur when he was allegedly hit by the Toyota Kluger that knocked over a bollard and pinned him against a brick wall in the car park of his apartment tower on Hill Rd in Wentworth Point on Saturday night but he died shortly afterwards.

In Australia, 1 in 2 victims of intimate partner violence are men, and yet current domestic violence policy ignores these victims because of their gender.

We desperately need to stop the discrimination so we can get on with the job of ending the cycle of violence in Australian homes.

Here’s our #PolicySnapShot

FAMILY VIOLENCE REFORM

More details of the incident here: https://7news.com.au/…/man-dies-after-being-pinned-against-…

#FamilyViolenceReform #endalldv #RIP ‬#BetterFamilyLaw #DomesticViolence #BetterFamilies #BetterNation

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If Only Black Lives Mattered

contributor — Tue, 09 Jun 2020 00:15:39 +0000

Do these Black Lives Matter?

Two boys and two girls, aged between 14 and 18 years old, were killed after stealing a car from Idalia, a suburb of Townsville, early Sunday morning and crashing at Bayswater.

The Townsville Bulletin reports that some of the children were known to the Department of Child Safety and under state care, the 14 year old driver of the stolen car walks free tonight.

Marching to raise the profile of indigenous deaths in custody is an important issue, yet it doesn’t highlight the real problems in aboriginal communities, mental health, drug and alcohol abuse, poverty, sexual assault, nor does it prevent more young black lives from entering the criminal justice system.

Australian communities are dealing with a juvenile justice epidemic that see’s both indigenous and non-indigenous children, some as young as eight, involved in violent crimes with the same offenders being caught by police and let free time and time again.

It is clear that the parents of these children are failing in their duty of care particularly when child protection become involved and a new approach is needed.

Here’s our Juvenile Justice #PolicySnapShot

Juvenile Justice Reform

Our approach to reducing juvenile crime will see offenders enter the national youth service program prior to re-offending. Our policy includes a nation juvenile curfew combined with redirection programs that focus on training, education and community engagement to reduce recidivism rates.

More Here: https://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/news/townsville/fatal-crash-victims-reportedly-known-to-docs-as-driver-walks-free-hours-after-crash/news-story/682b4e718c7f4f6c8f711216a147c12a

#JuvenileJustice #BLM #FamiliesNeedFathers #BetterPolicy #BetterFamilies #BetterNation

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Pandemic Double Standards

contributor — Tue, 09 Jun 2020 00:09:25 +0000

Victoria Police closed a popular Mornington Peninsula pier over concerns that locals and visitors were not “observing social-distancing requirements” just two days after thousands marched through the streets of Melbourne without penalty.

This come just days after the Victorian government and police allowed tens of thousands of protesters to march in the streets of Melbourne.

People would be “moved on” if they visited Rye pier and more local attractions would be shut if social-distancing was not observed, the police later said.

The apparent double standard in policing comes as health authorities consider lifting social-distancing restrictions more quickly and pressure mounts on states that let thousands of people march in Black Lives Matter protests on Saturday.

There are two sets of rules in Australia that has those that challenge government pandered to, while law abiding citizens are rounded up by police and charged for going about their lives.

What have we become Australia?

More Here: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/piers-off-fishers-get-marching-orders-days-after-mass-protests/news-story/ecb00a30d7111d40ffa9d515a498c188?fbclid=IwAR0YwCpklAo35XjLW7be4DCkF3m_VwXXZw4rVvXkRHLG_Rt7_7Fr1GS3zos

#ChineseVirus #Pandemic #Covid19 #Victoria #BetterFamilies #BetterNation

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Government Sticks With Made In China

contributor — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 00:41:22 +0000

Government sticks with made in China after telling the nation to shop locally.

NSW spends $1 billion on foreign PPE instead of using local companies after telling the nation to Buy Australian Made.

One month after offering to pay Australian manufacturers to make personal protective equipment NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has spent $1 billion buying the gear from overseas sources – including China.

In what was billed as a “call to arms” for local manufacturers, Ms Berejiklian released a tender for Australian companies to make the PPE equipment domestically.

Sky News Political Editor Andrew Clennell has revealed that despite having more than 1800 business apply for the job, the NSW Government went on to buy $1 billion worth of PPE from overseas sources, including China.

Ms Berejiklian said at the time the equipment would go towards protecting frontline workers. “The NSW Government has purchased almost $1 billion of personal protective equipment to help contain the spread of COVID-19 and protect frontline emergency workers, medical staff and the public,” she said.

“While NSW has successfully flattened the curve for now, we know the battle against this global pandemic is still a reality and we’re not taking any chances.” Mr Clennell said he was waiting on the government to confirm how many local contractors had been commissioned yet.

“Now I’m awaiting a NSW government statement on how many local contractors have so far been commissioned,” he said. “They say a few actually have but admit there is not actually much of a need for PPE at the moment after their team, NSW Health and Mr Olympics Rod McGeoch looked to procure these other supplies.

Too bad for the 1800 local contractors who put their hands up.”

What chance have Australian manufacturers and employers got if the very people who encourage the nation to shop locally refuse to do the same with our tax dollars.

#MakeItAustralian #BuyItAustralian #BetterPolicy #BetterFamilies #BetterNation

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The Black Lives That Should Matter

contributor — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 00:35:40 +0000

These are the black lives that should matter but often there is little to no mention of the abuse that takes place in these communities.

This is one of many Australian towns that is gripped by a paedophile epidemic with ‘90% of school-age children sexually abused’

Thirty-six men have been charged with more than 300 offences against 184 children after an investigation uncovered a “staggering” rate of abuse in Roebourne, Western Australia.

The state’s child protection minister said the scale of the epidemic was so vast that child sex abuse had become “normal” in the remote former gold rush town, which has a largely Aboriginal population of about 1,410.

Police have identified 124 suspects from Roebourne and the surrounding communities during the operation, which still has another year to run.

The confirmed victims amount to about 90 per cent of the town’s school-age population, according to The Australian, and police say they expect more to come forward.

When do we gather and march to protect these children?

More here: http://www.independent.co.uk/…/roebourne-western-australia-…

#ChildProtection #FamilyViolenceReform #MentalHealthReform #BetterPolicy #BetterFamilies #BetterNation

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