Bringing-Them-Home-Report-Web

We have proposed that the churches and other relevant non-government agenciesshould be represented on each State and Territory Records Taskforce. Private recordagencies should implement the minimum access standards. The Catholic SocialWelfare Commission, in a detailed submission relating to records, concluded that,… the principles which should guide access arrangements to any records containing personalinformation relating to an individual who is seeking to establish or trace their personal andfamily identity are:• as a general rule access to records should be permitted;• every assistance be given to ensure that access is available;• access be free of charge to bona fide inquirers;• maintenance of confidentiality at all times; and,• the provision of professional and culturally sensitive counselling to an inquirer priorto and during the access of personal files (submission 479 page 17).Application of minimum standards and common guidelinesRecommendation 39: That church and other non-government record agenciesimplement the national minimum access standards (Recommendation 25) andapply the relevant State, Territory or Commonwealth common access guidelines(Recommendation 23).Counselling servicesNeedThe emotional and psychological effects of forcible removal are documented inPart 3 of this report.Removal affects the individual, the family, the culture from which they were removed andthe broader society. From Relationships Australia’s experience these outcomes andconsequences of forced removal of children are consistent with grief and loss on a largescale, which when unresolved, affect the quality of people’s relationships (RelationshipsAustralia submission 685 page 6).Some church and other non-government agencies have turned their attention tosurvivors’ needs for counselling and related support. The National StandingCommittee of the Uniting Church in Australia has resolved to request,… synods to invite organisations such as Burnside in New South Wales, Copelen FamilyServices in Victoria and Adelaide Central Mission in South Australia to seek discussionswith the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress with a view to entering intoarrangements under which facilities, resources and expertise of the Uniting Church’s familycounselling services may be made available to the Aboriginal community for child care oradult counselling in an arrangement in which responsibility and authority would benegotiated (submission 457).