A history of children's welfare services in Australia demonstrates the significant and on-going role of the non-government sector. This is particularly true within New South Wales. Many programmes, frequently under the auspice of mainstream religious institutions, were established early in response to critical social needs. These programmes routinely developed in isolation from each other, often with primary ties only to the auspice body and the local community. Some things are slow to change.

Today the non-government sector is an amorphous collective of agencies with highly variable philosophical under pinnings, welfare ideologies, resources and competency levels.

We have learned a great deal about the needs of children, the process of change, and competency in service delivery (within a specific statutory umbrella). Our new knowledge is yet to be consistently reflected in practice.

In this study, parents considered themselves to be the most credible source of Information about alcohol and drinking for their children. However, when information about drugs Is sought many parents believe the police and health specialists are more authoritative. Young adults supported parents as a primary source of information about alcohol and drinking, but considered universities, police, and the media to be more important for drugs. These findings and their implications for the development of alcohol and drug education programs are discussed.

This paper was first presented at the International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions. 11th International Congress Paris, July 1986.

Following the Ash Wednesday bushfires of 1983 it became apparent that communities affected by the fires would require additional resources and support at a local level in the task of helping people recover from disaster. Since experience has shown that communities recover best when they are able to plan and manage their own recovery, the State Government accepted a recommendation of the Department of Community Services, to fund through Local Government the short -term appointment of Community Development Officers, who would be responsible to the Area Co-ordinationg Committee. These individuals would be members of the affected communities with particular skils in helping people, families and the community to gain access to the information, resources, services and supports they would need.

Is it support from the community to the family?

This could be construed as voluntary support, possibly emphasising the “charitable model” whereby the more able and financially independent people in the community assist those less able and more disadvantaged.

Baron Karl Frederick Van Munchausen was famous throughout Europe in the 18th century for tales of his adventures which were of doubtful authenticity. In 1951 the term Munchausen syndrome was coined to describe adults who fabricated histories of illness, produced false physical signs and laboratory findings to deceive doctors and receive unwarranted medical treatment and operations. Munchausen syndrome by proxy was first described by Dr. Roy Meadow (1977) as a form of child abuse in which an illness is fabricated in a child by a parent.

In New South Wales, the State Disaster Welfare Plan provides the structure for disaster relief and the co-ordination of both government and non-government bodies. The plan provides for a Personal Services and Welfare Information subcommittee in each regional or local area, responsible for assistance to individuals, groups and communities. This can be of a personal (e.g. counselling, referral) and information (e.g. dissemination, publicity, meetings) nature. Separate subcommittees are responsible for accommodation, clothing, catering and registration in the immediate post-disaster phase.

The New South Wales Government also provides assistance to families who have suffered material losses in bushfires or floods, though a Relief Scheme, administered by the Department of Youth and Community Services and the Bushfire/Flood Relief Committee. The department is divided into ten regions throughout the state.

Parental involvement has become a cornerstone of the movement to promote permanency planning for children and youth who are placed - or at risk of placement - out of their homes. Foster family care in particular provides many opportunities for effective involvement of biological parents in child welfare practice. Following consideration of the rationale and purposes of parental involvement, this article focuses on implications and guidelines for promoting optimal participation of biological parents.

This article first appreared in “The Macedon Digest”, Volume 1, No. 3, September 1986. Published by the Australian Counter Disaster College, Mt. Macedon, Victoria.