Caption: National Aged and Community Care Roundtable for Forgotten Australians official website launch (Left to Right) Ms Caroline Carroll OAM, Ms Anne Livingstone, Ms Lana Syed-Waasdorp, Minister for Children and Youth Justice & Minister for Multicultural Affairs the Hon Leanne Linard, Ms Gloria Lovely, and Truth, Healing and Reconciliation Taskforce Chair Mr Bob Atkinson.
For international Care Experienced History Month 2023, the National Aged and Community Care Roundtable for Forgotten Australians (National Roundtable) hosted a series of events over the month of April 2023.
Macleay Island
The first event of the month was a visit to MacLeay Island in the Southern Moreton Bay Islands to meet with the population of Forgotten Australians residing there.
This event was hosted in partnership with Micah Projects who kindly organised a morning tea with Forgotten Australians as well as Anne Livingstone, Chair of the National Aged and Community Care Roundtable for Forgotten Australians.
Official Launch of the National Aged and Community Care Roundtable for Forgotten Australians Website
The National Roundtable received funding from the Queensland Government Truth, Healing and Reconciliation Taskforce to create a website for the National Roundtable.
On 20 April 2023, the website was officially launched by the Minister for Children and Youth Justice and the Minister for Multicultural Affairs The Honourable Leanne Linard MP, and the Truth, Healing and Reconciliation Taskforce, Chair Mr Bob Atkinson AO APM.
This event was held in a hybrid format, with in-person attendees welcomed at Queensland Parliament in Brisbane and virtual attendees joining online via Zoom. We were fortunate enough to have over 20 Forgotten Australians present in the room, creating a lively and passionate atmosphere.
The website was codesigned with Forgotten Australians and provides information on Forgotten Australians and Care Leavers, the work of the National Roundtable, personal experiences of Forgotten Australians, and helpful resources for aged and community care services.
Webinar
The third event part of the international Care Experienced History Month 2023, was the Better-Informed Aged and Community Care for Care Leavers webinar held on 26 April 2023.
This webinar heard from Dr Frank Golding OAM, who is a Care Leaver and the Vice President of the Care Leavers Australia Network. Dr Golding is an Author, Researcher and Historian. Who has been honoured with an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for service to child welfare and social justice and to the community. Dr Golding has authored a wide range of book chapters and journal articles including a memoir, An Orphan’s Escape: Memories of a Lost Childhood which describes his childhood and the circumstances of his dislocation from his family. In his presentation, he spoke about his thesis titled ‘Care Leavers Recovering Voice and Agency Through Counter-Narratives’ and discussed his perspectives on inclusive labels and terms used to describe Forgotten Australians and Care Leavers.
The second presenter was Professor Elizabeth Fernandez OAM, a Professor of Social Work from the University of New South Wales. Elizabeth's teaching and research for over four decades are in the areas of child abuse, trauma, family violence, care and protection and field-based learning and supervision. She was also the Chief Investigator of the Long-term Outcomes for Forgotten Australians Study. Elizabeth spoke about her recent research on Forgotten Australians, Child Migrants and the Stolen Generation, explaining the outcomes from that research. Her research indicates that Care Leavers are at a higher risk of experiencing the early onset of aging, poor mental and physical health, poorer education and are more likely to experience abusive relationships in adulthood.
The final presenter for the webinar was Ms Karyn Walsh, Chief Executive Officer of Micah Projects, a Brisbane not-for-profit organisation committed to improving the lives of disadvantaged and marginalised people through service provision and advocacy. In the 2017 Queen’s Birthday Honours, Karyn was made a Member of the Order of Australia for her service to the community, supporting people with mental health issues, the homeless, and children through various social welfare initiatives, and has been named as a Queensland Great in 2021. Karyn spoke about the importance of better-informed aged and community care for Forgotten Australians, bringing up key topics such as trauma-informed care and the significance of choice and independence.
The key aim for the webinar was to raise awareness of the need for better-informed aged and community for Care Leavers.
To watch this webinar, please click here.
To access the website, please visit: https://www.forgottenaustraliansroundtable.com.au/
To access the LinkedIn, please visit: https://www.linkedin.com/company/national-aged-and-community-care-roundtable-for-forgotten-australians/
To access the YouTube account, please visit: https://www.youtube.com/@agedcareroundtableforforgo8728