The evidence that convicted Erin Patterson
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ABC News
43 minutes ago
- ABC News
City of Moreton Bay claims homeless people consented to having camps thrown away
A Queensland council says homeless campers "consented" to having their tents destroyed and possessions thrown into rubbish trucks during the clearing of a park used by rough sleepers. The City of Moreton Bay denied destroying people's property and said it only removed "unwanted items" from camps that had been "abandoned" by their owners. It comes after the council made homeless camping illegal on public land in March, prompting a crackdown on tent cities in April. Former homeless woman Debbie Bobeldyk said she had not left her camp willingly, nor had she consented to the council throwing out her personal belongings. She said the council threw away an urn containing her daughter's ashes, her fridge, portable air conditioner and several fences. The 58-year-old was one of the homeless campers who left Eddie Hyland Park in April after the council threatened her with a maximum fine of $8,065 if she stayed. Ms Bobeldyk said council officers gave her and her husband, John, one hour to collect what belongings they could before officers demolished their tent site with an excavator. "We couldn't pack everything up in that time, I could hardly breathe because of the panic, we could hardly get any of it," Ms Bobeldyk said. "We never gave them permission. A council spokesperson said it took a sensitive and empathetic approach to homeless campers. "City of Moreton Bay maintains a compassionate approach and supports rough sleepers to gather their personal items," the spokesperson said. "Council officers provide rough sleepers with bags for them to store and retain items such as clothing, medication and toiletries. "Council collects items identified as waste by rough sleepers and items that have been abandoned at campsites." The spokesperson said the council might also take items and hold them for 20 days for homeless people to collect. Homeless man Karl Eichin said he was evicted from his camp at Sweeney Reserve in April, and had not left of his own free will. The 43-year-old said he felt "intimidated" into leaving by a group of about eight council and police officers. Mr Eichin moved to a council-owned bush reserve in Kallangur. He is one of 11 homeless campers in Kallangur being represented by human rights lawyers in a Supreme Court case against the City of Moreton Bay. Mr Eichin said he did not want to live in a tent in Kallangur, but he had not been offered social housing. "I've been on the waiting list for years. I've had to go back and forth with [the Department of] Housing, but there are just so many people." The latest state government figures show that, as of March, there were 5,493 people on the social housing waiting list in the City of Moreton Bay — the highest in the region's history. The number of people on the Moreton Bay waiting list has more than doubled since 2018.
ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
Hannah McGuire murder accused Lachlan Young set to face a jury
A jury is expected to be empanelled today in the murder trial of the man accused of killing young Clunes woman Hannah McGuire. Lachlan Young faces one count of murder over the death of Ms McGuire, his former partner. He is expected to plead not guilty in the Supreme Court of Victoria when the trial begins. Ms McGuire was reported missing by her family in April last year and her body found in a vehicle that had been destroyed by fire south-west of Ballarat. Until yesterday, the matter was subject to a suppression order. The trial is expected to run for five weeks.
ABC News
2 hours ago
- ABC News
77 per cent of childcare workers operating below safety requirements, union survey finds
More concerns have been raised about safety at childcare centres, with three-quarters of workers telling a survey their place of work was operating below minimum staffing levels at least weekly. The United Workers Union survey of 2,100 childcare workers also found that 42 per cent of workers said their centre was operating below minimum staffing levels on a daily basis. The findings come after the charging of a Melbourne childcare worker with more than 70 offences, including sexual assault, and a long-running ABC investigation revealed examples of profit being placed above care. "While examining the tragic events revealed in Melbourne last week, we also need to understand the alarm that is being sounded by educators," UWU early education director Carolyn Smith said. "Workers report children are left without emotional support, without adequate supervision to stop them hurting themselves or others, and without appropriate education." The union survey was conducted before the Melbourne childcare worker was charged. "I can't even guarantee the safety of the children and myself. I feel sad, unsafe and stressful every day," a Victorian worker told the survey. Do you have a story to share? Email The for-profit operyators that dominate the childcare sector pay staff less and rely more on casual workers, an Australian Competition and Consumer Commission investigation in 2023 found. "Partly because of understaffing, we see a real churn of staff moving through centres, and that's when we don't have that safe, quality environment we need," Ms Smith said. The issues highlighted in the ABC investigation echo the UWU survey, which revealed the top four concerns of educators. Preeti Soodan, a Melbourne educator at a large for-profit provider, told ABC News childcare workers had too many demands placed on them, including cleaning and administration. "There are many challenges we face during the day. We keep changing the hats; we are educators, we are leaders, we are supervising the children, we have many responsibilities with documentation," Ms Soodan said. "We don't only educate them, we have to wipe the tables, clean them, support them emotionally. Throughout our day, we are always juggling." Ms Soodan is a trained primary school teacher with more than a decade's experience working in Australia and India. She said workers were treated as "glorified babysitters" rather than educators. "The neuroscience tells us that 90 per cent of the brain develops till the age of five, so you can understand how precious this profession is," Ms Soodan said. The UWU survey revealed 83 per cent of workers agreed a common staffing loophole called the "under the roof" ratio was used by centres and compromised the wellbeing of children. Ratios are designed to ensure a minimum of staff are present at all times to supervise children but the numbers of workers required in each room varies according to the age of the children. Some staff count all workers "under the roof" rather than numbers in individual rooms required under the National Quality Framework (NQF) and state-based regulators. "Educators tell us that what was supposed to be a commonsense stopgap for changes that occur at centres through the day, has become an overused staffing loophole, entrenching educators regularly working below minimum staffing requirements in their rooms," Ms Smith said. Even where ratios were being met, staff reported an increase in children with additional needs meant safety was still being compromised. "We always work with the correct ratio, but the increase of children with higher needs is making current ratios completely inappropriate," a New South Wales educator told the union survey. Federal Minister for Early Childhood Education Senator Jess Walsh said the survey results were "very concerning". "Providers must meet minimum staffing levels to provide safe, quality early education and care," she said. "We will work with educators and their union to address the concerns raised in this survey." The minister said the government last year agreed to spend $3.6 billion to give childcare workers a pay rise and job vacancies were falling in the sector. The Australian Childcare Alliance, a lobby group representing for-profit providers, said its members had been working with government to improve attraction and retention of workers. "We are unable to comment on a survey with no oversight of the detail included in the data," a spokesperson said. "The sector is rightfully expected to comply with the regulations and National Quality Framework at all times. This is non-negotiable."
