Latest news with #Claire
ABC News
11 hours ago
- ABC News
Concerns family intervention orders 'designed for adults' are being placed on young people
Luke and Claire never expected they would be fighting to remove an intervention order placed on their own child. Their names have been changed to protect the identity of their teenager, but they wanted to share their experience in the hope it would lead to change. After a move to regional Victoria, the couple became concerned about the behaviour of their child, which eventually led to a desperate call to authorities for help. "We were in crisis, needed the police to come to help settle the crisis situation down," Luke said. "Three police officers came fairly quickly, and I think the way they managed the situation was good," he said. It was what came next that shocked the family. An interim family violence intervention order was placed on their 15-year-old child, with the father, Luke, named as the person in need of protection. "They told us pretty clearly that there was no option … we took the advice we were given, even though we made it pretty clear we didn't want [the intervention order]. The family felt like they had lost one of their avenues for much-needed crisis support. "I just asked them, how does this help?" Luke said. Across Australia, each state has different family violence and restraining order laws, which makes it difficult to get a national picture of how many young people are being placed on these intervention orders. In a number of jurisdictions, data shows domestic violence orders are increasing, but it's not always clear how many young people this involves. However, a new report from Victoria Legal Aid (VLA) found in that state since 2018, there has been a 34 per cent increase in the number of children VLA has assisted with intervention order applications made against them. The Feeling Supported, Not Stuck report, reviewed 101 closed files and found 39 per cent of families did not support the family violence intervention order made against their child. The problem is that the intervention order system is designed for adults, said VLA's associate director child protection, Elicia Savvas. "Police can choose to make an [intervention order] application to the court, and that's frequently what's happening, and then ultimately it's up to a magistrate to make a decision," she said. "That system is just not appropriate for [young people]. They can't understand the order and often it's a matter of actually needing help to deal with whatever's driving that behaviour, and the court system can't do that." Advocates have warned Victoria's extremely robust family violence law might be penalising vulnerable children who need more social support. "In 2008, Victoria forged ahead with one of the most expansive definitions of family violence in Australia, and at the time that was seen as really groundbreaking because we're recognising the diversity of experiences of victims, survivors of family," said Elena Campbell, Associate Director at RMIT's Centre for Innovative Justice. Those laws mean no consent is required for police to file family safety intervention orders, but this approach, "suitable for adults," may have inadvertently created issues for children and families, she said. The authors of VLA's report believe there are nationwide lessons from their research. "The interventional system looks different in every state around Australia, but children and young people have similar experiences, particularly of violence or trauma across Australia," Ms Savvas said. The ABC reached out to Victoria Police for comment. The overall rise in VLA's child clients responding to intervention orders was partly driven by the increase in school-based disputes leading to court action. The report examined young people's experiences of not only family safety intervention orders, but also personal safety intervention orders. Eighty-one per cent of personal safety intervention order files at VLA were related to incidents between children in school. In Victoria, parents or members of the public can apply for personal safety intervention orders to be placed on children. Serena is a proud First Nations woman who had two of her teenage children placed on intervention orders over school-based incidents. "It was really stressful, not just for my kids but me too … it affected us in every way," she said. She said her daughter was being bullied and targeted at school, which ultimately led to a fight that resulted in intervention orders being filed against both her children. Serena felt more could have been done to remedy the situation. "They should have got together with both families, spoke about it and worked with both of us, to see how we could all fix this. "My daughter had to go in separate entrance from the other [child] at the school, they put my daughter in an upper year level where she didn't understand the work at all, so then she started failing subjects." Serena and her children attended court and were able to have the orders withdrawn. The VLA report included previously unpublished Crime Statistics Agency analysis of Victoria Police data, which showed an 8 per cent increase in intervention orders against 10 to 17-year-olds since 2018. It found a more significant increase in personal safety intervention orders, which rose by 28 per cent between 2018 and 2023. "Resolving conflicts between students at school is something that we acknowledge is really hard for schools to do," Ms Savvas said. Fifty per cent of intervention order applications were withdrawn or revoked once they reached the Victorian Children's Court in 2023-2024, the report found. "The decline in final orders suggests that police are making applications that may not be necessary or Magistrates are acknowledging that a final order will not address the needs of the parties," it said. Legal and community justice experts say reforms are needed to protect vulnerable children who need social support, not legal interventions. "There's no evidence that we can see to show that children are becoming more violent," Ms Savvas said. Ms Campbell, who advised both state and federal governments on domestic and family violence, said intervention orders were a blunt instrument. "Intervention orders are a very useful device or mechanism that we have in our legal toolkit, but in terms of using them in relation to young people, they're a very, very blunt instrument," she said. She is calling for a review and reform. "There's a huge and very urgent need for reform of the Family Violence Protection Act (Vic) as a whole wholesale review, and then to look at the Personal Safety Intervention Act (Vic) as well." Luke and Claire were able to support their child in court to have the intervention order dismissed but are still looking for extra support. "I think family counselling at that point in time was what we needed. Raising teenagers today is extremely difficult." The ABC reached out to Victoria's Minister for Prevention of Family Violence Natalie Hutchins for comment.
Daily Record
20 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
Outlander fans distraught at 'devastatingly cruel' theory Claire was kept from parents
Outlander fans have been theorising that a "devastating" plot line regarding Claire Fraser and her parents is going to come out in the prequel Blood of My Blood. WARNING: This article contains spoilers from the Outlander franchise. As Outlander fans eagerly anticipate the prequel Blood of My Blood, a chilling theory has emerged concerning Claire and her parents, Henry and Julia Beauchamp. Claire Fraser (portrayed by Caitriona Balfe) had a tragic childhood, losing her parents in a car crash when she was just five-years-old. This led to her adoption by her uncle Quentin Lambert Beauchamp (Prentis Hancock), a historian and archaeologist who instilled in her a love for history. However, with the upcoming release of Blood of My Blood on Friday, August 9, on MGM+, the prequel has sparked numerous questions about Claire's parents. Hints suggest that after Henry Beauchamp (Jeremy Irvine) and Julia Moriston (Hermoine Corfield) fall in love during the First World War, Julia finds herself transported back to 1714 via the iconic Highland stones. It's suggested that she and Henry are separated by time but remain determined to reunite. A Reddit user posed an intriguing question: "I just had this thought... if it turns out Claire's parents ended up living their lives in the past, wouldn't it be possible they were alive and well when she went through the stones?" In response, another fan agreed: "That was my thought when I saw the trailer. "What if the stones were reuniting her with her parents and Jamie accidentally 'interrupted' that." A third emotionally remarked: "That would be such a devastatingly cruel twist of fate. "Claire travels to when her parents are but no one's the wiser and by the time it's revealed they've already died of old age." As yet, there has been no confirmation whether either Balfe or Heughan will return to their roles as Claire and Jamie in Blood of My Blood. However, given that time travel features heavily in the MGM+ series, there remains a chance their storylines could intersect in the spin-off. During a Q&A session about Blood of My Blood, Balfe admitted: "I did not start the show thinking I would ever meet my parents. "I didn't know that these guys were going to be part of the prequel and I was super excited when I found out they were because I think I was like, 'Oh great, like it's really cool that Claire's parents are in the show.' "Having met Hermione and Jeremy, I'm like they are definitely fitting parents."
SBS Australia
a day ago
- Entertainment
- SBS Australia
Bonus Practice: #91Asking for a job reference (Adv)
Speaking out loud will help to improve your English speaking fluency and will make it easier for you to remember new vocabulary. This bonus episode provides interactive speaking practice for the words and phrases you learnt in Episode #91 Asking for a job reference (Adv). Don't be shy - just try! Allan Claire, could I list you as a referee on my job application? Claire Of course. Feel free to put me down as a referee. Allan Thanks, I'd really appreciate it if you could put in a good word for me. Would you it okay if I passed on your details? Claire Absolutely. Would you like me to highlight anything specific if they contact me? Learn the meanings of the phrases used in this dialogue: #91 Asking for a job reference (Adv) SBS English 22/07/2025 15:36 English SBS Learn English will help you speak, understand and connect in Australia - view all episodes. Subscribe to our newsletter for monthly updates on our free lessons and resources.
Business Insider
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Business Insider
My teen was making up to $30,000 a month from YouTube. I was so ignorant about the kid-influencer world.
Ashley Smith's daughter, Claire, was part of a popular YouTube channel. Ashley says she was ignorant about the financial mechanisms of social media. Ultimately, the money wasn't worth the chaos influencing created, she says. This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Ashley Smith and Patience Rock Smith, the parents of Claire Smith and the subjects of a recent Netflix docu-series, " Bad Influence." Recently, my wife, Patience, and I have been getting a lot of backlash after a documentary about our daughter's time as a kid influencer aired on Netflix. I get it — the documentary shows abuse, questionable decision-making, and chaos. If I knew what I was getting into, I would never have let it happen. But I was ignorant about the world of kid influencers. My wife's niece, Piper Rockelle, is a YouTuber with more than 12 million subscribers. My daughter, Claire, was excited about the opportunity to film with Piper. Patience thought that working with her sister, Tiffany, might help rebuild their troubled relationship. I just thought we were filming with family, and that sounded fun. My daughter travelled to LA to film 3 days a week I've thought a lot about trust in recent years. We're often told not to trust strangers. When family is involved, however, it's easy to ignore those little gut feelings telling you that something is off. Looking back, I can see I had some reservations about Tiffany. At the time, I didn't hear those internal warnings — or maybe I tried not to. Each week, Claire and Patience would drive from our home in Las Vegas to LA, where Claire would film YouTube videos under Tiffany's direction. They'd be in LA for three days, usually Sunday through Tuesday, and then come home for four days. Since Claire wasn't always in LA, having the split schedule helped us maintain some normalcy in our lives. I wanted my daughter to know her income wasn't normal Eventually, Claire got her own YouTube channel. Compared to other kids in Piper's "squad," she wasn't a high earner, but she still made nearly $30,000 during her most lucrative month. I have a background in finance and encouraged Claire to save her money and invest for her future. I couldn't stand the frivolous spending I saw in LA, like the girls getting their nails done constantly. I wanted her to save for needs, like a car and college, not just on wants. We're a pretty middle-of-the-road family income-wise. I had a lot of conversations with Claire about how her income and lifestyle weren't normal for a 14-year-old. I tried to do it in a way that didn't scare her. I want other parents to be informed Patience was the first one to realize that the environment around filming for the squad was becoming unhealthy. It was causing a lot of chaos in our family. Patience felt guilty — if I had never fallen in love with her, Claire wouldn't have been exposed to this world. Patience stopped taking Claire to LA, so I went instead. It didn't take long for me to realize I wanted my child out. When Tiffany insulted Claire, we left. Claire still does occasional content on social media, but there's no pressure. We've decided to keep sharing our story because we were so oblivious going in. Social media is here to stay, and I don't think it's all bad. Any child with an account could go viral or have a filming opportunity with an influencer, like Claire did. I'm creating courses for parents that have all the information I wish I'd known. Our story is about more than that, though. It's about recognizing abuse and gaslighting, and the impact that a dysfunctional family can have. We want to heal trauma, but sometimes you can't see how bad it is until it's all taken away.
Glasgow Times
2 days ago
- Health
- Glasgow Times
Glaswegian cycles Lands End to John OGroats for loved ones
David Cobban is part of a seven-man team who have taken on the charity ride to raise £50,000 for Maggie's and Young Lives vs Cancer. Known as the Ride Against Cancer, the challenge is deeply personal for all involved. (Image: Supplied) David, 53, head of office at Savills Glasgow, lost his mum to cancer 30 years ago, and in 2018, his wife Claire was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 38. The couple's sons were just two and four years old at the time. Read more: Campaigners to challenge Eaglesham battery plant ruling Additionally, one of David's colleagues was diagnosed with cancer. Tragically, his colleague did not survive. David said: "Two people so close to me. One made it, one didn't." Claire has since retrained as a personal trainer supporting people with cancer. She also works with Young Lives vs Cancer. (Image: Supplied) David now commutes by bike and became more serious about road cycling after completing the 225km Mallorca 312. The team reached Cadworks in Glasgow on July 21, roughly 600 miles into their journey. They were welcomed by Savills colleagues. The team aims to complete the ride by July 24. The team has raised more than half of its £50,000 goal and is encouraging the public to help them reach the finish line. To donate, visit Jim Webster, organiser of the Ride Against Cancer and co-founder of Glasgow-based architecture studio HAUS Collective, said: "This ride is more than a physical challenge – it is a tribute. "A journey in memory of loved ones lost, in solidarity with those still fighting, and in support of those living with the fear of cancer's return."
