Latest news with #PatDodson
The Guardian
17-06-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
Birth alerts are meant to help children at risk of abuse. They are routinely used against Aboriginal mothers
At the end of 2024, Rachel* was days away from giving birth. Her feet were dangerously swollen and she was sleeping rough outside an Aboriginal support service in the city. Her reluctance to seek antenatal care meant the usual routine of scurrying between midwives and doctors appointments for ultrasounds, blood tests and screenings was absent. Pregnant with her second child, she was terrified to seek help from a hospital, fearing her unborn baby would be taken away from her. Her first son was removed at just 11 months old. 'I knew I was pregnant with my second boy,' she says. 'But I didn't want to go to the hospital and have them tell DCP [Department of Child Protection]. I had the same feelings [of fear] I had with my big boy.' A ward of the state herself, Rachel's experience speaks to a national crisis: the overrepresentation of Indigenous children in out-of-home care, a system that the former federal senator Pat Dodson likened to genocide. This overrepresentation begins before children are born, with prenatal birth alerts triggered during hospital or health assessments if there are concerns for the wellbeing of an unborn child. When Rachel eventually presented at a northern Perth hospital, she was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia, a serious pregnancy complication, and told she would be induced the following week. After being transferred to King Edward memorial hospital, the child protection department was notified – without her consent. 'Nothing was supposed to be said,' she says. 'It was all supposed to be confidential. But the hospital told DCP I was pregnant. They rang them later that same day.' Rachel had been flagged under WA Health's 'child at risk' alert policy, drafted to reflect the statutory responsibility of healthcare workers as mandatory reporters of suspected child abuse. Though designed to ensure child safety, the policy can have wide-ranging consequences for families involved. Rachel says she struggled to cope after her first son was removed. 'I started using more drugs because they took my baby off me,' she says. 'They could have helped me.' After giving birth to her second son, she was discharged. But her newborn, who was experiencing breathing and feeding difficulties, remained in hospital. 'They wouldn't let me stay with my baby,' she says. 'They couldn't accommodate me. I don't know why.' Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Though social workers arranged a phone and referrals to shelters and rehab services, navigating multiple appointments across the city without transport or a stable home was overwhelming for the new mother. 'I tried to go back every three or four hours to feed my baby,' she says. 'But if I missed a feed, they said I was neglecting him.' Hospital staff told her the baby wasn't getting enough milk. 'Every time I breastfed, they came with bottles.' Aleisha*, a mother of three and a former domestic violence support worker in New South Wales, recalls being told by child protection staff that being Aboriginal was considered a risk factor. 'Social workers would say to me, just being Black's a risk,' she says. 'The agency I worked with classified being Aboriginal as a risk of harm.' In a statement, the NSW Department of Communities and Justice denied that Indigenous identification was part of risk assessments, saying staff worked to ensure children were safe and properly protected. Aleisha says she saw the bias against First Nations mothers first-hand when she gave birth to her third child. Her Indigenous midwife wasn't on shift and the attending midwife dismissed her pain. Less than an hour later, Aleisha gave birth in the hospital bathroom. 'The panic button was pushed,' she says. 'Five strangers ran in. They just caught my son before he hit the ground. She [the midwife] just stood in the doorway, staring at me.' Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion While Aleisha had a safe home, not every new mother does. Those experiencing domestic violence, unstable housing, or substance use are often placed on long waiting lists, with a lack of comprehensive support. Dr Jacynta Krakouer, a Mineng Noongar academic at the University of South Australia, is researching how best to prevent babies from being removed, amid concerns raised by Aboriginal midwives. Her work focuses on unborn child notifications, sometimes called birth alerts, triggered when health professionals identify issues such as homelessness, domestic violence or substance use during pregnancy. Though mandatory across Australia, Krakouer says the risk assessments behind these alerts aren't always culturally informed. 'There are a range of different reasons why people can be reported,' she says. 'It's not always fair. It's not always clear and transparent.' These alerts can be poorly communicated, traumatising vulnerable families. 'That distress, that fear, that trauma – it all gets exacerbated,' Krakouer says. 'It's reminiscent of the Stolen Generations. There's a lack of transparency in the practice.' Renna, a Walbunja woman, was living in Perth when she gave birth to her third daughter. In a difficult relationship, she had begun planning her exit – searching for rentals, visiting Centrelink and developing a safety plan. When social workers met her in hospital, she welcomed the contact. 'I thanked them for caring about my daughter,' she says. 'I was upfront and transparent because there were causes for concern.' But five days after the birth, as she packed to leave, she was met by police and child protection workers with court orders to remove her newborn – and her three-year-old daughter, who was staying with relatives. 'I was not supported,' she says. 'I was blindsided. I thought I was being discharged to take my baby home. How can you go into court and make orders without letting me know there's an issue?' More than 20 years later, Renna says the trauma still lingers. 'I've had a lot of trauma in my life. But nothing compares to that.' Her daughters, now adults, were raised in kinship care and maintain a relationship with their mother. 'It takes a lot to rebuild and repair,' she says. 'But I will always be waiting with open arms, grateful to my babies, my greatest gift.' Renna rebuilt her life, studying social work and contributing to trauma-informed, culturally grounded research. She's now working to establish a residential centre for mothers and babies. 'If there's a need to remove a child for safety, then you must be able to offer the non-violent parent an option to be with their baby,' she says. Krakouer says the nine months of pregnancy is a vital opportunity for families and support agencies. 'You've got this window of time to actually wrap support around the mother and break the cycle of child protection involvement,' she says. For Rachel, daily supervised visits with her baby and eldest son are all she has. But she hopes to soon have a home where they can be together. 'I could have had my son. I could have both of them with me.' *Names have been changed In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. The Indigenous crisis hotline is 13 YARN, 13 92 76
ABC News
30-05-2025
- General
- ABC News
First Nations leaders hope Labor will use big majority to pursue national truth telling
Prominent Indigenous Australians are hopeful the federal government will use its significant majority in parliament to progress a national truth telling process. After declaring he would implement the Uluru Statement from the Heart in full — which includes establishing a Makarrata Commission to oversee truth telling — Prime Minister Anthony Albanese backed down from the commitment, after the decisive rejection of a Voice to Parliament. But this week, Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy indicated she was still open to the concept, following a call from the so-called father of reconciliation, Pat Dodson. "We have an opportunity now to have a look, with our new parliament, with our second term of government, to see what we can do moving forward," Minister McCarthy said. "One of the things the prime minister and I have said with regards to the Uluru Statement from the Heart was that we supported the three principles: voice, treaty, truth, and we've never shied away from that." While she acknowledged truth telling can happen in various ways — such as at schools — she was "ready to listen to what possibilities there could be in going forward." First Nations leader and prominent Voice campaigner Thomas Mayo said that was a positive sign. Mr Mayo partly blamed the prime minister's decision to retreat on Makarrata on the opposition. "It was under some duress from an opposition party that were invigorated somewhat from their successful nastiness during the referendum campaign and…were feral anytime anything positive in Indigenous affairs was mentioned," he said. He also urged Labor to be "courageous" after its resounding win. "That majority was somewhat a repudiation on the Coalition's punching down on Indigenous Australians throughout their election campaign," he said. Liberal senator Kerrynne Liddle, who is now the Shadow Indigenous Australians Minister, has dismissed the idea the vote was a rejection by a large part of the electorate of so-called culture war issues. "I think most of the Australian public would think that it was pretty silly to suggest that it is a single issue that has resulted in the outcome that we've seen, " she told the ABC earlier this month. Mr Mayo also argued that the federal government should be encouraged by the Liberal government in Tasmania promising to set up truth telling commissioners. Former Labor senator Pat Dodson said he too felt hopeful that Labor seemed open to a national truth telling process. "I'm encouraged by the fact that the commitment that the Labor Party gave some time back, before this election, is still on the agenda," he said. "Obviously it's got to be committed to and then they've got to set up a process to enact it. "But it's a great thing because we've got to start listening to the different stories," he said. Mr Dodson said there were leaders across the country willing to be involved. "I'd encourage the minister to reach out to all these people and bring them together and start to map out a course in this term so that we can get on with it."
Sky News AU
30-05-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Former Labor senator speaks on the failure to recognise sovereign rights of Indigenous peoples
Centre for Independent Studies' Warren Mundine has commented on Indigenous leader Pat Dodson calling for a greater reconciliation towards First Nations people. Mr Dodson discussed closing the gap for Indigenous people. 'We have sovereignty already, we're citizens of this country,' Mr Mundine told Sky News host Danica De Giorgio. 'In fact, we have benefits from the sovereign rights of this country.'
ABC News
30-05-2025
- General
- ABC News
Breakfast Wrap: Why Australia has the highest rate of early onset bowel cancer
Australia now leads the world in bowel cancer rates for people under 50 years of age. But while cases are on the rise, young Australians are finding it difficult to be diagnosed due to their age. On today's Breakfast Wrap podcast episode, we hear from young patients, researchers and the federal government about why Australia might find itself in this position and what can be done. For more information on the signs and symptoms of bowel cancer visit Bowel Cancer Australia Meanwhile, a former Israeli PM joins the program as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza continues to reach desperate new lows. Several Palestinians have been fatally shot or crushed in crowds, as they stormed a United Nations warehouse in a bid to find food. The UN has condemned the situation as 'engineered scarcity' blaming Israel. And then back home, Indigenous communities have endured what some have described as a painful Reconciliation Week. The decision to extend the life of the North West Shelf gas project has frustrated traditional owners in WA, who are worried about the preservation of ancient Indigenous rock art. And then in Alice Springs, a community is being tested once again, following the death in custody of an Aboriginal man with a disability. Hear our interview with former Labor Senator Pat Dodson. Recap the morning's news, politics and global affairs with the Breakfast Wrap
Herald Sun
29-05-2025
- Politics
- Herald Sun
Peta Credin reacts to Pat Dodson's ‘frank' address on Indigenous rights
Sky News host discusses a 'remarkably frank' address from Indigenous leader and former Labor Senator Pat Dodson. 'Earlier this week, in a remarkably frank address, the Indigenous leader and former Labor senator Pat Dodson has told the rest of us that Aboriginal people are owed more than just equality,' Ms Credlin said. 'Practical reconciliation, he said, and taking steps to 'close the gap' in employment, education and health outcomes, are not enough, said Dodson, because that ignores the 'inherent and collective rights of the first peoples of Australia'. 'Just as we rejected two classes of citizens during the Voice debate, we must also reject this latest push from Pat Dodson.'
