Good to see mermaid beach up the top of the list of all the snake pits but i never expected to see in the middle pine rivers up there.
My bro explained it to me this morning as he knows a Lawyer at strathpine and he told him DoChs at strathpine is filling the new court house with plenty of cases.

I wish that solicitors would take a stand and speak out. Even just one would help.

I've known 3 solicitors and one barrister throughout my case and every one of them has said the exact same thing that all the parents here have said.

Will any of them take a stand Rainbow?

There's a solicitor here who reckons that parents and lawyers should stand up to DChS so I'm going to present this all to his firm too, let's see if he puts his efforts where his mouth is.

I really honestly don't know. But I must admit that I've not asked - I've been too engrossed in my own case over the past few months.

I know that I've spoken to my solicitor about a Class Action - but she wanted to leave that until after my own case was finished. So that is perhaps a "maybe".

I think the big problem will be getting legal reps to see past the cost of their own jobs... I am concerned that a lot of them, if not all of them, will be worried about getting sacked.

Is being sacked really a possibility if their clients are innocent or unjustifiably treated? Just like with us parents, the more the merrier on the band wagon...this issues isn't going to go away!

If they do there goes there money, you don't actually think all solicitors/barristers have a conscience do you? Its a racket as they know most case can be stopped earlier but considering they know the rules in court of the rule of evidence most of the times they know they are going to win years in advance so lets take it to its limits where the money is.

Where is my friend JustForAll? I haven't seen her for days.

I'm not speaking for all solicitors and barristers - but mine are fantastic.

I totally understand that a lot of them are only in it for the almighty dollar, but the legal reps that I have are in it for the families.

Maybe I have just been fortunate enough to stumble across the "right" legal reps.

I think you stumble across them. LOL

Where are you? I know a good solicitor who does Legal Aid (if you need Legal Aid).

The downfall with Legal Aid is that they base their decision on the ability of the case being won. If they think the case will be successful - aid will be granted. If they think there isn't won't they will deny aid.

If a solicitor is the one who applies for Legal Aid on a parent's behalf, they have to show that the case can be won. If there are any new assessment reports those have to be included with the application - but negative assessment reports can harm an application.

You do have the right to appeal, but having the hearing 2 days after finding out you had been denied would have made an appeal next to impossible I expect.

I have had my share of solicitors who suck. The first solicitor we ever had cost us $400 and his best advice was to agree to the order they wanted and go from there... We were not prepared to do that. We never used him again.

The next solicitor we had tried to excuse herself from the case 3 times because DoCS frustrated her so much. But she stuck with us.

But things then went pear shaped after a few months and the solicitor of one of my brothers stepped up to the plate without even being asked. I was looking at facing a charge of perverting the course of justice - so he took over control of the Family Law side of the case and kicked butt from there on.

I managed to surround myself with legal reps that DoCS in my area know and do not like at all. It was a complete fluke.

that is part of their serial behaviour....most solicitors/lawyers/legal reps are a disgrace to the community as much as are those dangerous psychologists.....especially the forensic type.....from my experience...that docs hire if you try a tribunal....and the dolts at the tribunal are no better...very corrupted....
i would like all DOCs idiots tested....am sure most have this power problem....little girls and boys standing over families....for the best interest of the child.....who are they with no qualifications and many dont have children themselves....but its the sneaky behind the scenes individuals that give out the orders and stand over their puppets..cso's that are the most dangerous....complaints dept...only serves to warn them and then the barristers they employ find all the loophole to them them out of it and discredit the family member....whether a carer or not...such is the gov of this country.....

i love my kids...you are probably more normal than most of the dolts you have been dealing with....dont let them fool you. speak out and go to amnesty International.....an independant body.....the numbers will grow, and keep on keeping on with your quest....someone will have to do something....or all hell will eventually break loose.

the truth is that she/he is probably an ex cop...they are infiltrated in all gov depts....they are moved to hide them....so much for their own laws eh.

I heard of an incident yesterday, where a cop of twenty years experience, now works for the council traffic ticketing area....he does his best to fabricate incidents.....I wonder why he isnt a cop now....are they hiding him too....

Did you know that CSOs fit the profile of psychopaths?

they are all tarred with the same brush.....there is no democracy or human rights in this country.... the Aboriginal community is testimony for that.

I think they used these antics on them and a precurse to what is happening in society today

I have to agree with that.

Corruption is rife.

so it is people power that is needed and not neccessarily only those with complaints....but the general public.

Yes, the general public need to be made aware of what IS actually being done to families.

Too many citizens have the misconception that DoCS etc are doing their job correctly and that the children who are in governmental care NEED to be there.

The whole problem needs to be taken back to a base level.

yep overturn the whole government system....and hold them accountable.......

Yes.

I don't know if you have read the Child Protection Act 1999... I have and it's full of "rules" that are easily manipulated and this is wrong.

It should be air tight.

It's like the Bible - 3 people can read it and at least 2 will have different impressions of what it means.

no gov has any right to interfere with families.... but we need to all realise that it is their agenda to break up the family unit.....or this sort of criminal activity would nt be happening or tolerated.....

We keep them employed... Without parents like us DoCS workers would be redundant.

By legally kidnapping our children, we keep their coffers filled with tax payer's dollars.

Mr Tax Payer has NO idea that the majority of his money is going to a government department who doesn't rightfully deserve it.

In the meantime foster carers fall into 2 main categories... Older people who suffer from Empty Nest Syndrome and people who treat it as their main form of income (do it for the money).

regarding the poll....as the cunning gov have segmented the dpts into three or four different locations, one would see that the gold coast is rife with these dolts......maybe all the other segmented areas are the same...a sickening affair is it not?

You are exactly right... And when they move from one office to another their bad habits travel with them.

Last Thursday the Labrador office was having a good old gloat about how they have managed to keep their staff on board since the day the office opened.

They seem to forget that they discreetly relocated one Intake Officer to the Pathways program with the Uniting Church because a legal rep threatened to expose him to the CMC.

They also forgot that they moved their male Indigenous Officer to the Nerang office and brought in a female IO.

They also had no idea that they were having a good gloat in front of a parent who was witness to in-fighting between CSSOs at a DoCS run play group session which went on for 15 minutes and exposed children in care to verbal abuse between adults.

The Labrador office is actually in turmoil right now. Behind the scenes there is a LOT of negative office politics and bickering going on. I know of one CSSO who went on her annual leave and never returned.

I think that maybe it is all catching up on them...and not before time.....now it is time to put pressure on them.....a bit of their own medicine....the only difference is...we dont need to be dishohonest in our application the way they have been.
Aboriginal communities/Elders are also being informed of these web pages.....they are still taking their children out of their culture.....

This is what i have been saying since dot that some are dodging looking to find work by the easy way out and that is Foster Caring

Yep and the proof in that pudding is in the condition we receive our children in at contact visits and the amount of developmental delays that appear in infants.

DoCS will never own it though.

There is always somebody else whom they can blame.

Foster carers are managed by other agencies, so it's those agencies who wear the blame for whatever has occurred to the child in care.

As for delays, social issues and emotional problems that arise in children in care - the parents get blamed for that.

DoCS won't own the fact that THEY caused the problems by putting such young children into the care of strangers - but they won't return the child until the problem is fixed.

I spoke to a Lawyer today and he tells me that the Caboolture office isn't that bad.I find that very hard to believe considering Caboolture has a high crime area,+ a high public housing area and in general its not that much of a nice place or maybe nobody owns computers in the Caboolture area but I'm lost for words as it polls a fat ZERO!.
Now if anyone has ever been to Caboolture you will notice more signs advertising for lawyers than what they're streets.
Has anyone ever had trouble with them of any sort.?

Not me, I've only driven through Caboolture.

Strange though - you're right... You would think that DoCS would have all the parents in that area nicely stereotyped.

Maybe there scared of them if they take their Children off them, Maybe because its a high Aboriginals area and we all know that Aborigines don't fuck around when there is a problems so DOCS goes a little easy in that Area but what bothers me is Pine Rivers where parts of the area are Snoobs with money area that is taking the cake.

Ha! I had that thought myself actually but didn't write anything. DoCS won't go near any family, especially an indigenous one, where the boat might be rocked.

Mmm, maybe DoCS can get orders because children are raised, disciplined and supervised by nannies and not the parents?

Hi,

Reading all with great interest.
I didn't think we could do class action!? I have enquired about this in the past. I didn't think we could take a government body on.
I am finished with docs but I am in this fight aginst this department for the long haul.
I think it is going to take years of committment.
No longer angry but want justice for other families in the state of queensland, I want to educate people about what docs are doing, I want to spread distrust amongst the community. that is my mission.
I am glad what happened to my family did, except how my child was treated through out this and then was abused whilst in foster care.
But I am glad I experienced docs first hand.
'Cause I know what really can go on with power hungy government workers.
I wouldn't have believed any of you if I had not experienced it myself.

I have no idea if a Class Action can be taken against a government body... But I'm gonna find out! My solicitor never said it was impossible.

You're exactly right - this kind of thing is going to take years of commitment to see through to the end.

I'm in it for the long haul as well. I want to be in a position where I walk into a DoCS office and they say "Oh God no!"

People like us, who have been through the system or are just about out of it, would make excellent support people during meetings for parents who are just starting out.

Far out, I need to split myself into two. I feel this is more important than my real job! And it needs a lot of time dedicated to the cause.

There needs to be a lobby group. Repeal, reform whatever.

An unincorporated business set up that assists parents going through docs interventions. A non-Government independant body.

A phone in help line that is advertised in the phone book.

Statistic gathered on number of calls, nature of calls etc. To prove the need for this organisation to exist in the community.

And then once up and running need to apply for government funding that would employ staff who can be on the help line, work in the office etc.

Public meetings/ forums.

Someone who is the voice for all this and addresses media, govt. etc.

people who stand outside docs offices and hand out flyers.

Then there needs to be branches out there in the various spots around queensland.

And so much other stuff.

We need a solicitor, ex CSO's, social workers, psychologists, politicians and you all of course in this together who DON'T hide under rocks who come and be counted and stand up for what needs to be done.

plus all the other jobs that need to be done so that this docs mess can be UNDONE.

LOL

Now you get it sister!!

That's where P4P comes in handy... It's the making of a not for profit organization. The domain name is already registered as a charitable cause.

WantJustice and I was chatting about that this afternoon, Class Action, Yes, It is very possible.
Heres an Idea, that we came up with.
Obtain the Class action documents. all of us, that are here and who has been effected by DOCS. lets say by January 1st, we have these documents filled out in the professional manner to submit to the courts. and on a set day, we all send the documents in.
if we have say 2000 people, that is going to send a shock wave to the system, that is going to open their eyes and to ask the question, WTF???????

Just a thought

I will investigate the ins and outs of a Class Action... Can't do it until Monday though - tied up with appointments tomorrow and Friday.

The only problem I can foresee is that Legal Aid may not cover the cost - so it may mean that those who want to be involved will have to dip into their own pockets and the cost will likely be massive.

The major part of the cost is the solicitor/s involved. The cost of their time putting together each and every individual case to create one case. Using a hypothetical of 2000 parents - one solicitor can't do it alone. It would take at least 5 solicitors at a minimum.

And what would the aim be... Compensation? An apology? There needs to be an aim.

But, tweaking the idea a bit and going down a different path... If 2000 parents were to write their stories it may evoke reaction.

Especially if these stories were copied 3 or 4 times and sent - at the same time or even together - to 3 or 4 different places... Parliament House, the biggest newspaper in Australia, the biggest TV station in Australia and elsewhere.

All these places, they get letters from parents all the time... But they're single letters and from random parents.

They don't get letters or stories en mass all at once. It's unheard of, it's shocking... And it's an idea.

Sending a massive amount of stories in one hit is better than sending them individually and running the risk of many being lost on someone's desk.

You cant lose a massive box of mail.

And we could make the buggers sign for it too. Then we would know they definitely received it.

Rainbow:
Now we on the same page, Yes. It would be a very big shock to receive say 2000 documents all stating the same abuse.

You dont need a lawyer to do this civil action. just have someone who is good at english to express the right words when doing a affidavit to whatever claims the department has stated about you.
only door stop is the registration when submitting if they reject then thats how far it gets. and if your on a pension it will cost bugga all to resistor the documents.

The aim, well for myself, is to clear my name, to remove all Crap about me from the files. to build a family, to be a father and yes, To Obtain Compensation to the Max

Hmm, I don't know - but I've honestly not looked right into it.

Most Class Actions in the past have had one sole aim for all those involved... I don't know if it can be a situation where there is one aim and yet have the ability to be broken down into individual claims or aims pertaining to each family.

I'm no expert.

A massive influx of documentation about as families as possible would definitely be an attention getter.

It takes one secretary to read one letter - but it would take an office full of staff to read a couple of thousand.

And another thought would be that each document would need to request something... An audience with the PM or an interview with a journalist... Something.

And of course as many parents who have contributed would need to be available for an opportunity to be heard.