Sitting down and eating my dinner at 6 o'clock tonight and channel 7 had a news story regarding the repossession capitals of South East Queensland. People who are just walking away from their houses as what the news reporter said or simply cannot pay for them anymore. The item that grabbed my attention was the two worst areas, PINE RIVERS and THE GOLD COAST and SURFERS PARADISE AREA.

Now what gets me, is the two areas above that are having the highest repossession and walk away from houses just happens to be the same two areas that the poll is polling the highest. Is it a possibility that when the sharks from the Department of Child Safety move in, causing undue stress to the parents, forcing the parents to hire lawyers to repel the scum that has invaded their houses, only to be forced to sell their houses to pay for legal fees.

Now, wouldn't it be good to have a poll on people who have had to sell their houses to pay for legal fees for an invading Department of Child Safety.

Again, I find this very odd and it is just too much of a coincidence that the two most repossessed house areas or where people are abandoning their houses just happen to be the two that happen to be at the top of the poll. For all that don't know, a very high percentage of people who have had dealings with DOCS lose their job, and when you lose your job, you lose your house if you are paying a mortgage.

And if you don't lose your house you have to sell it anyhow thanks to the Lawyers.

yeah repossessing everything there......I think it great to help refugees.....but there are many Aussies been on the waiting list for a long long time.....yet they build whole suburbs for others before they house their own....is that beaurocracy or hypocrisy ??????

Now that wouldn't surprise me at all!!

Hi,
ihategov that is a strange co-incidence isn't it?
When I was going through the docs crap and kept remortgaging my home loan and when it climbed up to the late teens ($20,000) with full receipts to prove it. I was wondering if I was going to loose my house as I didn't know where it was going to end.

I was saying to the solicitor shit I could end up homeless due to docs and their legal game. She said shhhh that will docs more ammunition - unable to provide roof over head of child so therefore reunification cannot take place.
What the? - the goal post would be moved again, must find secure accommodation because docs indirectly forced me out of my home.

And if you are fighting docs, then get yourself onto the department of housing list and get a support letter off your CSO in your application!! Along with support letters from your doctors, counsellors etc. With all these support letters (especially with docs writing one) will help you go upto high needs for housing - no years and years of waiting for you!
That is if housing if a problem stopping you from reunification.

That is exactly right.

Many employers are of the attitude that "it's not personal, it's business" and if a parent is taking too much time off work because of DoCS meetings or court hearings, they run the risk of kissing their jobs goodbye.

No job, no way to pay the rent/mortgage. Especially if the child is already in care... No family payment to help out with costs... Just the dole and that's not going to pay anyone's rent let alone the mortgage once the bills are paid and food is on the table.

And if a parent suddenly finds themselves homeless, that only fuels the DoCS fire... They simply can't reunify a child with it's parents if there is no home for the child to go to.


Many parents DO lose their homes because of high court costs. If a parent earns too much money or doesn't meet the Legal Aid criteria for whatever reason, they have to dig into their own pockets to cover the costs. A lot of the time that means re-mortgaging the family home.

A similar situation came up with my case at the end of 2006. I was self employed and earning $10K a month. DoCS wanted me to have access to my children when I should have been working.

Heck, I was all for access to my children, but the idea of having it during the times that I was meant to be earning a living to support my children was incomprehensible (they had no idea what my income was like - that wasn't the point).

DoCS refused to negotiate... They were paying for the children to be delivered to me so I had to be available to the children... No ifs or buts.

They sent my business to the wall.

By the end of 2006 not only was I pretty much unemployed, but even though I had informed Centrelink that I no longer had certain children in my care - I got hit with a massive debt months later when the carers applied for my payments for my children.

So I rang my then CSO and I let rip.

I had a go at her about forcing me out of my job. I asked her how DoCS expected me to be able to support my children when I had no income. I got no reply.

I also asked her how they expected me to feed my children during contact visits when I had no incoming funds to support them with. I got no reply.

I asked her how I was meant to meet my children's needs (clothing, shoes etc that DoCS/carers were NOT buying) with no income... I got no reply.

(I'd like to add here that the carers of my eldest daughter were not even buying her sanitary liners!!!)

And I asked her how I was meant to pay my brand new fat Centrelink bill with no income... I got no reply.

My attack was so strong and so valid that they never dared to use it against me... But I know that they wouldn't think twice about using this kind of situation against another family.

This is my current problem and my contact is court ordered, the Dept are ordered to make sure I have no less than so many hours a month, but I'm making them do it around my work hours but they won't and therefore I've been denied.

Then they have a hide to say to me that because I've contested the order, I'm not working with them to gain trust! HA! The hide of the hypocrits! Where does it show they've ever tried to work with me?! Oh not at all...No negotiation on their part or anything! At least I sought the professionals out to do the goals expected of me in the case plan which with professionals declaring I didn't have these issues in the first place, the goals were met instantly!

If the Dept are acting in the best interest of my children and my counselor's have told me to look after myself as this is considered to be in the best interest of my children - then I'm just taking the advice of my professionals which I used in court! Good move too....

If the judge thought of siding with the dept, he had no chance with professional reports from 4 different professions (2 I sought out to help my case). But I have to admit I have a very sensible Magistrate!

I am no good to my children being in debt, depressed, broke and starving!

Never have truer words been spoken.

Wow,

that is the reality of the aftermath of what actually happens in people's lives once docs sink their teeth in.

Was there any think about child safety mentioned in all this? No because it just become a game of breaking people through legal means.

Oh yes, they will tell a parent that the parent has the right to contest the orders... But they will use it against you if you do because "it's not in the best interest of the child".

Legal reps don't bite into this much at hearings. They see it so often in affidavits and the fact that the parent does have the right to contest is a moot point... It's just a bit of extra mud for DoCS to sling.