Foundation House
The home of The Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture
6 Gardiner Street
Brunswick, 3056
Ph: (03) 9388 0022
Fax:(03) 9387 0828
Email: info@foundationhouse.org.au
www.foundationhouse.org.au
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Message from the Chair, Lynne Haultain
The past few months have been full of activity at Foundation House, with a myriad of projects, programs and events keeping us all very busy indeed.
We were honoured that retiring MP, Mr Petro Georgiou, accepted an invitation to deliver our annual oration on June 29. Petro has a deep and ongoing commitment to the plight of refugees and asylum seekers, particularly in the area of mandatory detention. In 2005, Petro introduced a private member’s bill on this issue, which resulted in significant reform. After some 35 years in politics, Petro has decided to move on and will not be contesting his Kooyong seat at the next election. While he will be missed by many in the political world, he will be particularly missed by organisations such as ours for his genuine and unwavering dedication to refugee issues, his razor-sharp intellect and, most importantly, his compassion. You can read more about the oration and download Petro’s speaking notes in this issue of HouseNotes.
You can also read about the official opening of our new Dandenong office in May, quite a number of months after we actually moved in, which—as we never need an excuse to throw a good party— just goes to show how frantic we all are! We’d like to thank Department of Immigration and Citizenship State Director, Mr Jose Alvarez, for his attendance and speech on the day.
I do hope you were able to get to one or two of the many events that took place in Victoria and other states during Refugee Week (June 20–26) and on World Refugee Day (June 20). Both events celebrate the courage and resilience of refugees and asylum seekers and the many positive contributions they have made to our community. The global theme for World Refugee Day this year was ‘Home’, a concept many of us in richer, safer countries take for granted. Foundation House has always acknowledged the importance of ‘home’ for our clients and the sense of belonging and dignity a safe haven offers an individual and their family.
And finally, I can’t sign off without acknowledging the appointment of Australia’s first female Prime Minister, Ms Julia Gillard. We look forward to working with the Federal Government under Ms Gillard’s stewardship and will continue to advocate for the protection and rights of those who have come to Australia in search of stability, security and a better life.
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Diary Dates
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The complete Foundation House training calendar for Semester 2, 2009 is now available online. We offer specialised training in skills for working with refugee survivors of torture and trauma as well as professional development seminars for incidental counsellors and counsellors. Training programs to meet specific needs are also available on request.
Training is held at Foundatio..
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In this Edition
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A leading authority on international refugee law has delivered the annual oration at Foundation House in Brunswick.
Professor James C. Hathaway is the Dean and William Hearn Chair of Law at the University of Melbourne Law School and is the Senior Visiting Research Associate at Oxford University’s Refugee Studies Programme.
Following in the footsteps of Justice Lex Lasry of ..
The Rudd Government has signed the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture.
Attorney-General Robert McClelland made the announcement in a speech on human rights at the Lowy Institute for International Policy in Sydney on May 22nd.
The Optional Protocol obliges parties to allow periodic international inspections of its places of detention and to establish formal m..
The federal government’s new policy direction is a more humane and effective way to process asylum seekers according to Foundation House director Paris Aristotle.
Mr Aristotle was speaking at a public forum held at Melbourne’s Federation Square on May 13th. Panel members included David Manne, coordinator of the Refugee and Immigration Legal Centre, John Gibson, President of the ..
“As calls for the reinstatement of harsh policies mount, it is critical that the discussion is informed by sound evidence about geopolitical and economic factors affecting people without faces, names and personal stories.” – Paris Aristotle
Foundation House director, Paris Aristotle, in conjunction with Jo Szwarc, research and policy manager at VFST, has written passionat..
Foundation House welcomed changes to refugee policy announced in the 2009-10 Federal Budget by the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Chris Evans, in May this year.
The Refugee Action Program, formerly known as the Refugee Brokerage Program, will be expanded to assist more than 50 refugee and humanitarian communities, with $2 million allocated over two year..
“Still I dream I’m in detention, still I dream they isolate me, they handcuff me...they keep me forever in detention…everywhere I go it just feel like someone is following me, someone is basically secretly–is tracking me down, they want to know exactly what I am up to.”
These words might well have been uttered by a refugee describing the haunting effects of the persecution that ..
As mentioned in HouseNotes Edition 7, Foundation House and the Refugee Council of Australia were delighted to host a reception for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Mr Antonio Guterres, earlier this year.
Mr Guterres’ speech can now be viewed online in a vidcast, click here (http://www.foundationhouse.org.au/AnnouncementRetrieve.aspx?ID=23627 ) to access.
M..
Two partnership initiatives that provide school support for refugees have commenced and are already showing positive results.
The Department of Education & Early Childhood Development’s $6.5 million injection of funds (announced last year and to be rolled out over four years) has seen the set up of the ‘Learning Beyond the Bell’ program, which supports Homework Clubs to assis..
Generous support from the Portland House Foundation has seen the Quentin Buckle Study Grant, which was established to honour founding VFST committee member and human rights advocate Quentin Buckle, enter its third year.
A further three recipients received the grant in 2008, all of whom were announced at our Annual General Meeting in December. This follows an initial grant awarde..
Plans are under way for the official opening of the new Foundation House office in Dandenong.
Having moved in just after Easter, the new office is home to 32 permanent and part-time staff who now have access to four counselling rooms, one natural therapies room, offices and workspaces, a small meeting space, a large training room, two kitchens, a basement car park and two l..
The Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) has refuted claims made in a bogus email that asylum seekers on Christmas Island and refugees receive more benefit payments than Australian pensioners.
“The figures quoted in the email bear no resemblance to income-support payments to pensioners, or to payments to asylum seekers and refugees settling in Australia,” DIAC..
A group of women from Sierra Leone have embraced the power of song to help heal the deep wounds of war and years spent in refugee camps.
Almost all members of the Kankelay choir, who came to Australia as humanitarian refugees, have left family members–husbands, daughters, sons or siblings–behind, with some not knowing if their family members are still alive.
Frances Kalon le..
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