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False child abuse reports
Can anyone offer help/advice. I am a victim of a false child abuse report? I'm at my wits end. I'm in South Australia where the law does not issue a penalty to deter false reporting, but has a clause about notifiers must report in "good faith"... if they are malicious they are ignored, BUT the children and families suffer.
The bottom line is that in SA if you want to get at your neighbour all you have to do is pick up the phone, make up false allegations of abuse, include some false statements about the mother's mental health. If that doesn't shock them enough, you ring up again and say similar stuff, but this time say more misleading facts designed for child protection to conclude that this time the kid is about to die etc. (try "the mother wont see a doctor" as one of your "facts"). You can really get at your neighbour and their kids through this defamation... AND the poor souls will forever run from you and your bullying.
(5 years ago I was subjected t 2 false reports - intentional lies told about me and my mental health. In SA the services will come round immediately; detain the mother and children; call for partners to leave work and attend an interview; demand mental health check the next day for the mother (and kids will be removed if she doesn't attend for any reason); threaten medication and children to go to care; place family on scrutiny; phone checks for the rest of the week; followup interview and lots more. Mother and partner forced to take time off work for more interviews. The mother will be issued a "child abuse confirmed" notification on the confession that she did indeed talk to the notifier on the telephone on the day that they phoned up to report "concerns" and HORROR of HORRORS the mother was allegedly crying on the phone.. that day so she MUST have been about to kill her children.. );..... only eventually was the "abuse confirmed" notification reversed. They decided that there was a tenuous link between the notifiers supposed "concerns" and actual well-being that day.... and of course the children were thriving in every way.
BUT BUT BUT... NOW my children SUFFER.... EVERY hour of EVERY day, they suffer at the hands of an unjust system. The person was not literally a neighbour but someone of power and influence. He didn't like me bringing my children into a certain place where we both went. He asked me to not bring them. I thought my children had a right to go anywhere in Australian society (especially a church) but he didn't want them there. Often I took them out to a "creche" this was unheated and inadequate, filled with old furniture,, and dangerous. Sometimes he asked me to leave them in there with a stranger, on one occassion this ad hoc childcare facility was totally unsupervised. They eventually had a policy where 2 people had to look aftter the kids "removed" in case someone went to the toilet . For so many reasons I didn't want my children in this "creche". I WAS PERSECUTED FOR IT. And bottom line my KIDS STILL SUFFER because the method of getting at me involved using the abuse report hotline.
Our family was asked not to return to the church over the phone by the man who made the false allegations to child proteoction. This combined with the realisation of the crime that he had committed forced us to run; next time he decided to get at us in this way we may not be so lucky - our childrne could have been taken away had things not turned out they way they did. I could have an "abuse confirmed" notification for the rest of my life on the basis of me admitting to talking to someone on the telephone... I can't begin to tell of the absolute HELL that this man has put us through... but my children still suffer... they are not "SAFE" they are being bullied and threatened by this guy, who we run from. We are terrified of similar tactics being used against us - anywhere we take the children, say in a restaurant, or cafe; what if the school decide that they don't like us and use a false notification to control us; what if the next door neighbour does it because our tree is blocking their view or something.... it is SO EASY for anyone to destroy children and their families just by picking up the phone.... and NO ONE HELPS...
I've tried MPs; child protection head office; ombudsman; women's legal aid; human rights; health complaints comission; private lawyer; the church (and they wont help one bit; in fact their response doubles the pain of the abuse); I've tried the police (they wouldn't even lodge a complaint because in SA this isn't a crime); I've tried federal police (the MP said it was covered by a federal law, but the federal police say child protection is a state issue... )I've tried everyone I can think of... including "victim SA" and no one seems to care that this is a BIG problem...
It is NOT about that small percentage of "mistakes" (people who phone in with good intentions and genuine concerns who are wrong) it is about BLATANT abuse of the system by a malicious individual. A blatant abuse that actually terrifies children; destrosy their freedom; makes their family run because the lopsided nature of the law weights so heavily against them.... and its about the fact that children are HURT by it (especially when people in power abuse the system and hurt the children through it) My kids could have been taken away - even for 1 night - this is SO WRONG. ... and other states (NSW) would put this malicious individual in prison for 2 years.... I can PROVE he lied... and "notified" things about me that were wrong, and HE KNEW TO BE WRONG... but he walks free, about to threaten and harass... and my children are living in the shadow of his threat on our lives. *****can ANYONE help my children?******* I just want them to be in a position where they never have to suffer this harassment again; where the law of Australia upholds their right to live freely and safely in society, without any criminals hunting them down... its a simple clause to add to the law...... (to include a deterring penalty, and if the victim of the false notification has a case - AS I DO - then it would AT LEAST be HEARD... but with the law as it is, (1) the police wont do anything to charge under criminal law and (2) private lawyers advice that I will be placing EVERYTHING i own in jepody by taking out a defamation case (AND my point is that this is NOT just defamation... it is CRIMINAL MATTER... the MP even said it was BUT wouldn't amend state law because he said federal law covered lying to the government etc.) ANY IDEAS? And how can others be protected from this ABSOLUTE ABUSE of Australian law.????
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Re: False child abuse reports
Okay, I've gathered more info about this, so here goes...
Child protection in Australia doesn't vary by state, although the NT (NOT a state) does have some differences. All child protection services for each state have to abide by the same rules. They need 3 seperate reports to be filed before they can take action. When those 3 reports are filed, the first course of action is a background check. They check with the children's school, the child's local GP (if they can find out who), any child care or creche the child goes to, and the neighbours, as well as anyone else they can find that might be able to give background information on the child. Only after all this is done, then they can approach the family. They can not detain anyone without police present, because it's actually the police that do the detaining. They will attend to the home of the children, not go somewhere else to see them, and they can not use any form of force or intimidation. They can not enter the home without the resident's permission - again, police with a warrent is the exception to that.
So far, you said that a child services worker and a hospital worker detained you at someone else's house, and wouldn't let you leave until their interviews were over, and you have taken your case to an MP among other things. I'm sorry, but if this is true, someone has pulled a fast one on you and you've been duped. That goes against all the laws, rules and policies of all states and it would never have happened like that.
1. There is no way anyone could legally have detained you except the police themselves, regardless of whether or not the police were supposed to be turning up "later".
2. A hospital worker would not have attended. The only exception would be if someone phoned for an ambulance, in which case an ambulance and two paramedics would have been there, but as soon as they realised there was no medical emergency on site they would have left immediately.
3. Child Services would not have approached you at the home of another person no matter who that person was, the only exception being if you were officially residing there.
4. Three seperate reports over a period of time that gave the same sort of information would have been required for them to do anything, the only exception would be if the children's lives were in immediate danger, in which case the police would turn up first and child protection might come into the picture hours if not days later, if at all.
5. They would have done a thorough background check on your children before coming anywhere near you.
6. If you have indeed taken your case to the local MP, an independant investigation into your case would have immediately started, as with every case that is brought to an MP's office.
I'm sorry, but this story is total crap. If it did happen to you, I can say with confidence that it was not child protection services and someone has played an elaborate hoax on you.
How to deal with that is a totally different story.
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Re: False child abuse reports
Ok, I'm going to take a different approach here (preparing for the 'whaaaattt?).
Let them make these reports. Jump through the hoops that Children's Services put you through, I know it will be stressful, but let it all happen.
Why? Because at the end of it all when you have report saying your children are not at risk, you can turn it around on him.
Like I said, a different approach, but if someone wants to waste their time making the complaints, then really make it that they have wasted their time. They will end up being the one with egg on their face, not you, and you will have the report stating that your children are fine.
I called Children's Services here in Queensland about 18 months ago, because I was in dire need of help, and unable to look after my children properly. They in turn referred me to a local protective group, who came out and saw how I was having to live and just how bad things really were. I really wanted them to take my children so that I could sort things out, but they told me that they would help me to keep my kids with me, as it would be less stressful all round. I never thought much of my parenting skills before their visit, but to hear that they thought I was a fantastic mother, especially given the circumstances,really helped me to get through things. my point is, while a report was made and someone came and looked at what was going on, the outcome was that my children were safe, happy and well cared for. This is now permanently on file if a future complaint is made against me. The rest of the story is happy, and I've now been in the same house for over 1 year (woohoo!) and my family has gotten closer.
Sorry for rambling, but let the report be made and have patience with the system.
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Re: False child abuse reports
I was living in SA not that many years ago, and I phoned the child abuse report line and reported MYSELF because I was so stressed out at the time and not coping I was actually concerned I might lose the plot and hurt my then youngest son. I do have a mental illness that can get pretty extreme at times if I'm not on my medication. No one did anything like that with me, and I have never seen anything that drastic happen unless they genuinely believed the child's life was in IMMEDIATE danger, in which case it's not just the child services that turn up, it's the police. I'm not saying it didn't happen to you, but something doesn't gel right with what you're saying. Was it the police that turned up and detained you, or a social worker from child services? Cause a child services worker does not have the authority to detain anyone, they have to have the police attend to do that.
Regardless of that, if you've been reported, that goes on your record. If the accusations are found to be false, that goes on your record too. If such allegations are made again, and again, of course, they'll keep checking it out, and as time goes on they do still check out each report, but they become a bit more understanding about it. They do understand that people do this sort of thing out of spite on rare occassions, so once they start seeing a pattern, they'll be better able to act on it more appropriately. If anything, more accusations could go in your favour in the long run because the more information they have about you and your situation and who might be inclined to make these reports and why, the easier it will be to help you.
As for mental health claims, here's a little known fact for you. They can not just walk in and take your children away if you have a diagnosed mental illness, instead, they have to provide support so that you can live with your children in a happy and safe environment. This may require the parent with the mental illness to remain on medication for the safety of their children and/or keep in touch with their mental health case worker, depending on the illness and risk factors, but they can't just walk in and take the kids away indefinately. As for when the police are involved, if you are diagnosed with a mental illness and you are arrested, forget about the lawyer, you can refuse to give a statement until after you have seen your psychiatrist.
I'd be inclined to say, if the church isn't being supportive and is causing your family dramas, tell them where to stick their hypocritical beliefs and go to a different church!!! And don't assume that everyone else you come across in life is going to act the same way as that guy did. There's more chance of someone not bothering to report child abuse that is happening than there is someone doing it just to be spiteful when it isn't.
Unfortunately, there is not much you can do in the way of compensation or even so much as an apology, the system for victims there is appauling in my opinion. Try to just get on with life, put it behind you as best you can, and assume it won't happen again - I know that isn't easy. If the guy that did this starts harassing you, following you around, etc, then report him to police and see if you can get a restraining order on him.
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Re: False child abuse reports
How can they enforce a penalty for false reporting when anyone can report anonymously and how will they tell the difference between a false report and a mistake? - and that goes for all states.
Seriously, what do you want us to say? Do you want someone to say that the laws should be changed so that no report can be made without conclusive evidence and the name and contact details and signature of the person making the report so that if it is found to be false or wrong they can be persecuted? That's absurd! I'm sorry that you went through a hard time, I really am, but really, what are you looking for here? The trouble with law is that it has to be black or white, all or nothing, or it just doesn't work.
Yes, there are laws against deliberately providing false evidence, making a fase report, and wasting police time, etc. But in cases of reporting child abuse, how can anyone prove it was deliberately false? You can't.
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