<
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/feb/06/anglicare-court-case-aboriginal-baby-daisy-aunt-refused-same-sex-relationship>
"Anglicare Sydney refused to assess the Aboriginal aunt of an Aboriginal baby
as a long-term carer because she was in a same-sex relationship and, with the
knowledge of the New South Wales government, sought to have the baby adopted to
a non-Indigenous couple, a court has heard.
The nine-month-old, who cannot be identified for legal reasons and is known to
the court by the pseudonym Daisy, has complex needs. At four days old Daisy was
discharged to the Anglicare Sydney adoption agency and placed with a
non-Indigenous couple as “authorised pre-adoptive carers”, court documents
show.
The court heard Daisy’s mother, known by the pseudonym Paula, who struggled
with addiction and an acquired brain injury, and experienced unstable housing
and domestic violence, had entered a voluntary agreement with Anglicare Sydney.
Daisy was diagnosed with neonatal abstinence syndrome after being exposed to
illicit substances in utero and spent several weeks in hospital, where doctors
found she has “atypical neurological function”, according to court documents.
She is being assessed for cerebral palsy.
The children’s court magistrate Tracy Sheedy said in a decision in December
that there was “no doubt” the child’s foster parents, known by pseudonyms Greta
and Peter, have “done a wonderful job of looking after Daisy”, but was
“alarmed” and “disturbed” by the conduct of Anglicare Sydney and the NSW
Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) in her case."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
