RE: FAMILY CONSULTANTS. With regard to Susan De Campo, the Queensland counsellor who was misrepresented as being a psychologist when she is in fact a only a counsellor.

There was an apology about this on the relevant Channel 9 website. I emailed asking how they came to mistake Ms De Campo for a psychologist, and what her exact qualifications are. They reponded with her phone number.

I understand that the education and training of counsellors can be much less than that of registered psychologists.

Family Consultants (however qualified) have enormous power. The impressive-sounding qualifications of mine are buried within the Report.

I need to know how Family Consultants are accredited by the Court. Does anyone reading this have details on this? If so, please contact me through the Forum.

In my case the Family Consultant provided a Report which pleased the solicitors. If I had insisted on going into Court on the day, my persuasive barrister would have cross-examined the Family Consultant (if he/she had been there) in such a way as to further discredit me. This was implied in the solicitor's reply to my complaint to him later.

According to my solicitor's bill of costs, this Family Consultant was the fourth he approached. The others declined. A fifth prospective Family Consultant was engaged by the other side's solicitors and apparently commenced the Assessment without me. I did complain about this at the time, and it was explained away as a misunderstanding.

Apparently the Human Rights Commission will have some involvement in dealing with my complaint about the Family Consultant to the relevant Psychologists Board.

Meantime I have sent a preliminary complaint and background summary (on behalf of the children concerned) to the Human Rights Commissioner. Help in completing the forms is available from a Complaints Officer by phoning 1300 656 419 (local call charge) or (02) 9284 9600.

Mog,

Thank Bill Gates. It's a simple feature of Microsoft Word.

I was dragged through the family court for seven years by the man who raped me. I am a child abuse survivor - I was in a Pindown children's home as a child and the home had to be closed down because the people in charge were pedophiles. Never at any time had I been married to this man (he is already married) and never at any time had I lived with this man. He was a friend of my father. Yet the family court gave this man, who took advantage of my depressed state to rape me, the same rights as if we had been in a loving relationship. He also molested my daughter, who was 14 at the time.

Eventually, he did apologise to me in court, but I was more or less told that I had to forgive and forget.

We were hounded by the family court, it was a terrible ordeal. I had absolutly no rights in that courtroom, and I was told that rapists do in fact retain paternity rights, in effect this awful man can carry on using the family court to stalk me until my son comes of age. He took his wife to court with him as a Makenzie friend, and sought to persuade the judge that we had had a loving relationship WITH HIS WIFE SITTING NEXT TO HIM! These people are the wierdest nut jobs, but the law is the law and it's on his side.

We were micro analized by expert after expert during these seven years. My son was allotted a lawyer who he was never allowed to meet! It was totally ridiculous, because the way we were treated was that I had no rights, my son had no voice, but the rapist had all the rights and power. I just kept praying, and pleading with God, help us, please help us, I don't really know how but we won the case.

Brilliant, Valerie - will try and catch you up with the Human Rights and UN.
This weeks fight/investigation is:
The Child Expert - their nature

Recommended to Father Chris O'Reilly, I read his rant in Support of DoCs, Et Al on line

Reading the Forum reports from James Wood, QC Inquiry visit to Woollongong. He encourages reporting by the families.Check out his email address on Lawlink.

Chris O'Reilly (Brothers of the Little Inquisition) doesn't approve of women. It's not a gender based issue.Men have support groups, but I've not come across too many Wimmin"s ones. Such as "Despite being Primarily and Internationally Portrayed as a Sex Object, I still Provide Quality Parental Care and Love" Foundation.But our words & lives are discredited.

Chris O'Reilly, and Monday's feature in "The Daily Telegraph" (former Australian of the Year), Professor Fiona Stanley seem to feel that parents have limited capacity to parent.

Do Experts factor in changes to:
Societal evolution - 50% of marriages breakdown, leaving women often as the main carers.Historically,nothing new, but now facing increased danger from sexual/drug/alcohol related abuse.

Changes to the Child - stressors from peers, TV AND INTERNET, plus worsening of respect for mothers (and fathers). ie: the media promoting lifestyle that increases demand & disillusionment.Further creating unrest at home. Many kids are encouraged to have PROBLEMS.

I believe children rarely lie about abuse, but, until they have come to adulthood, there is a lack of awareness of consequence. So, stories abound, fuelled by interested questioning by Child Protection Experts (building careers in the CHILD ABUSE INDUSTRY).Newly qualified solicitors/DOCS workers etc, without sufficient years of handling families, cut the umbilical cords for everyone - no thought of consequence.The NGO family-support charities/counselors with mere diplomas and years dealing with families are not employed.Nursing,also,has deteriorated post-vocational era.

THERE'S A WHOLE NEW STOLEN GENERATION being made, which the families are accused of creating -NOT, the government appointed bodies.
We live in fear of our lives, my daughter and I. Police/solicitors/DOCS will not help.If I say I can't protect her, they will just take her away. WHO WINS THEN and HOW?

I wonder what you wowsers think of the recent grandmother who had her grandchildren taken away because she smacked them. These are the kind of results that are the natural progression to your mindless 'think of the children' attitude to investigations of abuse; Better to have the children seperated from each other and brought up by strangers than with a loving grandma who smacked them once. Or maybe not, as it wasn't a man involved.

Zoompad
I am glad that your Court ordeal is over. You are obviously vulnerable as I was. I think that you need now to look after yourself and your children, especially in building their self-esteem so that the cycle (or chain) of abuse stops now. It's important that your children do not see you as a continuing victim.

I suggest that if you have not already done so, you read the book "Games People Play", by Eric Berne, first published in the 1960s. It is still in print or your library might have it.

I found it very helpful in identifying those who were trying to get the better of me by playing psychological games in which I was always destined to be the loser.

The book is quite fun to read. One such game is "Blemish" when the other party criticizes something about you. Another is "Let's you and him fight" where someone sets up conflict and then watches, for fun.

Once the game is identified the solution is simply not to join in. Pleasantly change the subject and in future avoid the would-be game
player if you can. These bullies never mean well.

I have heard it said (and I believe it) that our behaviour teaches others how to behave towards us. It's is very hard to alter the meek habits of a lifetime, but it does help to appear to be self-assured, and stand up for ourselves and our children even if we are terrified inside. I can't always follow my own advice unfortunately.

Best wishes.