News

RANZCP Position Statement on siblings

Posted: November 10, 2011 9:21 AM

Addressing the needs of siblings of children with disability or chronic illness

The Royal Australian & New Zealand College of Psychiatrists is seeking support and endorsement by agencies of its recently published position statement 'Addressing the needs of siblings of children with disability or chronic illness'. The link provides you with information about the aims of the statement, how it was developed, how it will be used, and why you are being asked to endorse it.

Please encourage your organisation to endorse this very important document.

Briefing Paper 2010

Posted: February 2, 2011 4:59 PM

Siblings Australia is unable to access government funding. This paper discusses the work of Siblings Australia over the last 12 years and outlines why it should be supported to continue this important work. It should be read in conjunction with the National Action Plan (see below) developed by Siblings Australia and Families Australia.

More details...  

Office Closure

Posted: December 7, 2010 8:08 PM

The Siblings Australia office will close down within the next two weeks. Things will be packed up and put into storage - we have not been able to access funding from the Australian government so there was no choice. It is devastating, especially as we have been through this before. However, we are not giving up and will continue to lobby for siblings to be recognised by government - in relation to both their contribution and their needs.

Natonal Carer Strategy

Posted: December 7, 2010 7:53 PM

Read our submission to the National Carer Strategy in which we argue that there needs to be more focus on the whole family when considering people with disability. Feedback welcome - kate@siblingsaustralia.org.au

More details...  

Productivity Commission Inquiry submission

Posted: August 16, 2010 11:35 AM

The Australian government has asked the Productivity Commission to undertake a public inquiry into a long-term disability care and support scheme. Siblings Australia's submission to the inquiry argues that any new scheme needs to consider the 'whole family'.

More details...  

National Action Plan for Siblings

Posted: June 25, 2010 2:05 PM

This National Action Plan, developed jointly by Siblings Australia and Families Australia, outlines a way forward for the support of siblings. See 'Related Link' below.
Now we need your support in promoting this Plan to government. We need as many as possible to email relevant federal Members of Parliament - email kate@siblingsaustralia.org.au, asking for a template and addresses which will make the job easy!
We need to tell governments that siblings are TOO IMPORTANT TO IGNORE!!
Read the Briefing Paper (see above) for more information about the work of Siblings Australia.
Further information about all of the Families Australia's 2010 election proposals (including the siblings one) can be found on their website - www.familiesaustralia.org.au

Siblings share their secrets

Posted: January 7, 2010 2:01 PM

This wonderful radio doco was prepared by Nance Haxton and presented to our National Conference in November. It explores several sibling experiences. You can read the transcript or listen to the sound version by following the related link below. Thank you so much to the sibs who participated.

Siblings Australia Conference

Posted: December 10, 2009 3:32 PM

A number of our members joined us with other specialists and families from across Australia and overseas for our Siblings Australia 2009 Conference: Creating Connections. The conference reinforced the need for sibling support and delegates endorsed a resolution that we will use to lobby governments.

More details...  

Siblings Australia Newsletter

Posted: May 15, 2009 1:19 PM

Read about the new projects at Siblings Australia and how you can contribute to this work.

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Funding Update!

Posted: March 24, 2009 2:05 PM

Siblings Australia has been able to access funding for new initiatives in 2009. More details coming soon. Most exciting is our 2nd National Conference, Creating Connections. Register your interest HERE

The lobbying continues!

Posted: August 27, 2008 10:24 AM

Siblings Australia continues to lobby the government to consider the needs of siblings. There is still no word on when or how this work will be supported.
Read our submission to the Better Support for Carers Inquiry - see 'More details' below. This was followed up by a presentation to the Committee at a public hearing.

you can also read an article in the Australian e-Journal for the Advancement of Mental Health - see 'related link' below

I welcome your feedback at kate@siblingsaustralia.org.au

More details...   Related Link

Siblings Australia Petition

Posted: January 25, 2008 2:30 PM

We have set up a petition which we will send to the Federal Government. The petition focuses on two points:

1. Identify which Government department will take responsibility for siblings of people with special needs.

2. Ensure that Siblings Australia receives recurrent funding for a period of at least three years so that it can continue and expand its valuable work providing advocacy, information, training and support to families of children with special needs and the providers who work with them.

Please sign to support Siblings Australia.

This petition has now closed but you can still support our cause by writing to relevant Ministers as detailed below under Support Siblings Australia.

Siblings Australia in Crisis

Posted: January 22, 2008 11:24 AM

Twelve months ago, as a result of extensive lobbying Siblings Australia obtained a grant from the Federal Dept of Health & Ageing (DOHA). This enabled the organisation to maintain and indeed expand, its operations in 2007.

In Oct 2007 we lodged a new proposal to DOHA for funding in 2008, setting out a program of activities that would build on our efforts from 2007 (see the document below for an abridged version).

Unfortunately, on 11th Jan, DOHA advised us that no further funding will be provided to Siblings Australia, essentially because the previous grant was ‘time limited’ (that is for one year only) and that the Dept has ‘other priorities’. This decision was re-affirmed in a phone conference with several DOHA officials on 17th Jan.

The inevitable consequence of this decision is that Siblings Australia cannot continue its current operations. The lease on our office is up for renewal and we cannot commit to another two years. We will also need to release our current staff.

More details...  

Support Siblings Australia

Posted: January 22, 2008 11:18 AM

We are seeking your support one more time by sending letters to the relevant Federal Ministers and media in which you:

1. Express your dismay at the impending closure of Siblings Australia, as we know it, due to a lack of funding; and
2. Call for a significant core grant to be provided to Siblings Australia for a period of three years to enable it to renew its valuable services to siblings, their families and providers within Australia.

Please read the word document below for a copy of the letter and suggested email addresses.

More details...  

New Website

Posted: December 12, 2007 11:05 AM

The big news is our website! We are very proud of this new revamped website and especially grateful to the contributors who made it possible. The Julia Farr Group provided the funding for Pat Gerace from Datacentric to build the site. Paul Campese has given us some great ideas regarding design (both for website and other materials) and Siblings Australia has done the rest!