media release

DATE 19/12/08

Children at Christmas

Behind the happy Christmas scenes at this time of year is a sad story.  There are hundreds of people who feel vulnerable, unloved and homeless.

Circumstances such as this often lead to issues such as baby abandonment.

I have been and will continue to push for Baby Safe Havens to be introduced in Australia. Baby Safe Havens are pre determined locations where babies can be left by their parents without fear of criminal charges.

They exist in the United States, Germany, Italy, Pakistan, Hungary and Austria and have been found to significantly reduce child abandonment.

“At Christmas I think about children, and it breaks my heart to think about abandoned babies being left without hope” said Senator Helen Polley.

“Every baby is precious and needs to be given every opportunity”.

The Baby Safe Havens would work collaboratively with government agencies and charity groups to find safe and loving homes.

“How a society treats its young is its measure. I can see the need for this legislation as both the State President of St Vincent De Paul and a parent, and a grandparent. This is only the first step though, it needs to be followed up with education programs to get to the source of the problem” said St Vincent De Paul state President Peter Lyall.

St Vincent De Paul supports the Baby Safe Haven plan to the point that they are posting petitions for support of the bill in all of the Tasmanian outlets.

“We need a comprehensive and supportive response that enables parents to address the reasons behind the ‘need’ to abandon”, said Senator Polley.

“I intend to work closely with the social service systems and with State and Federal Attorney-Generals so we can act on a Federal level. We need to discuss location of safe havens, age of child, parental anonymity, parental liability, protection of father’s rights and awareness campaigns to ensure that all issues are covered. And of course, there are a number of constitutional challenges that would need to be worked through.”

Senator Polley said that she had received hundreds of letters and e-mails in support of her proposal.

For further information please contact James Brown at (03)6331 2599.