A Pdf version of this media release can be found online here I applaud the Melbourne City Council’s Future Melbourne Committee for unanimously adopting the principles of Cr Nicholas Francis Gilley motion – Ensuring Safety of Children at Places of Worship in our Municipality. One of the key motivations for survivors and whistle-blowers in making their stories known […]
A Pdf version of this media release can be found online here Many survivors will be feeling a sense of relief at the sentence imposed today. For survivors, the journey towards justice and healing is a long one and rulings like this, go some way to comforting the hurt caused by the most terrible of […]
A Pdf version of this media release can be found online here The fact that Gerald Ridsdale would mount such an obscene defence, simply illustrates that he lacks any true sense of remorse for the crimes he has committed and even less understanding of the devastation his actions have caused. How could any reasonable person […]
A Pdf of this media release can be found here While many in our community already knew what the findings have now proven to be true – today is a very hard day for survivors and their families. So many people who are in a state of crisis and severe pain have contacted us. Many […]
A Pdf of this media release can be found online here George Pell has had his day in court, now it’s time that the thousands of survivors of institutional abuse seeking redress receive the same. I welcome the fact that George Pell acknowledged the inadequacies of the Catholic Church’s response and that he feels shame […]
A Pdf of this media release can be found here Tonight George Pell will speak to the media for the first time since last Tuesday’s ruling by the High Court. For many years George Pell has been afforded the opportunity to speak from a position of great power and influence. Survivors and their families have […]
Today is hard day for Survivors of institutional abuse, their families and their supporters.
While I hold the deepest respect for the High Court, today’s decision is not only a disappointing result for the complainant in this case; it is a disappointing result for Survivors of institutional abuse across Australia.
Many people will struggle to come to terms with today’s decision, and no doubt many people will be reflecting on the ever-present pain of the past.
At the final Melbourne Victims’ Collective meeting of 2019, Clare Leaney presented the following information on IGFF and MVC follow-up to the earlier meeting with Melbourne Archbishop Peter Comensoli.
The presentation was split into a series of observations and recommendations for improvement in supporting survivors of abuse, working with justice and redress processes, increasing organisational transparency, and protecting the vulnerable from this abuse reoccurring.
As we begin this next decade working with and on behalf of institutional abuse survivors, it’s important to take a moment and reflect on some of our successes and share some of our ideas for 2020 and into the future.
In late 2019 IGFF received a significant surge in funding provided by the Federal Government as a National Redress Scheme Support Service. Our team is to be congratulated for their enormous and often unrecognised hard work and dedication to assisting survivors on their recovery journeys.
This surge funding has meant that 2020 has opened with a huge leap forward in Foundation activity, with some amazing service delivery results up to 30th December 2019 that further support our calls for additional funding.
Please find the IGFF 2019 Annual Report below. If you have any difficulty with the file, or would like a higher-quality copy, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at igff@igff.org.au or call (03) 9940 1533.
Rachel has worked at IGFF for almost a decade providing Case Work, Community Development and Education Project Management. She has contributed over 30 years of voluntary service supporting the Australian movement for justice and recognition to all religious institutional abuse Survivors. Rachel supported the development of In Good Faith Foundation as a nationally recognised and sustainably funded ‘specialising’ support service. In her current role as the Advocacy and Redress Manager, Rachel enjoys working with diverse clients; from all walks of life and understanding their life experiences and individual needs. She has lobbied successive governments and institutional hierarchies on behalf of Survivors, with shared concerns. She has also organised and run community forums and education events to greater develop Survivor support and professional care understandings. Rachel’s collaborative approach to advocacy, assists IGFF clients with enhanced access to therapeutic care and justice pathways. She continues to develop her work practices from a deep commitment to human rights and respect for the Survivor’s journey.
Jim received an Electrical Engineering education at University of Melbourne and contributes his organisational competency to IGFF as a Board Director and a leader of the MVC. As a secondary survivor, Jim is a tireless advocate for survivors of religious institutional abuse, their families and communities presenting to a conference ‘Sexual Abuse in Religious Contexts’ held at the University of NSW in 2008. Jim has provided submissions to the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry and the Royal Commission, making active contributions to the research and documentation compiled by IGFF.
Clare has worked at IGFF for nearly a decade, assisting individuals, families and communities to engage with the Royal Commission and Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry. She has extensive consultative experience providing written and verbal testimony to both State and Federal Government Inquiries, legislative and policy reviews, organisational restructuring and child safe standards. Graduating from the University of Melbourne with a background in Humanities, Clare possesses extensive case management, community development and engagement experience with governance and organisational oversight experience. She is driven to provide an accessible support service to survivors, families and communities impacted by institutional abuses. Clare is privileged to have shared in the recovery journeys of many survivors and is committed to enhancing public awareness of the needs of institutional abuse Survivors.
Phil has recently joined IGFF to assist with further strengthening the Foundation’s governance and helping develop strategies for continuing growth and development. Phil has over 30 years of experience in Commonwealth government and the private sector, with a focus on complex commercial, procurement and contracting projects, governance, risk management and business transformation. The last decade of this experience was as a Senior Executive, followed by three years of consulting back to government.
Joe Stroud has come onboard as our Head of Government Relations. He has spent the last five years working in Federal Politics and has a background in Community and Political Organising. He has extensive experience as a senior Campaign Adviser and was most recently Campaign Director for the Federal seat of Maribyrnong. Joe has a BA from Monash University.
After completing her BA/LLB(Hons), Hannah worked as a judges’ associate and legal researcher at the Victorian Court of Appeal and the Family Court of Australia before completing her Masters in Social Work. She is passionate about the pursuit of individual and communal justice and wellbeing. Hannah has experience in roles focused on advocacy, education design and delivery, counselling, and service reform, with a particular specialisation in disability. Hannah is also a Board Member of Pathways Melbourne, an organisation which provides peer support and practical resources to people leaving or changing their relationship with their personal Jewish faith or religious community, and one of the few non-autistic Co-Directors of A_tistic, a majority neurodivergent-led arts, education and consultancy collective dedicated to spreading understanding of autism and neurodiversity. She is dedicated to supporting survivors with a focus on collaborative, accessible approaches adapted to each person.
Ingrid recently joined the IGFF team in December 2019. She has an interest in mental health, and providing advocacy and support for our most vulnerable people within the community. She has a Diploma of Community Services, and has been actively involved with school community committee groups while her children attended school. Ingrid has housed exchange students, volunteered at centres for the poor, and most recently volunteers at a retreat, helping children from disadvantaged countries that require life saving medical treatment. She also has experience in family health support.
Reverend Alexandra’s commitment to healing through justice is central to her spiritual support role at IGFF. She has provided pastoral care to members of IGFF’s community including clients, MVC members and supporters, core staff and associates. Following the completion of an Arts degree majoring in international Development Studies, Alexandra played a significant role at the Carlton and Atherton Gardens Housing Estates, where she worked breaking down barriers dividing residents and local community. She is currently the Uniting Church Minister at St Andrew’s Uniting Church, Fairfield.
Linda is a registered Counselling Psychologist with a Masters in Counselling Psychology from Swinburne University. She is a founder and Co-Director of integrative Psychology and works closely with IGFF on research and best practice community education seminar delivery. She has extensively researched institutional abuse and has expertise in responding to institutional misuse of power and control within communities. She works therapeutically with survivors of institutional trauma and has coordinated an individual and group therapeutic response to survivors of a spiritual organisation in Victoria.
David studied Law at Monash University and was admitted to practice in 1996. David’s main areas of practice include land valuation and compensation, equity, property, planning and environment law, as well as general commercial litigation. From 2010 to 2014, David represented Western Victoria in the Legislative Council of Victoria and was a member of the Victorian Parliamentary inquiry into the Handling of Child Abuse by Religious and Other Organisations. He is a strong political and social advocate for survivors of institutional abuse and represented clients approaching the Royal Commission.
Graeme is the former Principal of Holy Family Primary School, Doveton with a strong commitment to the education and protection of children. As an ambassador for IGFF, Graeme is a leader of the MVC community, frequently contributing to meetings as a guest speaker. Since 2012, Graeme has been contributing to IGFF submissions and was a public witness to the Victorian Parliamentary inquiry and the Royal Commission. Graeme is a passionate advocate for primary survivors and families of religious institutional abuses, recognising the work of whistle-blowers in drawing attention to this critical social issue.
Richard’s long-term advocacy over the last 15 years demonstrates his outstanding commitment to advocating on behalf of survivors. In choosing to share his story as a survivor across all avenues of media, Richard has empowered many others to speak out. His public relations, media communications and political lobbying background has assisted in many of IGFF’s successful campaigns for survivor justice and institutional reform. Contributing to the MVC over many years, Richard has also worked with IGFF and other survivors to establish a Memorial at Xavier College. He was a Founding Board Director of IGFF.
Shyamala joined the In Good Faith Foundation team in February 2021 as our administrative officer. She comes to IGFF with experience in not-for-profit organisations, governance, office management, operations and administration. She current looks after all the administration needs of the organisation and supports management and staff with IT and administration.
Originally from Germany, Thea has completed her B.A. in Social Work and further education in Trauma Counselling. Managing asylum seeker camps and providing Case Management formed her interested in human rights and social justice and lead to her volunteering for different projects in Latin America and Myanmar, Asia. Since arriving in Australia September 2019, Thea has worked in the youth homeless sector in a crisis accommodation setting and commenced with IGFF on 1 February 2021. Thea enjoys being creative and spending a lot of time in nature.
Srini has recently joined IGFF as a CFO, ensuring finance and finance-related functions are carried out in accordance the IGFF Strategic Plan and further strengthening the Foundation’s governance and helping develop strategies for continuing growth and development. Srini has over 30 years of experience in corporate Australia with global and multinational companies in financial services and retail sectors. His expertise includes providing specialist management services including governance, strategic planning, financial management, risk management and IT and transformation projects. His last assignment has been in a senior management capacity with a national retail chain. He is also involved with an NFP organisation as a member of the Audit committee.
Originally from Sydney…
