| Home | Bookmark | Tell | Active petitions in over 75 countries | Follow GoPetition |
Petition Tag - centres
1. Save the Early Childhood Centre Services 
The Sydney Southwest Area Health Service is planning to cut crucial services from their Early Childhood Centre Program.
One of the main changes includes the ceasing of the Tuesday morning drop-in service in the Balmain Early Childhood Centre (and no doubt other centres as well). This change will come into effect in mid-December and this decision was implemented without any consultation with the community at large.
The drop-in service has provided regular and accessible help to many parents in an informal setting and has also provided an important supportive forum for many parents to meet other parents.
It is essential for many parents to help care for their young children because babies needs are often immediate and cannot wait until planned appointments which are only available weeks in advance.
Many parents in Balmain are from interstate, overseas or country areas and are separated from their support networks. They rely heavily on formal services for support.
More changes - such as ceasing information forums like 'Introducing Solids' - are planned and something needs to be done to show the SSWAHS that these services are vital for the health and well being of our babies and parents and to ensure that no more services are taken away.
Please help us protect the mental and physical health of our babies and parents in Balmain and other suburbs within the Sydney South West Area and sign this petition to have our Early Childhood Services re-instated and to ensure that future changes to the Early Childhood Program be thoroughly debated by the community.
March 24, 2006
Hi mates
Unless you don't know I have Aspergers Syndrone which is how I get my mad ideas. Every day I go to the E.C. which is a place for children with physical or mental problems.
The government is however planning to scrap all the special needs centers like the E.C. They say they want to help us by saying that we should saught out peoples needs individually but most of us think that there doing it to make more money for themselves. If they do close the E.C. it won't be such a problem for me but it may effect some of my friends.
At the E.C. the TAs and some of the students A.K.A. Me, are starting a minor protest and I've been drawing posters for the campeign. If you have been inspired by this E.mail then please sign my petition.
No time to waist, gotta go.
Will Thompson
Aged 12
Please stop to the closure of special needs centres at schools in Wiveliscombe, Ruishton and West Somerset.
Somerset County Council's executive board made the decision to close the centres in January and the proposal is due to go before the Schools Organisation Committee in July this year when the schools affected will be able to voice their opinions before the final decision is made.
PLEASE FORWARD THIS PETITION ON TO ALL OF YOUR EMAIL CONTACTS
3. Save Our Special Needs Units in Somerset
January 24, 2006
The special needs centres at Court Fields Community School in Wellington and Kingsmead School in Wiveliscombe are to be axed.
Somerset County Council's executive board made the decision to close the two centres along with the special educational needs resource bases at Ruishton School in Taunton and three more at schools in West Somerset. They will shut down in 2008.
The aim of this petition is to save The special needs units for these very special children.
4. Plea to Free Innocent 3 year old Naomi
Naomi's story.
Is a child born in Australia in a Detention Centre an Australian Citizen? If not, what is she? Does she have any rights?
Naomi Leong spent her third birthday on 5 May 2005 in detention. She spent her second and her first there as well. She was born there. This poor innocent has been held in this cruel situation all her small life.
While technically having been born and now growing up in Australia, she has been denied freedom and any semblance of a normal life, by the Australian Department of Immigration. No toyshops, no icecream, no playgroup.
Naomi's mother Virginia Leong, was 2 months pregnant when she was detained for trying to leave Australia without proper documentation.
Virginia entered Australia on a valid visa, but had overstayed a mere two months. She was whisked into the Villawood Detention Centre and there she has stayed since. Her home country has not stepped in to question her detaining, her host country has not bothered to resolve it. Three years have passed. How many more to follow?
Dr Michael Dudley, a child psychiatrist at the Sydney Children's Hospital said of Naomi in an interview on PM on ABC Radio National; "She's in a very anxious and distressed state. She's banging her head against the wall, she's gazing into the distance at times, she's mute, unresponsive, listless." (5 May, 2005)
In November 2004, Detainee advocates tried to insist that Naomi be allowed out to mix with other kids at a nearby child care playgroup for two hours each week. The child care group has said it would welcome her. The request was rejected.
"We really needed her to be in an environment where she actually had some chance to grow and develop normally," Dr Dudley said.
Virginia has another child, a six-year-old-boy, who is an Australian citizen. His father was previously married to Virginia, but he refuses to allow the boy to visit his biological mother and sister "in jail."
Has Virginia anybody who can help her? If not is she there to stay permanently?
Naomi is not alone in this plight. She is but one of 69 children being held in Immigration Detention Centres across Australia, the innocent victims in their parents' attempt to get a better life for their children than they had for themselves.
The system of mandatory, non-reviewable detention for everyone (no exception for babies and children) is a system introduced in Australia in 1992. Detaining children like this is contrary to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child which Australia agreed to abide by in 1990.
It is the intention of this petition to free little Naomi, and to help prevent this treatment of all these other innocent children who through no fault of their own are destined to a more existence. To be held in Detention Centres for something they are not responsible for, is cruelty without comprehension.
This should not be happening in Australia. Join us in protesting to the government to give these poor children something to live for.
For more information on child immigration detainees in Australia please visit
www.chilout.org
ABC's story - 'Just another birthday behind Razor Wire' tells the sad story of little Naomi . Find it at http://abc.net.au/pm/content/2005/S1360970.htm then come straight back and sign the petition.
We want 20 million signatures - equivalent to the population of Australia - insisting that Government recognise that Australia is a country of caring people -and a country where we don't ruin the lives of children!
5. More Krispy Kreme stores in Australia!
There's only one krispy kreme store in Australia and its too hard to get to! We need stores in all the shopping centres!!
6. Petition to remove Philip Ruddock, MP as immigration minister and begin a UN investigaion
Under the leadership of immigration minister Philip Ruddock, the government of Australia has turned a blind eye to all requests for a serious investigation of Australia's immigration policies and the mandatory detention of people who are legal asylum seekers under international law. These refugees are seeking legal asylum in Australia and are being held in violation of UN directives (which are the law in Australia). Conditions in detention centres must be investigated. Philip Ruddock must step down. Humans rights violations must result in trials.