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Telephone 25 9088 cir.,ber• ,SU REAU OFI RCULATION
No. 1954 PERTH. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23, 1975
Catholic child care crisis R ecent allocations for private child care announcin the State Budget last month wer e minimal and a crisis still exists in our C atholic institutions.
Father Barry Hickey, Director of the Catholic Family Welfare Bureau, said this yesterday after a meeting of the Catholic Child Care Committee, of which he is chairman. • He reiterated a statement by Bishop Quinn that the Budget statement had given a misleading impression as to the real "extent of assistance. Father Hickey said that the crux of the problem was the category under which a child waS put into various forms of care. Contrary to the popular belief, by no means all of the children in our institutions were State wards. Many were private placements.
HALF OF THE COST Understandably, he said, there had been a reluctance to declare a child a ward unless it was absolutely necessary. Even so, should a child in a Catholic or other private institution be declared a ward, the institution would receive
only half of what it cost to keep the same State ward in a Government home. The greater hardship, Father Hickey said, was with private cases. None .of these were taken by the Government homes and yet they were being constantly referred to our Catholic and the other denominational institutions by officers of the Community Welfare Department.
"MISLEADING" IMPRESSION These private cases, he said, in effect, had to pay their own way or the particular institution had to carry the cost. Father Hickey said that the misleading impression referred to by Bishop Quinn was that Government money allegedly was available for private cases. But, he said, the regulations that had to be surmounted to get this money made it practically impossible to obtain. The alternative was for the institution to take the family to court to obtain costs, and this obviously was an undesir-
able step and rarely taken. Hence, Father Hickey said, recent Budget _allocations had meant less than one dollar per week increase for each of the 221 children currently in the care of Catholic institutions. Castledare, for example, would benefit to the extent of only $10.50 per week in all, against its current weekly deficit of $1,000. "The institutions are dipping into their own funds and relying on public support through fund-raising meet to their current costs," Father Hickey said.
"NOT ONLY CATHOLIC . .." "And this is apart from the capital costs and renovations and plans for the future that each institution has to keep in mind. "It's not just a Catholic problem; it is spread over the whole board and applies to other denominational homes as well. "I wonder whether the Government just wants to allow the private sector of child care to with-
er while not daring to eliminate it altogether. "It has always been an Australian tradition that there was a partnership between Government and private care and one can only be disappointed at a trend which seemingly would create a Government monopoly in welfare." Father Hickey said that he found the present State Government's attitude hard to understand. He was amazed that so far Sir Charles Court appeared not to have decided to receive a Catholic deputation as requested by Bishop Quinn in
MEMBER'S CONCERN Dr. G. T. Dadour, the Liberal member for Subiaco, who has raised • the matter in the Legislative Assembly on different occasions, said in a comment that he was concerned that the present Government was spending lavishly on health and was leaving nothing 'for the improvement of welfare services. He cited astronomical rise in costs of finning hospitals where there had been no increase in either the number of staff or the number of beds and yet, he said, it was impossible to make even a minimal improvement in the standard of child care.
Canon law and the status of women
SAN (NC). — At theDIEGO end of four days in convention, the 320 delegates of the Canon Law Society of America (CLSA) found themselves deeply involved in the status of Women in the Church, "Responsible biblical and He admitted that at preof minorities and theological opinion has sent, " at the popular level, their reached needs and in some consensus t hey are possibly not sepextension that there are no clear bib- arate issues. Of social justice. lical or theological objec-
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Fr. HAILSTONE A RC RELIGIOUS OFFICER IN WA.
Father Bob Hailstone, well-known Catholic broadcaster, has been appointed religious officer of the Australian Broadcasting Commission in Western Australia. It is the first time in Aus- ducer, researcher and script- . He has been public retralia that a priest has taken writer. lations officer for the Cathup a full-time -paid position _ He has been a columnist olic Church in South Auswith the "radio and television for Adelaide's "Sunday tralia for the jiast two years. , Mail" and is scheduled -to media-. Fr. Hailstone is also a have two books released — • Hailstone began a one on Christian writings jazz musician (clarinet), a Father. rather rapid rise to fame and •another on media eda- painter and a poet whose five years ago when his suc- cation for secondary schools. wark has been published •ui cess in a Sunday newspaper university magazines.. • Fr. Hailstone read 'phil. , column dealing with welfare His interest in music was osophy' at St. Francis' problems led him to be inSeminary in Adelaide for reflected in. the half-hour vited to .a commercial radio rock religious programmes four years. • talk-back programme. he Produced for SKA and, MUSICIAN in the revolutionary social His nightly two-hour open He majored in English at changes he brought to the line took top ratings in a Adelaide University where McNally . Trainiag Centre short time. he also studied Indian, Af- for Boys in Adelaide with . . He was also host of a rican and Chinese literature the introduction of concerts featuring top local groups: national- television series and psychology. called Emergency Line for Adelaide's Channel 7 and was a familiar figure on Channel, 10. with news commentaries and a Saturday night television pro-gramme dealing with many aspects of social welfare from juvenile delinquency to group marriages.
COLUMN1ST His camera crew was the first to be permitted to film inside the execution Hoak of Adelaide prison. For most of his programmes he has not only been the host, but also pro-
Polish bishops The Aquinas demand radio time for Eucharistic Catholics Procession on Sunday
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VATICAN CITY (NC). — The Polish bishops ate demanding the right of the Catholic Church in Poland to time on the airwaves:
-Contemporary theologicThe annual Eucharistions to the ordination of al writing moves in the diThe newly elected society women," she said. . tic Procession will take President, Father rection that indissolubility place at Aquinas College Bertram Griffith, of The main burden of her of marriage and reception Portland, Orethis Sunday (October 26), gon, said that he viewed the mesage was on behalf of of the Eucharist are two commencing The Vatican daily newsat 2.45 society's activities as mov- Religious women who, she separate issues, at least in p.m. paper, "L'Osservatore R,3 ing further some said, cases," suffered still he from added. outinto the fuller mano" reported from WarSphere of Buses will leave St. saw that a strongly worded social justice. of-date laws and regulations Pluralism within WHAT MAKES IT G eorge's Terrace at 15- statement from the bishops the Chur- made by men. ch and minute intervals from 1 women's rights. "The Code of Canon on the right to radio time A SACRAMENT? High on p.m. was read from all Polish the agenda was Law," she said,. "has little tile Place of Father Goedart called for women in the in common with our lives The. theme of the oc- pulpits. Charch the. keynote by a and. regrettably, even less an investigation into "what casion will be "Marmajor "I.'Osservatore Romano" presentation by Sis- in common with the Gos- precisely makes a marriage riage," concluding the ter reported that the bishops pel imperative tO which we Margaret a sacrament,_ particularly Brennan on diocesan study of the rethe status spoke "to the authors and are seeking to respond." of when the spouses who hapcent Pastoral Letter. hgious in the Women Reof programmes directors pen to be baptised have Church. and to the media authoriSister long since MARRIAGE abandoned the Brennan said that A ties asking respect for the practice of their faith". merican Sisters had ON INSIDE PAGES rights of believers . not to changed A nother speaker, Father from Parish priests, he said, re- Calendar the days when McCormick, S.J., challengthey 4 have their opinions offendonly taught in schools ed the question if the in- peatedly confronted with Or ed by these means of social worked in Classified hospitals. communication." dissolubility of marriage this kind of . situation, "are "We have Adve rtising 10 moved towards and its relationship with re forccd either to refuse to a marry such couples or to be Education File The newspaper added: ception where of Eucharist the for 11 are situation Sisters chaplains "The bishops asked also in hospitals, divorced and remarried a party to what our tradi- News In Pars . . tt)alrons 4 that Catholics have access in prisons, tional moral theology would Catholics. in courts of law, lawyers a to mass media so that at .consider Sister `sacrilegioas Phi lomena rif teachers He argued that the issues act' ". priests Earle 7 least once weekly religious 'marchers and seminarians, were "separable" though messages 'for the sick could in picket the Sport . . . . . . 10, 12 be broadcast lines," they might not be "separsaid. in the radio ate." (• See also P. 5, 9) T.V. .8, Radio . . . 11 programmes."
Father BOB HAILSTONE
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