Foster care experts say families reuniting with biological children need more support. Their comments come after the ABC revealed an 8-month-old baby girl died less than three days after being returned to her biological parents.
收养护理专家指出，与亲生子女团聚的家庭亟需更多支持。此言出自ABC披露的一起悲剧：一名8个月大的女婴在被送回亲生父母身边不到三天后不幸夭折。
Victorian foster carer Sasha*, whose name has been changed for legal reasons, said a six-year-old girl under her care since she was a baby had been "re-traumatised" by court-ordered visitations.
维多利亚州的一名收养护理员Sasha*（出于法律原因化名）表示，一名自婴儿期起便由其照顾的六岁女孩，因法院强制安排的探视而遭受了「二次创伤」。
A reunification order is made with the goal of eventually returning the child to their biological parent. "Emma used to see her mum twice a week … but she wouldn't turn up to half those sessions," Sasha said. "That really stressed Emma out … I would pick [her] up from daycare, go and wait … and she wouldn't turn up … Emma was distraught."
团聚令旨在最终将孩子交还亲生父母。Sasha说：「Emma原本每周见妈妈两次……但有一半的探视她根本不会露面。这让Emma压力巨大……我会从托儿所接她，然后去等待……可她始终不来……Emma悲痛欲绝。」
Forced access 'devastates' kids. Previous Victorian legislation stated that once a child was put into out-of-home care, biological parents had a two-year window to regain custody of their child. But in May 2026, the Children, Youth and Families (Stability) Act 2026 came into effect, removing the time limit on reunification orders.
强制探视令孩子「心碎」。维多利亚州旧法规定，孩子进入寄养系统后，亲生父母有两年的时间窗口来争取监护权。然而，2026年5月生效的《儿童、青年与家庭（稳定）法案2026》取消了团聚令的时间限制。
A Better Life For Foster Kids founder Heather Baird grew up in the foster care system and said had seen many children become distressed and resist visitation. "I know of many children who are forced to attend access with parents," she said. "You normally find the children, once they get around the six, seven and eight … they start actually verbally saying, 'I don't want to go.'"
「寄养儿童美好生活」创始人Heather Baird在寄养系统中长大，她称目睹了许多孩子因抗拒探视而痛苦不堪。「我知道许多被强制要求参加探视的孩子，」她说。「通常你会发现，当孩子长到六七岁甚至八岁时……他们开始口头表达：『我不想去了。』」
Ms Baird said that in some cases the biological parent had abused the child or was unwell due to substance abuse or mental health issues. "A child that's forced to go and see a parent that's abused them … it's got to traumatise these children all the more, and if the parent doesn't want or feel the child is important enough to meet these visitation appointments, then that just devastates a child," she said.
Baird女士指出，在某些案例中，亲生父母曾虐待孩子，或因药物滥用或心理健康问题而状态不佳。「被迫去见曾虐待自己的父母……这只会让孩子受到更深的创伤；如果父母不愿来，或觉得孩子不值得他们赴约，那简直是对孩子的毁灭性打击，」她说。
Ms Baird said the two-year limit on reunification should be reintroduced and strictly enforced. "The reality is, if you have your children removed and you haven't stood up in 12 months, you're never going to stand up for those children," she said.
Baird女士主张应重新引入并严格执行两年的团聚期限。「现实是，如果你的孩子被带走，而你在12个月内都没有站出来争取，那你永远都不会再为孩子挺身而出，」她说。
Children and Family Services chief executive Wendy Sturgess said parents needed more support if the legislative changes were to be effective in the long-term. "The principal of reunification, of course, is a good one, on the proviso that parents are well-equipped and well-supported, and worked through their own trauma in parenting and having had a child removed," she said.
儿童与家庭服务首席执行官Wendy Sturgess表示，若要让立法变革在长期内生效，父母需要更多支持。「团聚原则当然是好的，但前提是父母必须装备齐全、得到充分支持，并处理好因育儿及孩子被带走而产生的自身创伤，」她说。
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, approximately 81 per cent of children put into care in Victoria return home within two years. Women's Legal Service policy advocacy and communications director Roj Amedi said the issue was not the amount of time allowed for reunification, but the lack of support for biological parents.
据澳大利亚健康与福利研究所数据，维多利亚州约81%进入护理系统的儿童在两年内重返家园。妇女法律服务政策倡导与传播总监Roj Amedi指出，问题不在于团聚允许的时间长短，而在于对亲生父母支持的匮乏。
another tragedy caused by the nanny state's obsession with keeping families together at all costs while ignoring the actual abusers. the system is broken because it serves the bureaucrats, not the kids.
又是官僚机构为了所谓“家庭完整”而忽视真正施暴者造成的悲剧。这个系统坏了，因为它服务的是官僚，不是孩子。