Overview

Who It's For?

This service is for those placed in NSW out-of-home care and are now aged 26 or over. This includes those placed by the government into children’s homes, orphanages or similar institutions or foster homes before 1990 (Forgotten Australians, Stolen Generations and Former Child Migrants) as well as those in care after 1990 (broadly referred to as Care-Leavers).

How We Help

Wattle Place has staff who specialise in supporting people with childhood experiences of institutional and foster care. We understand the ongoing impacts that those experiences can continue to have throughout life. Our service is Australia-wide, if you now live interstate, we can still support you via phone and online services.

What to Expect

As well as offering a range of specialist support services, we provide acknowledgement, respect, understanding, hope and the opportunity for social connection, friendship and the feeling that you are part of a community.

Many Forgotten Australians and Care-Leavers struggle with day-to-day impacts and challenges as a result of childhood experiences. 

 

While not all institutional or out of-home care experiences were negative, sadly a large proportion of them were incredibly traumatic, leaving many with lifelong impacts. But we’re here to help.

PTSD or flashbacks to traumatic experiences in childhood
Struggles with identity
Difficulty connecting with others
Difficulty trusting others
Fear of an unknown future
Ongoing mental health issues

We commonly help Forgotten Australians and other Care-Leavers with:

01
Face-to-face and telephone counselling
02
Limited financial support towards the costs of wellbeing services, such as medical, dental, and optical
03
Assistance and support to access institutional and personal records
04
Support with family tracing
05
One-off assistance with first time family reunion
06
Casework and advocacy
07
Information and referrals to other services
08
Social activities, special events and group workshops
09
Drop-in facilities
Fees
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Relationships Australia NSW will be closed from Saturday 23 December 2023 until Tuesday 2 January 2024.  

Click here for more information. 

If you are in crisis, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

Relationships Australia NSW will be closed from Saturday 23 December 2023 until Tuesday 2 January 2024.  


This closure includes all local centres, head office and our customer care team. For any enquiries during this period, please email enquiries@ransw.org.au and a member of our team will be in touch as soon as we reopen.

Click here for more information. 
If you are in crisis, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

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