Source: https://forcedadoptions.naa.gov.au/content/just-meant-be-part-4
Timestamp: 2020-08-14 17:00:37
Document Index: 42037834

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 4', 'art 4', 'art 4', 'art 1', 'art 2', 'art 3', 'art 5', 'art 6', 'art 7', 'art 8']

Just meant to be - part 4 | Forced Adoptions History Project
Just meant to be - part 4
Home > Experiences > Fathers > Just meant to be - part 4
When notified of the Contact Veto I thought the search was going nowhere again, however the Caseworker explained that DOCS were legally obliged to attempt to notify our daughter that a Supply Authority was about to be issued. The Caseworker also said that if I got a letter to her ASAP our daughter would be told of it at the same time. The only address on file was the one given at the time of lodging the Contact Veto, if there was no response, for any reason, a second attempt would take place in 6 months. After a further 6 months I was on my own.
This Contact Veto meant that before a Supply Authority could be issued allowing me access to identifying information, it was necessary for me to sign an Undertaking Not To Make Contact. This was a serious legal document which, if breached, incurred severe penalties with possibly a gaol term, it is closely linked to the laws on Stalking.
This was the juncture at which I first came into contact with the A.C.T. Adoptions Unit. N.S.W. Family Information Service (FIS) nominated someone within the organisation as the person to contact and arrange to have my signature witnessed on the Undertaking Not To Make Contact form and, I suspect, vet. me and sum-up my motives.
Although the address on file was no longer valid, luckily the notification from FIS was eventually delivered by hand and our daughter ‘phoned the Caseworker. So rather than being the barrier I perceived, the Contact Veto was proving to be a short-cut.
When I was told by the caseworker that contact had been made, the fact that someone alive and real was actually out there began to sink in. My message was requested immediately and FIS was now the go-between.
When notified of the Contact Veto I thought the search was going nowhere again...
Just meant to be - part 1
Just meant to be - part 2
Just meant to be - part 3
Just meant to be - part 5
Just meant to be - part 6
Just meant to be - part 7
Just meant to be - part 8