International Social Service (ISS) Australia

About

ISS Australia provides social work and legal services to families, children and adults across international borders.

Story

This is the official International Social Service Australia (ISS Australia) Page and your official source of information, insights, and perspectives relating to the services we provide.

We want to hear from you and encourage ideas, comments, feedback and suggestions. We ask that your posts are on topic, respectful, avoid profanity, offensive statements and illegal content. Please understand that we reserve the right to remove any posting or other material for any reason we deem appropriate. This is a moderated page and comments will appear if and when they are approved. This page is monitored between the hours of 9am-5pm AEST Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays).

Please understand that we will not address any individual enquiries or issues on our official Page. We are committed to respecting the privacy of your personal information and as such, prefer to communicate with you privately about your personal circumstances. If you have an immediate question, concern, or issue please contact us directly and we will be happy to assist you:

www.iss.org.au/contact-us/

Toll free: 1300 657 843. We are available between 9am and 5pm (AEST), Monday to Friday.

Please understand that comments posted to this Page do not represent the opinions of ISS Australia.

ISS Australia is committed to upholding the Australian Privacy Principles. Please visit www.iss.org.au/privacy-policy/ for more information.

If you feel distressed by anything you see on this page, please contact us within our business hours. Alternatively, please contact lifeline on 13 11 14 from anywhere within Australia (outside of business hours).

Thank you for being a part of our online community!

Mission

Our Vision

ISS Australia works to protect, defend and support children, families and individuals in disadvantaged situations as a consequence of global movement, particularly where these circumstances have lead to the separation of families and children. ISS Australia works to ensure that respect for human rights is accorded to every individual.

Our Principles

ISS promotes and protects the rights of families, children and other vulnerable persons according to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and other international human rights standards. The best interests of the child are paramount in all our work. As ISS celebrates diversity, it continually strives to practice in a culturally appropriate manner. The principles of neutrality, confidentiality, independence and impartiality are at the heart of the organisation’s work. ISS’s shared commitment to families, children and individuals unites its global network.

Products

ISS Australia is a leader in its field. Its inter-country services include:

- International Parental Child Abduction (IPCA) Support
IPCA occurs when a parent takes a child to another country without the other parent's consent, or refuses to return a child from overseas after an agreed period. ISS Australia offers help to parents and families affected by IPCA, with a focus on the best interests of the cild and the utmost respect for the privacy and confidentiality of those we work with. It is a free national service funded by the Commonwealth Attorney-General's Department and in NSW by the State Government.

- International Family and Post Adoption Tracing and Reunification
ISS provides general family and post-adoption tracing for those who wish to locate an immediate family member. Our services include, international tracing and discreet outreach to direct family member(s), confidential contact facilitation, support and counselling and referrals to specialised sdrvices where appropriate.

- International Child Welfare and Kinship Placement/Care
ISS provides assistance in conducting home assessments/reports where there are welfare concerns for the child and obtaining criminal and child protection background checks. ISS also works with providing/facilitating kinship care assessments within Australia and overseas and producing in-depth, high-quality reports for authorities in Australia and overseas.

- International Family Counselling and Mediation
ISS provides counselling, alternative dispute resolution and mediation services in cases where families, and particularly parents, are separated by international borders.
Counselling and mediation takes place with the full consent and cooperation of both parents. ISS aims to enhance or facilitate communication between parents, assist in the development of parenting agreements (including contact arrangements), focus on the needs of the child(ren) and offer counselling to support child(ren)'s relationships with both parents.

"International Social Service ISS Australia provides social work, legal and mediation services to families and children across international borders. Our services include assistance for families experiencing international parental child abduction, facilitating international kinship care and other international child welfare matters, international post adoption and general family tracing and reunification, and international family mediation.We are the independent Australian arm of the ISS network, spanning over 130 countries worldwide. We receive government funding for some services, but rely on fees, donations and other income to continue providing the full range of our services."