We can do better: Comedian urges foster care reform

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This was published 8 years ago

We can do better: Comedian urges foster care reform

By Natalie Bochenski
Updated

Brisbane comedian Corey White said he hoped his appearance on Australian Story would shine a light on a "broken" foster care system.

The 27-year-old - currently performing to sell-out crowds at the Edinburgh Fringe - opened up about his dysfunctional childhood that included a drug-addicted mother, a violent father and abuse in foster care.

Comedian Corey White spoke out about his childhood abuse and neglect on Australian Story.

Comedian Corey White spoke out about his childhood abuse and neglect on Australian Story.Credit: Anneliese Nappa

Following the episode, White penned a thank-you on his Facebook page, but asked well-wishers to remember he didn't take part to get personal adulation.

"My decision to appear on the program was primarily political - I don't want what happened to me to happen to any other foster children," he said.

Comedian Corey White.

Comedian Corey White.Credit: Anneliese Nappa

"I knew Australian Story was a platform to maybe achieve that so I agreed to participate in something that was probably one of the hardest things I've done.

"My dream is that the inspiration people take from my story translates into real and concerted efforts to remedy a children protection scheme that is a national shame."

White and his sister Rebecca Gambrill spoke at length about growing up in Caboolture with a heroin-addicted mother who spent time in jail, as well as an abusive father.

After their mother died when White was 10, he, Rebecca and their other two siblings were separated into different foster families.

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White experienced physical, mental and sexual abuse during his years in care.

In his late teens and early 20s he fell into depression and drug abuse, and credits comedy with helping him find a voice and a purpose.

White won Best Newcomer at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in April, which gave him the opportunity to travel to the Edinburgh Fringe, one of the biggest festivals in the world.

White hadn't forgotten the foster system, which he said was still underfunded, overburdened and effectively ignored by policy makers.

"Children are being left with abusive and neglectful parents or put in the care of equally damaging foster parents, good foster carers are quitting in bitter exhaustion, and social workers are overworked and deprived of the resources they need," he wrote on Facebook.

"It's important that the feelgood factor of the episode on me is not all that comes from this. I don't want adulation, I want justice: for those children who have been dealt a brutal hand in life and then enter a dysfunctional care system which further dehumanizes them.

"At present, foster children have some of the worst health outcomes, with massively increased risks of mental illness, drug abuse, homelessness, imprisonment and suicide. We can do better than this."

White said overhauling the foster care system had the same "moral urgency" as improving the treatment of asylum seekers or indigenous health.

In a statement provided to Australian Story, the Queensland Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services said the Child Protection Act prevented it from discussing White's individual case.

"The sexual abuse of any child anywhere is totally unacceptable. Any allegation of child sexual abuse should be reported to the police," the statement read.

"The department cooperates with police in the investigation of any allegations of abuse in out-of-home care. The department is committed to the continuous improvement of Queensland's out-of-home care system to make it as safe as possible for children in need of protection."

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