Adele Rickerby's Blog, page 12
July 30, 2016
Child Trafficking; Romania’s Troubled Past
At the top of the stairs stood a solitary figure, a young man. He watched as I approached. My baby, by now nearly six months old, that I was in the process of adopting from a Romanian orphanage, slept soundly. Snuggled safely in the baby pouch I was wearing in front of me.
” Buy your baby?” The stranger asked me, speaking with difficulty in English.
Pretending that I hadn’t heard, I ignored him, clutched my baby even more tightly and carried on to the safety of the foyer in downtown Bucharest.
This incident happened to me on two occassions. The same man in exactly the same spot. Watching. Waiting. It is twenty-five years later but I can still picture him.
Juxtaposed aginst the dramatically beautiful rural landscapes of Romania is the kind of generational poverty which grinds people into the dust. It is this poverty which enables human trafficking to exist. Mothers have been heard to say, ” I sold my baby”, rather than, ” I adopted my baby out to a nice couple from overseas”.
I carried my memories of human trafficking back with me to Australia and wrote about them in my Memoir- ”The Promise I Kept”. Back then, the going rate for a baby, more commonly a gypsy baby, bought and sold on the black market was $20,000 U.S I wonder how inflation has affected that figure over the years.
You can imagine my shock when, several months ago, during the course of a conversation with a member of the public, a complete stranger, she informed me that her friend in Sweden organised adoptions of babies from Romania to Sweden. ” That’s illegal”, I told her. ” Not if they are gypsy babies’, she replied.
This conversation triggered my memories and flashbacks, but, eventually, I reached out for help and got the support and advice I needed in order to make a complaint through the right channels.
Human trafficking of babies from Romania is no secret, yet few are willing to talk about it openly. How is justice best served if we are unwilling to tackle the issue? As members of the public, no matter what part of this global community we live in, we have a moral obligation to uphold and protect the innocence, the lives of these vulnerable babies.
If you, or anyone you know has any information, you can make an anonymous complaint to Interpol via the following link; http://www.interpol.int/Contact-INTERPOL
The Romanian government needs to be seen to be doing something about the human trafficking. Currently, investigations are underway in Romania as a result of complaints from members of the public and gathering of information by the appropriate Intelligence Agencies. The driving force behind these investigations is Dragos Pislaru, Minister of Labour, Family, Social Protection and the Elderly. I, like many others, have pinned my hopes on this dedicated, hard-working and much respected Labour Minister to finally shine a light into the darkness that is human trafficking.
Child Trafficking; Romania Cleans Up It’s Act
At the top of the stairs stood a solitary figure, a young man. He watched as I approached. My baby, by now nearly six months old, that I was in the process of adopting from a Romanian orphanage, slept soundly. Snuggled safely in the baby pouch I was wearing in front of me.
” Buy your baby?” The stranger asked me, speaking with difficulty in English.
Pretending that I hadn’t heard, I ignored him, clutched my baby even more tightly and carried on to the safety of the foyer in downtown Bucharest.
This incident happened to me on two occassions. The same man in exactly the same spot. Watching. Waiting. It is twenty-five years later but I can still picture him.
Juxtaposed aginst the dramatically beautiful rural landscapes of Romania is the kind of generational poverty which grinds people into the dust. It is this poverty which enables human trafficking to exist. Mothers have been heard to say, ” I sold my baby”, rather than, ” I adopted my baby out to a nice couple from overseas”.
I carried my memories of human trafficking back with me to Australia and wrote about them in my Memoir- ”The Promise I Kept”. Back then, the going rate for a baby, more commonly a gypsy baby, bought and sold on the black market was $20,000 U.S I wonder how inflation has affected that figure over the years.
You can imagine my shock when, several months ago, during the course of a conversation with a member of the public, a complete stranger, she informed me that her friend in Sweden organised adoptions of babies from Romania to Sweden. ” That’s illegal”, I told her. ” Not if they are gypsy babies’, she replied.
This conversation triggered my memories and flashbacks, but, eventually, I reached out for help and got the support and advice I needed in order to make a complaint through the right channels.
Human trafficking of babies from Romania is no secret, yet few are willing to talk about it openly. How is justice best served if we are unwilling to tackle the issue? As members of the public, no matter what part of this global community we live in, we have a moral obligation to uphold and protect the innocence, the lives of these vulnerable babies.
If you, or anyone you know has any information, you can make an anonymous complaint to Interpol via the following link; http://www.interpol.int/Contact-INTERPOL
The Romanian government needs to be seen to be doing something about the human trafficking. Currently, investigations are underway in Romania as a result of complaints from members of the public and gathering of information by the appropriate Intelligence Agencies. The driving force behind these investigations is Dragos Pislaru, Minister of Labour, Family, Social Protection and the Elderly. I, like many others, have pinned my hopes on this dedicated, hard-working and much respected Labour Minister to finally shine a light into the darkness that is human trafficking.
Human Trafficking
At the top of the stairs stood a solitary figure, a young man. He watched as I approached. My baby, by now nearly six months old, that I was in the process of adopting from a Romanian orphanage, slept soundly. Snuggled safely in the baby pouch I was wearing in front of me.
” Buy your baby?” The stranger asked me, speaking with difficulty in English.
Pretending that I hadn’t heard, I ignored him, clutched my baby even more tightly and carried on to the safety of the foyer in downtown Bucharest.
This incident happened to me on two occassions. The same man in exactly the same spot. Watching. Waiting. It is twenty-five years later but I can still picture him.
Juxtaposed aginst the dramatically beautiful rural landscapes of Romania is the kind of generational poverty which grinds people into the dust. It is this poverty which enables human trafficking to exist. Mothers have been heard to say, ” I sold my baby”, rather than, ” I adopted my baby out to a nice couple from overseas”.
I carried my memories of human trafficking back with me to Australia and wrote about them in my Memoir- ”The Promise I Kept”. Back then, the going rate for a baby, more commonly a gypsy baby, bought and sold on the black market was $20,000 U.S I wonder how inflation has affected that figure over the years.
You can imagine my shock when, several months ago, during the course of a conversation with a member of the public, a complete stranger, she informed me that her friend in Sweden organised adoptions of babies from Romania to Sweden. ” That’s illegal”, I told her. ” Not if they are gypsy babies’, she replied.
This conversation triggered my memories and flashbacks, but, eventually, I reached out for help and got the support and advice I needed in order to make a complaint through the right channels.
Human trafficking of babies from Romania is no secret, yet few are willing to talk about it openly. How is justice best served if we are unwilling to tackle the issue? As members of the public, no matter what part of this global community we live in, we have a moral obligation to uphold and protect the innocence, the lives of these vulnerable babies.
If you, or anyone you know has any information, you can make an anonymous complaint to Interpol via the following link; http://www.interpol.int/Contact-INTERPOL
The Romanian government needs to be seen to be doing something about the human trafficking. Currently, investigations are underway in Romania as a result of complaints from members of the public and gathering of information by the appropriate Intelligence Agencies. The driving force behind these investigations is Dragos Pislaru, Minister of Labour, Family, Social Protection and the Elderly. I, like many others, have pinned my hopes on this dedicated, hard-working and much respected Labour Minister to finally shine a light into the darkness that is human trafficking.
July 16, 2016
The Promise I Kept
Buy the book online at: Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com, either as a kindle edition or paperback, or Barnes and Noble-U.K. or Good Books International.
Cover of The Promise I Kept
” The Promise I Kept” is a powerfully and vividly written story”,
said Tony Tingle, editor at Memoirs Publishing in the U.K.
Review by Colby Pearce, Principal Clinical Psychologist at Secure Start and author:
I recently finished, The Promise I Kept, Adele Rickerby’s memoir about the personal journey that led her to adopting a child from a Romanian orphanage in the aftermath of the downfall of the Ceausescu regime. It is a well-crafted story that is accessible to most readers and can be read cover to cover in two-three hours. People will take out of the story different things, depending on their own life journey and interests. I found the insight into the inner world of the mother and evocative descriptions of the characters and places she experienced along the way most satisfying. I am happy to recommend it to the many who are fascinated by personal memoirs and accounts concerning adoption.
1.
Kelly Proctor reviewed The Promise I Kept: A mother’s journey to save a child from the poverty and squalor of post-Cold…
A Burning Desire June 1, 2014Adele Rickerby’s, The Promise I Kept, is a superb story of what the can be accomplished when one sets a goal and has the burning desire to carry one through the innumerable obstacles. Due to certain health issues, she is not able again to conceive another child. But her desire to be mother again does not die and she decides to pursue the adoption process.
Adele’s story of wanting to be mother again, despite all the immediate roadblocks that were presented to her in Australia, should had been enough to discouraged anybody from trying, but the burning desire inside her, carried her far away from the borders of this country to a land that just having been freed of a despotic ruler and was trying to find itself. Among all this chaos Adele is there, going through every and other hurdle that comes along in this journey, from mindless and corrupt bureaucracies, inhumane proposals, and much more, she is finally able to come back home with her new daughter.
This is just another great example of what the mind can conceive, it can achieve.Show Less
View on Amazon.com Add a comment View this book’s reviews on Amazon.com
2.
Kaiden reviewed The Promise I Kept
Good story! January 5, 2014An interesting story about a courageous women who singlehandedly travel on the other side of the world and struggle through a bureaucratic maze to finally achieve her dream to adopt a child. A must read for anybody who contemplate adopting a child oversea!
View on Amazon.com Add a comment View this book’s reviews on Amazon.com
3.
mark johnston reviewed The Promise I Kept
You read this from cover to cover November 27, 2013A very interesting wee read about a young woman on a mission to the eastern block, to adopt a child. If we cast our mind back to that era it was certainly was a troubled time both politically and socially in the ‘block’. Between being thrown off trains because of her New Zealand citizenship, and not able to speak the language, she faced and conquered many problems and challenges with patience and doggedness . The corrupt ‘officialdoms’ backstreets and dangers are compensated by the sheer generosity of strangers. All these faced by a smallish woman with the burning desire for another child, despite a failing marriage at home. A very compelling read.
Mark JohnstonShow Less
factor quema grasa afiliados says:
October 4, 2014 at 12:42 pm Edit
Pretty! This was an incredibly wonderful article. Thanks for providing this info.
jonquil says:
October 13, 2014 at 8:06 am Edit
A must read book for those of us who adopted from Romania, or anywhere. It’s about a mother’s perseverance and how she found conditions and the baby she adopted. It’s about hope and what happened in Romania post-Ceausescu. It is haunting and if you were in the same position, would you be brave enough to just go with your gut and do what is right for the sake of a child?
3 Costin says:
November 21, 2015 at 5:09 am Edit
This is an amazing book…Thanks so much.
RECENT ARTICLES
Fostering; by Jonquil GrahamJune 25, 2016
TO MY FOSTER CHILD; A Poem By Megan SimmondsJune 25, 2016
Reunions; Searching to be FoundMay 29, 2016
Queensland Government- Patient Travel Subsidy SchemeApril 27, 2016
Breaking News- Izidor Ruckel Returns to Romania.April 25, 2016
Hope for Institutionalised Children; Adoption SupportApril 19, 2016
White Supremacy in Australia- The Stolen GenerationsApril 12, 2016
Agape Adoptions – RomaniaApril 10, 2016
Romania- New Adoption Law in Effect.April 9, 2016
Love Light RomaniaMarch 31, 2016
CONTACT INFORMATION
Adele Rickbery
adele.rickerby1@gmail.com
http://www.facebook.com/adele.rickerby.5
Blog at WordPress.com. | The Edin Theme.
June 24, 2016
Fostering; by Jonquil Graham
Jonquil Graham is an orphan advocate and founding member of Inter-Country Adoption New Zealand.
She wrote ” How Many Planes To Get Me ”, her story of adopting nine children from Romania and Russia.
As well as adopting, Jonquil and her husband, Bryan have been foster parents.
In this down to earth, heartwarming article, Jonquil shares her experiences as a foster parent. There is lots of great advice here.
Fostering.
Most people get a toaster, linen or cutlery as a wedding gift. We were given a three year old child on our honeymoon whose parents were going through a messy custody battle.
Since she was my niece, we readily agreed, expecting it would be a temporary arrangement. She was a middle child, somewhat neglected, which played out in her behaviuor. Tiny, blonde and extremely active, there was something not quite right about this vulnerable child who needed firm, loving boundaries. She screamed, was a bed-wetter and ran around the house until she was exhausted. We were mystified by her challenging behaviour.
Often, I soothed her by wrapping her in a blanket, rocking her on my knee, sometimes gently humming or reading a story. Clearly, this little moppet had missed out on vital bonding. When I took her to playgroup, the teachers looked at me as if I was the cause of odd behaviour. She would climb into a play bassinette and suck her thumb. I was inexperienced. I didn’t know why she did that. I couldn’t give them an explanation except to say we had taken her on and doing our best as new parents. Looking back, I am grateful to have had this experience. She laid a foundation of what we could experience when we continued fostering and eventually adopting. Most of the other foster children were slightly easier, but we still had many ups and downs.Our first child returned to her birth family after ten years but was in for a rude awakening.. By then she was a teenager. And teens are hormonal and still vulnerable. She went through difficult times but remained in contact although she was living in another country. Today, she has a family of her own and is serene. She is unlike the little girl we nurtured. She gives us hope that foster children who absorb the basics of loving family structured life can heal. They can remember safe, fun, family time, and thus provide that for their own children later. We remain close and visit when we can, which includes her siblings.
We hadn’t considered fostering initially but we went on to foster more children, even after we started adopting. Unable to have our own children, any child was a blessing and we looked forward to parenting them.
We mainly fostered sibling groups because they were offered to us. After all, we had a large, old house in the country and plenty of space with trees and swings and a creek. Idyllic. We thought there could be behavioural problems after discussions with the social worker, but we were optimistic and addressed issues as they arose. Most of our foster children were aged between three and fifteen.
When fostering, there is a honeymoon period. You are keen to provide a safe, happy home for the child, the children you have are excited about a new arrival and everyone is in a party mood. The euphoria only lasts days. Some children become obnoxious and test you. Their behaviour comes from their frustration, their grief, separation from family and testing the boundaries. The children already in our family never resented another foster child. The new kid was a source of fascination. Depending on the age of the child, our own children were co-operative in sorting out toys and making up a bed. I didn’t tell them the reasons for a child staying with us temporarily. My job was to make the child feel safe and wanted. We didn’t quiz the new arrival. Social Welfare provided some background information so we would be aware of food allergies, behavioural alerts, that sort of thing. One child wanted to change his name, so we went along with that, until he decided to revert back to his Christian name. This alarmed Social Welfare, not his teacher, and today he is a well-adjusted, successful young man who calls in periodically and invited us to his wedding. He is like another son to us.
It is heartbreaking when estranged parents promise to visit , then don’t turn up. The child stands excitedly at the front gate looking at the traffic, only to be let down again. We would give lame excuses for them and reward the child with a treat or distraction; whether it’s popcorn and staying up a bit later, making marshmallows over a bonfire outside, playing spotlight with our torches or putting on an impromptu concert for the whole family. I found that the best way to get a bruised and tired child to sleep was through music. My husband rigged up a music system for the bedrooms upstairs and every night, a child selected a classical C.D. so music wafted into their bedrooms. They never had sleep problems whilst getting their fill of Bach, Brahms, Mozart and Chopin.
Once, I had a family of four siblings who refused to go to bed at the appointed time. It affected the other children. I suggested they do running races up the back lawn. My husband held a stop-watch and timed them. They loved it and within a short time they were all tired and happy to go to bed with thoughts of being a successful athlete. It was my way of changing irritable negative behaviour into a positive without causing friction. You need to be inventive. I knew taking on other people’s kids wasn’t going to be easy so I’d be adaptable, not a pushover.
Teenagers were harder to foster because they’d suffered some abuse, usually, and they wanted to be in control. They were upset being separated from their birth families, however negligent, and of course all teens are hormonal. Once we found out their interests, we’d engage them in activities they likes. Our circle of friends widened, for instance, if they went to a particular church group, then we’d go. It was to give continuity to their past life.
One foster teen daughter was so obnoxious I was on the verge of giving up. My husband reminded me that was in her best interest for now to be with us. So, could I change my attitude towards her? How? Treat each new day like a cassette tape or a book. Turn the tape over or the page over and start afresh. Often this worked. Don’t dwell on past negative behaviour. The kid has moved on and I could too. I found this particularly helpful advice I’d never considered. Also I was grateful that he was supportive and felt the children’s needs were vital compared to me being upset by their temporary meltdown.
At this time we were offered a Fijian toddler to adopt, but my husband said our commitment was towards these foster children as other people also wanted to adopt him. He said our foster children were our priority until their family situation improved. I was a bit upset, but later we were offered a Rarotongan baby. To foster or adopt, you have to both be in agreement. For instance, I had a seven year old. He was going to be adopted by a couple and he liked the new father-to-be who did boy-things with him The mother wanted to nurture him but he didn’t want to be close to anymore. The dad gave him space. It caused conflict because she wanted a little baby to love. The adoption failed because the parents were in conflict.
You can never make a foster child love you; their loyalty is towards their family. How often do people say, “I could never foster. I’d get too attached to the kid and would find it hard to give him/her back.” We never felt like this. We knew the rules. Our happiness was watching them blossom, knowing one day they’d fly the nest when their home situation improved. They knew they always had a place in our hearts. And still do.
Copyright; Jonquil Graham. http://www.jonquilgraham.com
TO MY FOSTER CHILD; A Poem By Megan Simmonds
You are my child, with tousled hair
And fresh, scrubbed face, sleeping there.
Your well-loved toys around your head,
Your battered slippers on the bed.
I could creep out
Just leave a smile,
But perhaps I’ll sit here for a while.
I’ve kept you warm and fed and dry,
I’ve wiped the teardrop from your eye.
We’ve fought, we’ve laughed
Through bad through good,
But most, I hope, you’ve understood.
You gave me love, a hug, a smile.
Yes, perhaps I’ll sit here just a while.
Tomorrow, you will leave with Mum,
Uncertain whether harder times will come.
It’s not enough to love and feed,
For, deep down, it is Mum you need.
It’s harder now to raise a smile.
I’ll just sit here and watch you for a while.
There will be another when you have gone,
But, just like losing my unborn,
Each child’s a person, different, new,
So I will shed a tear or two.
It is good you are sleeping,
For I can’t smile.
I’ll just sit here and weep a while.
You are so loved, but you are not mine.
In a way, I am yours, so that’s just fine.
I chose to give you of my heart,
To share, to help and then to part.
So, though you’ll barely wave, I’ll bravely smile,
And continue to love you for a long, long, while.
Copyright ; Megan Simmonds.
May 28, 2016
Searching For Birth Parents.
Professor Victor Groza, with over twenty-five years promoting best practices in child welfare in Romania and adoption research, kindly provided the following links and comment regarding adoptees searching for birth parents. I hope that you find this, as well as other informative posts by Professor Groza helpful.
The U.S Department of Health and Human Services; Child Welfare Information Gateway has many excellent articles of a generic nature, including this one; ” Searching For Birth Parents”.
s (https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/adoption/search/childsearch/).
Professor Victor Groza-
”There should be professional services in place to prepare adoptees and birth parents for a search, to support them during the process, and to help them after a search is completed–whether or not it is successful. Our practice model in the US is that search is a normal part of development for some adoptees. Females tend to want to search more than males and not all adoptees search. For those who do, there needs to be extensive support. That includes letting them know that in the eyes of their poor families, they are seen as wealthy. The birth family may feel entitled to the adoptee and for the adoptee to support them, even if they abandoned her or him. That is why search should not be undertaken lightly. Here is the link to the Adoption Network-Cleveland’s website about search (http://www.adoptionnetwork.org/) ; they have a protocol they follow for search and reunion.”
Reunions; Searching to be Found
A lack of support of children adopted from Romania before, during and after their search journey can end in a traumatic process of confronting the truth for some adoptees.
As if it wasn’t difficult enough to come to terms with being abandoned by biological parents in the first place, a search and reunion journey brings them face to face with another truth; the biological parents and siblings may now have a sense of entitlement to the adoptees Western wealth.
Our adoptees are searching for something that can only be found within themselves and should not identify as victims of historical events which led them to being abandoned.
My adopted Romanian daughter, now twenty-five, whom I adopted from an orphanage when she was a baby, has this to say, ”Why would you go searching for someone who isn’t searching for you?” The word ” search” implies that you are searching for something or someone that is lost and expecting to be found. As a teenager, she was given the opportunity, through a film company making a documentary, to go to Romania and search for her birth mother. She turned it down saying, ” I am not going to go just so that they can have a story.” For this, I am grateful. At the time, I was struggling with personal health and financial issues and dealing with difficult parenting issues. A trip to Romania on top of all that and I doubt wether or not I would have been able to cope.
History repeats itself and once again, adoption has become an event in Romania where money changes hands and third parties benefit. It was illegal back then but the government couldn’t stop the corruption so they had to stop International adoptions. If it were illegal now, just as it was illegal back then for biological parents and third parties to be the recipients of gifts and money during a reunion, would birth-parents, with their sense of entitlement to the adoptees Western wealth, still want to pursue a reunion in the hope of ongoing financial support? Would it not be far better for the adoptee to give a donation to their favourite charity in order to support the hard working people dedicated to end the cycle of poverty in Romania?
The U.S Department of Health and Human Services; Child Welfare Information Gateway has many excellent articles of a generic nature, including this one; ” Searching For Birth Parents”.
s (https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/adoption/search/childsearch/).
Professor Victor Groza-
”There should be professional services in place to prepare adoptees and birth parents for a search, to support them during the process, and to help them after a search is completed–whether or not it is successful. Our practice model in the US is that search is a normal part of development for some adoptees. Females tend to want to search more than males and not all adoptees search. For those who do, there needs to be extensive support. That includes letting them know that in the eyes of their poor families, they are seen as wealthy. The birth family may feel entitled to the adoptee and for the adoptee to support them, even if they abandoned her or him. That is why search should not be undertaken lightly. Here is the link to the Adoption Network-Cleveland’s website about search (http://www.adoptionnetwork.org/) ; they have a protocol they follow for search and reunion.”
I wish it wasn’t so, but we live in a world of duality. A world where extremes of poverty live side by side with extremes of wealth.
April 27, 2016
Queensland Government- Patient Travel Subsidy Scheme
Travel assistance: Patient Travel Subsidy Scheme
Travel assistance for patients
If you live in rural and remote areas, and have to travel more than 50km for specialist medical services that are not available locally, you may be eligible for the Patient Travel Subsidy Scheme (PTSS) to help with your travel costs.
Financial help
Assistance may be provided for travel and accommodation costs. Subsidies are available for clinically appropriate and cost-effective types of transport (e.g. air, rail, bus or private motor vehicle).
The cheapest form of public transport (e.g. bus or rail) will be subsidised unless you are approved for a more expensive type of transport (e.g. air).
An approved escort may also be eligible for a subsidy to travel with you.
Travel subsidies
Commercial—air, bus or rail Fully paid at lowest available discount fare
Private vehicle $0.30 per km
Accommodation subsidies
Commercial $60 per person per night
Private (family or friends) $10 per person per night
Patients and escorts will pay the first 4 nights of accommodation per financial year unless eligible for a reduced contribution (e.g. the patient holds a concession card, or has a dependent child under 17).
Conditions
PTSS only provides a subsidy and does not cover all costs such as meals or taxi fares to the airport.
You are responsible for any costs that the subsidy does not cover.
If you choose a more expensive type of transport, you must pay the additional costs.
Subsidies for accommodation and escorts will only be provided for the minimum period needed for treatment.
Eligibility
You must be:
a Queensland resident or a patient with no fixed address
eligible for Medicare
accessing a specialist medical service that is:
recommended as medically necessary by a medical practitioner
listed as an essential specialist medical service in the Schedule 1-PTSS Guideline Part A (PDF)
not available within 50km of your nearest public hospital.
Applying for PTSS
The PTSS is administered through public hospitals across Queensland.
To apply, complete the PTSS application form (PDF) and lodge it with your local public hospital.
Applications can be made:
in person
by post
email
fax.
Keep copies of your application and any paperwork. Your hospital will assess your application and will advise you of the outcome.
Your hospital may:
reimburse you after your travel
book your travel and accommodation.
If you are approved by your local hospital to receive a travel and/or accommodation subsidy, your local hospital will provide you with a Specialist Certification Form. You will need to take this form with you to your appointment and have the treating specialist complete the form, to verify that treatment has been received.
When making a claim for reimbursement you will need to submit the completed Specialist Certification Form along with all travel and accommodation receipts and invoices, to the PTSS office at your local public hospital. The local hospital cannot reimburse you unless you provide this form and all receipts and invoices for travel and accommodation you paid for. Failure to provide this may result in delays in your reimbursement.
Contact the PTSS office at your hospital for more information.
Contact your local Queensland hospital or health service or call 13 HEALTH (13 43 25 84).
Queensland Government- Patient Travel Subsidy Scheme.
Travel assistance: Patient Travel Subsidy Scheme
Travel assistance for patients
If you live in rural and remote areas, and have to travel more than 50km for specialist medical services that are not available locally, you may be eligible for the Patient Travel Subsidy Scheme (PTSS) to help with your travel costs.
Financial help
Assistance may be provided for travel and accommodation costs. Subsidies are available for clinically appropriate and cost-effective types of transport (e.g. air, rail, bus or private motor vehicle).
The cheapest form of public transport (e.g. bus or rail) will be subsidised unless you are approved for a more expensive type of transport (e.g. air).
An approved escort may also be eligible for a subsidy to travel with you.
Travel subsidies
Commercial—air, bus or rail Fully paid at lowest available discount fare
Private vehicle $0.30 per km
Accommodation subsidies
Commercial $60 per person per night
Private (family or friends) $10 per person per night
Patients and escorts will pay the first 4 nights of accommodation per financial year unless eligible for a reduced contribution (e.g. the patient holds a concession card, or has a dependent child under 17).
Conditions
PTSS only provides a subsidy and does not cover all costs such as meals or taxi fares to the airport.
You are responsible for any costs that the subsidy does not cover.
If you choose a more expensive type of transport, you must pay the additional costs.
Subsidies for accommodation and escorts will only be provided for the minimum period needed for treatment.
Eligibility
You must be:
a Queensland resident or a patient with no fixed address
eligible for Medicare
accessing a specialist medical service that is:
recommended as medically necessary by a medical practitioner
listed as an essential specialist medical service in the Schedule 1-PTSS Guideline Part A (PDF)
not available within 50km of your nearest public hospital.
Applying for PTSS
The PTSS is administered through public hospitals across Queensland.
To apply, complete the PTSS application form (PDF) and lodge it with your local public hospital.
Applications can be made:
in person
by post
email
fax.
Keep copies of your application and any paperwork. Your hospital will assess your application and will advise you of the outcome.
Your hospital may:
reimburse you after your travel
book your travel and accommodation.
If you are approved by your local hospital to receive a travel and/or accommodation subsidy, your local hospital will provide you with a Specialist Certification Form. You will need to take this form with you to your appointment and have the treating specialist complete the form, to verify that treatment has been received.
When making a claim for reimbursement you will need to submit the completed Specialist Certification Form along with all travel and accommodation receipts and invoices, to the PTSS office at your local public hospital. The local hospital cannot reimburse you unless you provide this form and all receipts and invoices for travel and accommodation you paid for. Failure to provide this may result in delays in your reimbursement.
Contact the PTSS office at your hospital for more information.
Resources
PTSS Brochure (PDF)
PTSS Guideline Part A – Information for Qld Health staff, patients and their carers (PDF)
PTSS Application Form (PDF)
PTSS Certification Form (PDF)
PLEASE NOTE: This form will not be accepted unless a PTSS Application has been submitted and approved
PTSS Certification Supplementary Details form (PDF)
Please see the Adobe Factsheet (PDF) if you have trouble accessing any of the documents on this page
More information
Contact your local Queensland hospital or health service or call 13 HEALTH (13 43 25 84).
