Services provided by CBERS Consultancy
- Client counselling
- Counselling and information to family members
- Counselling to former residents/students of Nazareth House and Sisters of Mercy institutions (counselling is funded by these Orders)
- Advocacy
- Referral
- General information
- Practical assistance with citizenship, forms and applications
- Assistance with family tracing and accessing personal records
- Access to PHIND (Personal History Index for former child migrants)
- Assistance with Redress WA applications
- Liaison with the Christian Brothers on behalf of clients
CBERS clients
The services provided by CBERS Consultancy are available to former residents and students of Christian Brothers institutions, including Bindoon, Castledare, Clontarf and Tardun. The counselling service is also available to the families of these clients and, through funding by the Sisters of Mercy and the Sisters of Nazareth, is available to people who were residents of their childcare institutions. Many CBERS clients are former child migrants, however the service is also used by Australian-born men and women.
The service
CBERS Consultancy is a part-time counselling and advocacy service operated by consultant Dr Philippa White, and is primarily funded by the Congregation of Christian Brothers. Established in January 2006, the consultancy carries forward some of the counselling, information and advocacy roles previously provided by CBERS Services in Subiaco. The privately-run consultancy is located within the offices of the Edmund Rice Institute for Social Justice, and functions independently of the Institute's operations.