About World Families Australia
A Brief History
The organisation began during the war in Vietnam, when a group of people from Adelaide who had adopted children from that country decided to offer help to orphans who remained in Vietnam.
However World Families Australia formally came into existence in 2000 as an overseas aid organisation through its registration with the Australian Business Register. Since then sponsorship and aid programs have opened in many countries through the contact made by Project Officers.
Today World Families Australia supports numerous projects that provide communities and children in those communities with the funds to provide water, micro-loans, food, sanitation, housing, medical support, nutritional education, vocational training and education.
World Families Australia is an aid and development organisation and has never been engaged in any pre-adoption service provision, allocation of children, or negotiation for adoptions to any overseas agency or other adoption agency work. A number of years ago our organisation implemented a formal policy to ensure that aid provided by World Families Australia is not provided through organisations engaging in adoption to Australia. However, World Families Australia supports adoptive families with around two 2 social events arranged each year and support where post-adoptive families are seeking assistance. More information can be found about this role by clicking the adoption support link on the left of this page.
WFA Vision Statement
WFA is a not for profit, non-sectarian organisation which aims to assist children by:
- supporting them within their birth family or with a family in their birth country
- where this is not possible, World Families Australia believes intercountry adoption provides an alternative to institutionalised care or homelessness, and provides support for Australian families who have children adopted from overseas.
WFA Projects
The aim of World Families Australia is to provide communities in need with food, shelter, education and medical care.
To meet this aim World Families Australia funds a range of relief and community development projects in a number of countries in Asia and Africa.
One off donations, quarterly donations or an annual gift is forwarded to a project coordinator who knows the project or the child (and its family).
Where a child is in an institution the whole community may benefit along with the particular child whom you support.
Donations are managed by the local administration within the host country. No funds are provided directly to a child.
Depending upon the project, donors may receive a communication from a child or an organisation (through WFA) from time to time. This may be in the form of a greeting card, a school report, a photo or information about the project. Such communication cannot be guaranteed because a lack of resources or language difficulties may make it impossible.
World Families have Project Officers to assist you in any matter relating to your donation or the project you may be involved with.