Direct action. Email/Fax/Letter campaigns to politicians. Contact your elected representatives and let them know your views.
Vigils/Rallies/Convention. We are working towards a major public rally and a Convention in 2002. We also support vigils and rallies of common interest. Our events page has details of these.
Legal spearheads. Initiatives to pursue legal avenues on behalf of particular children in distress. If you can help ChilOut with this, please fill out your contact details.
Outside contact. ChilOut supporters are encouraged to visit under the Visitors Program, currently operating at Villawood IDC in Sydney. Co-ordination Team members will introduce detainees to first-time visitors and encourage regular contact. Visitors are also encouraged to bring their own children to interact and play with detained children. We have a ChilOut supporter visiting at Maribyrnong who is seeking others in Melbourne to visit detainees with her. Read about participating in our visitors program.
Write to a detainee
If you can't visit but are willing to write letters to a detainee please contact Bellingen Rural Australians for Refugees by emailing . Please be aware that this will be an ongoing commitment to exchange letters with detainees and you are expected to write regularly. There is no guarantee your letter will be answered, but many detainees are desperate to get in contact with somebody and letter writers are very much appreciated.
Donations for Detainees. Visitors and other supporters are encouraged to donate items such flowers, plants, food anything to help relieve the detainees boredom and enliven their environment. The visitors guide for Villawood offers suggestions.
ChilOut is no longer collecting toys. Villawood is now over supplied so the issue becomes transport, which is costly. Alternatively any funds collected can be sent to contacts near the remote detention centres such as Wooomera and Curtin and our contacts can purchase items locally.
If you would like to donate funds towards ChilOut's campaign, you may send us a cheque. Please note, donations to ChilOut are not tax deductible.
Donations by cheque are payable to: 'Friends of Children in Detention'
Please post your donation to:
Friends of Children in Detention
PO Box 512
North Sydney NSW 2059.
You can also make a secure online donation by credit card.
Please note, donations to ChilOut are not tax deductible. Thank you from ChilOut for your support.
Purchasing a T-shirt is another way you can assist ChilOut's fund-raising efforts, and advertise our campaign.
Entertainment. Approaches are continuing to Australasian Correctional Management to allow visits by face painters, fairies, jugglers, cultural performers and the like. If you can help ChilOut with this, please fill out your contact details.
Learning. We are seeking permission to bring in supporters to teach computer skills and other learning programs. If you can help ChilOut with this, please fill out your contact details.
Information Nights. We conduct monthly information nights where friends and supporters can bring friends and others to listen to guest speakers who work in this area. Speakers include childcare professionals, human rights advocates and lawyers, psychologists, and current and past public servants with first-hand knowledge. Please come along and nominate how you might like to become involved in supporting our initiatives. See our Events page for details of our next information night.
Website. ChilOuts website www.chilout.org is the place where you can obtain information, download material to share with other people, or find out how to become more directly involved with the group. Please take some time to look at the articles and news items we have posted on our site. Our links page leads web site visitors to much more information about asylum seekers and refugees, as well as other advocacy groups.
Talkback radio campaigns. We are currently exploring ways of taking our cause to the airwaves.
Speakers. ChilOut speakers are available to address other groups, to combat misinformation and generate support for our aims. Send email to to ask about having a ChilOut speaker at a group you organise.
New ideas. ChilOut has other projects under consideration to encourage honest, open debate. We welcome ideas, suggestions and the preparedness of supporters to take action. Fill out your contact details or send email to if you can help us.
