AustLit

'Australians all rejoice in being young and free. Armed with a shiny new degree in social work and determined to make a difference in the world, one such idealistic caseworker begins work for the Department of Child Services in Sydney. Given the nickname 'Twenty-one' they soon find their faith put to the test as ethical decisions refuse to remain in defined categories of black and white. Child Welfare cases are no longer impersonal, lost in the pages of a file; they are confronting and demand an answer, from the face of a child. Bidura is the Children's Court where rulings are made over these cases everyday. Twenty-one is challenged by an Aboriginal client, Doreen, that Bidura is also a place haunted by institutional abuse. Can this history move us from a place of judgement to compassion? Twenty-one joins Lucy, Ben and the team to fight for their clients and find a way through murky ethical choices towards faith. Is it possible to find God with us, in the depths of broken humanity?' (Publication summary)