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Stretched funds lost on seminar

DOMESTIC violence workers who paid hundreds of dollars to attend a Queensland conference have lodged an official complaint amid claims they were ripped off.

The non-arrival of a keynote speaker, conference kits consisting of just a few pieces of paper in a bag, poor sound and visual equipment, a lack of support staff, no Australian-based contact and a lack of quality information on the subject were among the concerns.

An official complaint has been lodged with the Queensland Office of Fair Trading about the poor standard of the event.

The conference was run by Tom Callagcan, the chief executive of SOS Medical Tourism Services, which specialises in trips to Thailand for Australians wanting cosmetic surgery, dental work and reconstructive surgery.

Up to 200 domestic violence workers from across Australia arrived on the Gold Coast for the $700-a-head event on May 17, which had been promoted by the Thai-based Global Coalition Against Domestic Violence as the nation's biggest conference on indigenous domestic violence.

But the three-day conference instead sparked a string of complaints against SOS, whose director also chairs the Global Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

Victorian crisis worker Jane Ashton lodged a complaint with Fair Trading and has asked for her money back.

``Throughout Australia, funding is incredibly stretched as far as family violence is concerned and people have spent their entire training budgets for the year on attending this event when they might have been able to go to another event and got value for money,'' she said.

Conference delegates were told on the first day that the keynote speaker had missed his plane and would be arriving later.

But the speaker denied the explanation, telling The Sunday Mail he had informed organisers days before the conference he had been forced to withdraw.

Several workers who attended the Gold Coast conference have claimed SOS Medical-related products were promoted at the event.

``I thought it was outrageous,'' said one speaker, who asked not to be named because of her domestic violence work.

``It was the organisation and quality of the conference that was insulting.

``If it wasn't for the quality of the delegates and the Aboriginal people from all over Australia it would have been a disaster.''

But Mr Callagcan denied the company was promoted at the conference.

``There was nothing with SOS Medical on it, that's for sure, but what would be wrong with that?'' he asked. 

``We have had more positive feedback than anything - 99.9 per cent was positive.

``From our point, the conference was well run. There were a couple of hiccups which we fixed but no conference is without that.''

Speakers and delegates were asked to pay registration fees to attend plus cover travel and accommodation expenses. A council, the University of Queensland and several government-funded services were among organisations to pick up the bill.

"Funding is incredibly stretched as far as family violence is concerned and people have spent their entire training budgets for the year on attending this event when they might have been able to go to another event and got value for money"

"From our point the conference was well run. There were a couple of hiccups which we fixed but no conference is without that."

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