Deborra-Lee Furness on her surprising return to Australian TV screens

She’s an Australian entertainment veteran who has found success overseas – but now she’s making a surprising return to our TV screens.

EXCLUSIVE

Everybody needs a neighbour like Deborra-Lee Furness (aka Mrs Hugh Jackman).

She’s understanding, funny, self-deprecating, is fiercely protective of her family and friends, and has made a career out of fighting injustice. She’s pretty much the perfect blend.

But not content with spending the last decade lobbying government after government for change in adoption legislation via her charity, Adopt Change, Furness is now set to use one of Australia’s longest-running soaps as a platform to raise public awareness of the horrific state of adoption in the country.

Oh, and in case you didn’t get it, the “neighbours” bit in our intro was a hint.

“I’m going to direct a block of Neighbours in which they’ll be highlighting adoption through some of the regular characters,” Furness tells news.com.au exclusively. “And I’m thrilled. We’ll likely have more impact through a soap opera that people engage with, plus as an artist, it’s a great way for me to tell stories and to get the message out.”

The details remain TBC at this point and are very much still in the initial planning stages, plus – as Furness freely admits – she’s not great with the minutiae.

“I’m a big picture person – I’m not good with details,” she says. “But I’m having a powwow tomorrow with the team in Australia to work out the nuances of how we’ll tell the reality of what’s involved in adoption, before flying down in March to shoot. I’ll be there for a month all up.”

Deborra-Lee Furness and Hugh Jackman have been fighting for adoption reform. Picture: Alex Coppel

But then, when you’ve formed an organisation with the lofty goal of reforming abysmal adoption policy in Australia – a reform with umpteen facets and umpteen hoops to jump through – it’s hard to focus on the detail.

Founded by Furness a decade ago, Adopt Change, provides support, research and advocacy for adoption law reform in Australia and aims to reduce the number of children and young people facing homelessness, and to support the families and communities caring for displaced children.

And they, unfortunately, still have a long way to go.

According to UNICEF there’s an estimated 153 million orphans in the world, and according to research done by Adopt Change, the number of children currently living in out-of-home care across Australia totals almost 46,000 – that’s enough to fill an entire football stadium.

And each of these stats – be it tens of thousands or tens of millions – represents individual kids, human beings. Scared, nervous, unloved, without a guardian figure, and each being passed around from pillar to post.

If you pause to consider, it’s a hugely sobering thought. And it’s an image that continues to fuel the actress and campaigner’s fight for change.

“I cannot bear to think of a child that’s lost, alone, unstable, not safe, and insecure,” says the mum-of-two. “We’re all too familiar with the horror stories … some kids are in foster care for 60 placements.

“Can you imagine that? They turn up with a garbage bag full of their belongings, then ‘hello’ there’s a new family and they don’t know how long they’re there for.

“We as humans need to have at least one permanent person in our lives, we all need to feel precious, and these kids don’t – they feel unworthy and abandoned. We as a community need to work hard to make them feel worthy and included.”

Scott and Charlene's wedding is one of the most iconic moments in Neighbours’ long history. Picture: Supplied

Thankfully, it’s not all doom and gloom. In July last year, Furness’ “baby” had a significant windfall when the organisation was given $2.3 million by the NSW Government to operate the My Forever Family program, providing recruitment, training, support and advocacy to carers and adoptive families for children from statutory care.

And in the last 12-months-plus, Deb says the funding injection has been invaluable in training both foster parents and adoptive parents alike to better prepare them for the unique challenges of taking on a child, or children, who have most likely suffered trauma.

“It’s wonderful!” says the 63-year-old. “It’s something I’ve wanted for years and years, so I’m thrilled that it’s up and running.

“These are kids who have suffered a trauma – whatever way you look at it, a child separated from their birth family is a trauma – and it takes a little extra, love, care and understanding with these children. Adoptive parents and carers need to have support to know how to parent these kids, and that’s what we’re providing.”

Deb doesn’t want to see a single child without a home. Picture: Pip Cowley

Adopt Change has its roots in Furness and hubby Jackman’s own experiences when the pair attempted to adopt in Australia back in the early noughties.

Faced with draconian adoption laws and endless red tape, she and Jackman ended up adopting son, Oscar Maximilian, and daughter, Ava Eliot, in the US where they’re based. Going through the adoption wringer first-hand means that she knows exactly what faces prospective parents.

“We walked the walk,” says the actress and producer. “We saw how hard it was. I travelled the world and saw how many kids it would benefit and I saw how many families wanted to adopt, and I just didn’t understand why it was so hard. That’s when I found that there was all this bureaucracy and an anti-adoption culture in Australia.

“All the paperwork is what used to get me. There was so much paperwork to be done … then two years later, when it finally all goes through, the damage that has been done to the poor child during that time is ridiculous. I’m sure if it was a business deal they’d make sure it went through way sooner.”

Founding Adopt Change a decade ago, Furness concedes that the first five years were spent slogging away to try to remove the stigma surrounding adoption, and to get it back on the radar as an issue. But despite the (many) times she felt like she was banging her head against a brick wall, in hindsight, it was all worth it.

“We worked so hard to get rid of the stigma which was there years ago around adoption,” she says. “It was always *speaks in a hushed voice* ‘Oh, they’re adopted?’ there was this secrecy, which had connotations of shame. These kids shouldn’t have to carry shame because their birth parents can’t look after them.”

Deb and Hugh adopted their kids Ava and Oscar. Picture: Supplied

Unfortunately, the “shame” that Furness references is something she experienced first-hand after she adopted son, Oscar Maximilian, in 2000.

“I had one incident,” she remembers. “My son is mixed race and I was standing in a park with him and someone said: ‘Oh, is he adopted?’ in a kind of whisper. And I snapped back: ‘Yes, he’s adopted!’ so yes, you do get that judgment and the whispering and secrecy.

“But my biggest thing has always been transparency, and to not put shame on these children, because they will feel it. It’s not their burden to carry. They’re kids that come from a hard place and they’ve had to overcome a lot in their short little lives.”

Throughout the lifespan of Adopt Change, Furness has had an unwavering pillar of support in the form of her Hollywood heavyweight husband, Jackman.

The famous couple met on the set of ABC drama Correlli in 1995, when Jackman was fresh out of acting school, married a year later, and have been together ever since. But he’s not the only form of familial support in the Furness-Jackman household.

Hugh Jackman and Deborra-Lee Furness met on the set of TV show Correlli in 1995. Picture: Supplied

“You always think your kids never listen,” she muses. “But they do. I’ve heard my kids talking to their friends saying, ‘My mum does this …’ so they know, both of them.

“My daughter wants to come with me to the US-Mexican border as we’ve been invited to see what’s going on with the kids that have been separated from their families there. She feels really strongly about it.

“My son has travelled the world and wants to work in sustainable agriculture, to help countries stay self-sufficient, through his interests which are horticulture and agriculture. They see what we (Jackman and I) do and they’re very aware of their privilege, just by being born in the part of the world we live in.”

Saying that she can’t fathom a life without kids (“they’re my entire world”) given the battle both Jackman and Furness have had to become parents, watching her son and daughter get closer and closer to adulthood is bittersweet for Furness.

“Yes!” she exclaims. “I don’t know how I feel about that. My son is 19, but I’ve still got my little girl who’s in her first year of high school, but I don’t think there’ll ever be an empty nest situation. My son is still here, living with us, so we’re not quite there yet – he kinda likes us!”

Certainly milestone ages and talk of flying the nest will prompt reflection for any mum. But when Furness reflects on her personal journey to parenthood, adoption not only blessed her with two beautiful children, it also gave her a new purpose.

“Who knew that I was going to end up adopting two children and then spend decades trying to change adoption laws?” she asks. “I feel like the universe was leading me, and that this was my journey.

“It led my in this way because I hate injustice. I went down this path because of that. Maybe the warrior in me needed to go out and fight for these kids … I don’t know. I also have complete empathy for abandoned kids. I’ve travelled the world and I think there’s nothing more tragic than a child that has no one.

“The universe definitely had a plan for me when I adopted my children,” she finishes, smiling. “I just didn’t know what it was at the time.”

National Adoption Awareness Week runs from November 12 to 18 and this month, Adopt Change is calling on community and government to prioritise providing better futures for Australia’s children through their YESVEMBER campaign.

For more information visit adoptchange.org.au