According to this article from the Guardian, a group of former employees at an orphanage in Bali, Indonesia have issued a detailed complaint about the activities of the orphanage to Save the Children, who have passed it on to Indonesian authorities. In the complaint, the former workers claim that the orphanage has been "sourcing children with living parents from a remote island to help solicit donations from western tourists." The orphanage was founded by a British woman, Alison Chester, in 2005 who named the home after an Australian woman who died in a 2002 bombing in Bali.
The orphanage is a popular destination for Australian and other Western tourists and volunteers. "Former volunteers and staff, in interviews with the Guardian, said up to five tour groups could be moved through the orphanage each day, bringing donations, potential sponsorships, food and gifts," says the article. The workers' complaint to Save the Children included allegations of neglect, distress and lack of privacy for the children caused by a constant rotation of volunteers and tourists, operating without a proper license, lax child protection measures, facilitating an adoption to a Western tourist, and more. Chester denies most of these allegations and argues that the institutions provides a vital service to the community.
The article makes reference to recent developments in the campaign against orphanage tourism and volunteering, including mention of the work of ReThink Orphanages, Friends International, and other partners, and the inclusion of orphanage trafficking in the Australian Parliamentary inquiry on modern slavery. According to the article, Chester provided testimony for the Australian inquiry, writing “to suggest that children are harmed in all forms of institutional care is a step too far. Please do not tar everyone with the same brush.”