Access to justice: Important crowdfunding campaign to support initiated by Steve Dennis of Proper Support

On 20 March 2026, Simon Mauchline has an important court hearing in Berlin in his negligence case against the German NGO CADUS e.V.

Simon is an Australian emergency nurse who was detained and tortured in Syria in 2018 while deployed as a humanitarian aid worker. In his legal proceedings, he argues that basic duties of care were not met before, during and after the incident.

The German court has ordered witness evidence to be heard. His physical presence in court matters at this stage.

Simon is currently unable to self-fund travel from Brisbane to Berlin due to the ongoing psychological impact of his captivity. Legal aid does not cover these travel costs.

Steve Dennis is hosting a fundraiser to cover travel and accommodation for Simon and his wife Carmen so they can attend the hearing in person. Proper Support will not retain any portion of the funds.

For many in our sector, this case goes to the heart of what duty of care means in practice.

If you would like to support Simon being present in court, you can contribute here.

Please share this campaign and information of this case.

STEVE DENNIS OF PROPER SUPPORT

“Thirty minutes before I was shot and kidnapped, I was sipping tea and laughing with a colleague.

I had no idea my life was about to change forever. Within the hour, someone would be dead. I would be wounded. And the fog of traumatic injury would begin.”

Proper Support was founded by Steve Dennis after surviving a violent kidnapping and navigating years of post-incident neglect. His legal case set a precedent in the aid sector, proving gross negligence in how duty of care was managed. Most importantly, it highlighted the need for independent review of aid worker incidents, free from organizational bias, where an organization failed to understand risk. It also underscored that post-incident support must meet the needs of the injured, not to be constrained by internal policy or insurance limitations. Proper Support Trust is legally registered in Canada, but in practice operates as Proper Support in all our work and communications.

Since then, Proper Support has grown into a multidisciplinary team. We bring legal advocates, trauma therapists, recovery coaches, doctors, and insurance experts together to guide injured aid workers through recovery and resolution. Many of us have been in the field or beside those navigating trauma, which gives us an informed, compassionate, and no-nonsense approach to our work.

Website: https://www.propersupport.ca

Contact: stevedennis@egate.net