Welcome to the first eBulletin for 2025! I hope you all managed to relax and recharge over the festive season.

As an election year, 2025 is shaping up to be big and busy, with some uncertainty thrown into the mix. My team and I are feeling refreshed and ready to work with our members to tackle all that comes our way. To this end, I’ll be holding member forums in capital cities around the country in March to talk with members about their priorities for the year. Information about the forums and how to register will be on the FRSA website soon.

With our 2025 Child Inclusive Practice Forum just a few weeks away and promising a great line-up of speakers we are feeling very excited (and a little frantic) here at the FRSA Office. It’s not too late to register and attendance at the Forum does attract professional development points. You can find out more below.

I’m also pleased to note that the concurrent session program is now live for the annual FRSA National Conference, which will be held in Sydney in May. We received a record number of abstracts for this year’s conference and it’s exciting to see the amazing work that’s happening across the sector.

FRSA would love to be able to share more about what is happening at a local level for our members in this eBulletin. Please do get in touch with FRSA Communications Officer, Vanessa Lam, if you have any news you would like to share with the network. This could be about local events you’ve run, research you’ve undertaken, new and innovative programs, or awards you’ve won. Vanessa can be contacted via email – communications@frsa.org.au

As we enter into the long weekend, I’d like to acknowledge that 26 January is a day of hurt and reflection for so many, marking the history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ dispossession. I take this opportunity to re-affirm FRSA’s commitment to reconciliation and our hope for justice for First Nations peoples.

Kind regards,
Jackie Brady
FRSA Executive Director

We’re excited to welcome our Keynote line up for the Child Inclusive Practice Forum 2025 on 18-19 Feburary in Canberra. Find out more about each Keynote address below:

Day 1 – Tuesday, 18 February:

• Anne Hollonds, National Children’s Commissioner
• Professor Jennifer McIntosh AM, The Bouverie Centre, La Trobe University – Transgenerational healing: Infant led family therapy

Day 2 – Wednesday, 19 February:

• Jon Graham & Lorri Yasenik PhD, The International Centre for Children and Family Law – Parents Readiness To Hear Their Child’s Voice
• The Hon Deputy Chief Justice Robert McClelland AO, Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia – On Children’s Voices

There’s less than a month until the Child Incluisve Practice Forum 2025 in Canberra! We’re excited to announce our first panel discussion for the Forum: Skills & attributes for working with children – in pursuit of a definition or understanding of ‘best practice’ in the family and relations services sector

Panellists:

• Professor Jennifer McIntosh AM, The Bouverie Centre, La Trobe University
• Janet Carmichael, Court Children’s Service, Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia
• Megan Solomon, Uniting Counselling and Mediation

FRSA is pleased to offer two bursaries for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who are registered for or would like to attend the 2025 Child Inclusive Practice Forum.

Bursaries are provided to assist with covering the cost of conference registration, and travel & accommodation. Each package includes:

• 1 x Complimentary full registration to the Forum
• $500 towards travel and accommodation

To be eligible you must be an employee of a fully financial FRSA member organisation. Applications closes on FRIDAY, 31 January 2025.

FRSA understand the importance of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and Ongoing Professional Development (OPD) opportunities and we’re happy to announce that the Child Inclusive Practice Forum 2025 is officially a Community Work Australia (CWA) endorsed CPD event and an Australian Counselling Association (ACA) recognised Ongoing Professional Development (OPD) event. All registrants of the event can claim 10 CPD hours for their participation from CWA and ACA members can claim 12 OPD points for their participation.

The concurrent session program for FRSA National Conference 2025 is here! This year’s program focuses on the theme “Safe, Strong and Thriving” and the three day event is set to share and explore our sector’s value and our sector’s potential.

We have 65 half hour sessions and five 90 minute symposiums. Again the standard of abstracts submitted for this year’s conference was extremely high. We have been working hard to ensure the program fulfils the expectations of FRSA Conference attendees. We have also left plenty of time for networking and we are putting together the final details for our Conference Gala Dinner that will certainly deliver an unforgettable experience in Sydney.

Stay tuned for more details on the Pre-Conference workshops and our keynote speaker and panelist announcements in the next few weeks.

Click below to view or download the PDF program. Click on the session titles for more details.

Sponsorship has always been a big part of FRSA’s Conferences and in acknowledgement of this support, we have designed packages that will allow for maximum visibility to showcase the work and activity of your organisation/business. See our Conference Sponsorship Prospectus below for more details.

This year’s Conference is expected to attract 600+ delegates, including practitioners, researchers, managers, executives, and policy and program developers from government and non-government agencies.

FRSA is delighted that the Department of Social Services and the Attorney-General’s Department have committed as Conference Partners for this year’s Conference.

We welcome your support of the conference and hope that you will take advantage of the opportunities available to you in joining with FRSA as a Conference 2025 sponsor.

If you are interested in a more bespoke package for your organisation don’t hesitate to get in touch with the FRSA team on (02) 6162 1811 or events@frsa.org.au.

Early Bird registrations are also now open! Don’t miss out on saving up to $200 per person with rates ending Monday, 3 March 2025.

Early Bird Registration Fee* Until 3 March 2025

* To be entitled to the early bird registration fee you must have registered and paid by 3 March 2025.

Group Registrations
FRSA is pleased to offer FRSA Members the opportunity to register five (5) participants and receive the sixth registration complimentary. To be eligible for the complimentary registration, you must register your five (5) participants using the link below. Instructions on how to register your complimentary registration will be provided on the confirmation email. Interested in becoming an FRSA Member? Visit our Membership page.

Please note: When registering the 6 for 5, to receive the 6th registration free the same registration type must be purchased for the entire group.

Two bursaries are available for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who are registered for or would like to attend the 2025 Family & Relationship Services Australia National Conference.

Bursaries are provided to assist with covering the cost of conference registration, and travel & accommodation. To be eligible you must be an employee of a fully financial FRSA member organisation. Each package includes:

• 1 x Complimentary full registration to the Conference (including dinner)
• $500 towards travel and accommodation

Applications closes on FRIDAY, 28 March 2025.

Thank you to Members who have responded to our survey on targeted intervention programs for people who use violence. We have decided to keep the survey open until 11:59pm (AEDT), Friday 31 January as we appreciate the staffing pressures that go hand in hand with the holiday season.

If you are an FRSA member and think the survey might be relevant to your organisation, please read the information sheet, which provides more detail about the survey and what we mean by targeted intervention programs and gives an opportunity to preview the survey questions.

Ngemba woman Lil Gordon has been appointed acting National Commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people, with the full-time commissioner yet to be finalised.

Prior to accepting the role Ms Gordon was the head of Aboriginal Affairs in NSW, and is currently First Assistant Secretary – First Nations Partnerships, for the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts.

Establishment of the National Commission for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People was announced on 4 October 2024. The National Commissioner will be dedicated to protecting and promoting the rights, interests and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people across a range of issues, including the over representation of Indigenous children in out-of-home care.

A reminder that charities that operate on a standard financial year (1 July to 30 June) must submit their 2024 Annual Information Statement by 31 January 2025.

You can learn more about the questions, and what you need to know before completing your charity’s AIS on the AIS Hub. Submit your statement via the Portal.

Researchers can now apply to access the National Disability Data Asset, a key initiative of Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021-2031. This de-identified dataset provides a comprehensive view of the services and programs used by people with disabilities, aiming to improve opportunities, outcomes, and government support. Managed with input from the disability community, it includes ethical safeguards and oversight. The first release features 18 datasets, with additional releases in 2025 covering disability, health, social services, education, employment, and housing.

For more information or to submit a research application, visit www.ndda.gov.au/research-projects/apply-data-access.

Research undertaken jointly by the eSafety Commissioner and the Queensland University of Technology has found that 1 in 4 girls have been sexually propositioned by an adult online before they turn 18.

The research was led by Professor Ben Mathews and is based on data from the Australian Child Maltreatment Study (ACMS). The research surveyed 3,500 young people aged 16 to 24.

Key findings:

• overall, 17.7% of all children and young people surveyed had experienced online sexual solicitation by an adult, with girls facing a significantly higher risk compared to boys (7.6%)
• online sexual solicitation often begins at an early age, with 80% of targets saying it started by age 15 and 25% reporting it began before age 12
• 86.7% of perpetrators were total strangers
• the non-consensual sharing of sexual images is also a widespread problem, with 7.6% of children and young people reporting this had happened to them.

eSafety provides a range of practical resources and age-appropriate advice to help keep children and young people safe online. These are available on the eSafety Commissioner website.

The study, which was funded by the National Centre for Action on Child Sexual Abuse, is available here.

On 14 January 2025, the National Autism Strategy was released by the Minister for Social Services, Hon Amanda Rishworth MP, to improve inclusion, support, and life outcomes for nearly 300,000 Autistic Australians. Developed with input from Autistic people, families, experts, and the autism and disability sectors, the Strategy focuses on four key areas: social inclusion, economic inclusion, diagnosis and supports, and health and mental health. The health component will be addressed through the Autism Health Roadmap. The Strategy’s implementation will begin with the First Action Plan 2025-26, outlining immediate government actions. Find out more.

On 16 January, Prime Minister Albanese announced updates to the Cabinet and Ministry in portfolio areas held by Bill Shorten MP, who announced in September 2024 that he would not be seeking another term in parliament.

In addition to their existing ministerial responsibilities, Ministers Rishworth, Gallagher and Aly now hold the following responsibilities:

• Amanda Rishworth MP – Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme
• Senator Katy Gallagher – Minister for Government Services
• Dr Anne Aly MP – Minister Assisting the Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme

A swearing-in ceremony was held at Government House, Canberra, on 20 January 2025.

Strengthening the National Debt Helpline

On 18 January Minister for Social Services, Amanda Rishworth, announced a boost in funding for the National Debt Helpline along with funding better coordination, training and support for staff.

Funding of $27.4 million will be distributed between eight organisations to support the National Debt Helpline, along with the expansion of an online booking system trialled in South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Financial Counselling Australia will also receive $16.7 million to support the National Debt Helpline with coordination and training and other programs to assist the needs of Australians in financial difficulty.

Strengthening support for Australia’s young carers

The government will provide a $19.8 million boost to the Young Carer Bursary Program, with the bursary amount being increased as well as a one-off increase to the number of available bursaries in 2025. The bursary can be spent on things like school uniforms, textbooks, tuition fees, transportation to and from school or tertiary education.

Trial project to reduce number of First Nations children in out of home care

A $1.39 million trial will help Aboriginal families with children at risk of serious harm or in out of home care, and support children to stay connected with their family, community and culture. The trial is funded through the Closing the Gap Outcomes and Evidence Fund and will be delivered by La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council.

The trial was announced on 3 January 2025.

The Department of Social Services (DSS) has extended the closing date for submissions on the Families and Children (FaC) Activity – Children, youth and parenting programs discussion paper. Submissions now close at 5:00pm, 10 February 2025.

The department recently conducted an internal review of the FaC Activity children, youth and parenting programs. The department is now conducting external consultation to explore the findings of the internal review.

The programs reviewed were:

• Children and Parenting Support (CaPS)
• Communities for Children Facilitating Partners (CfC FP)
• Family Mental Health Support Services (FMHSS)

The purpose of the review was to understand the benefits of the programs for families and children, as well as the opportunities and challenges with service provision and program implementation.

The discussion paper and related information are available on the DSS Engage website.

The Attorney-General’s Department has published a fact sheet for separating couples that outlines key changes to the property framework in the Family Law Act 1975.

From 10 June 2025, the Family Law Act 1975 includes changes to the law about:

• how the family law courts will determine a property settlement
• what the family law courts will consider when determining a property settlement. This includes the economic effect of any family violence, where relevant.

These changes apply to all separating couples, whether their property settlement is determined by the family law courts, or they are negotiating outside of court.

The fact sheet is available on the department’s website.

PLACE – Partnerships for Local Action and Community Empowerment – is a national organisation that was recently established to support community-led, place-based approaches to address social and economic challenges in communities and disrupt entrenched disadvantage. The PLACE team will be travelling across the country for six weeks to listen, learn and engage with place-based initiatives. PLACE wants to hear about your challenges, successes and aspirations and is inviting expressions of interest (EOI) . Please let them know via the EOI process if you want to be part of the tour.

You can download the Listening Tour EOI documentation here.

EOIs close 14 February 2025.

International Day of People with Disability (IDPwD) is a United Nations observed day of recognition and is observed annually on 3 December to promote awareness, understanding, and acceptance of people with disabilities.

Feedback on IDPwD 2024 is being collected through a short, anonymous online survey. The survey covers how you recognised IDPwD, the usefulness of resources, suggestions for supporting 2025 activities, and ideas for social media and website content. It includes 14 questions and takes 10-15 minutes to complete and is open until 11.59pm AEST on Sunday 2 February. Complete the survey.

The Australian Government is seeking feedback on the design of a First Nations Disability Forum, following a recommendation from the Disability Royal Commission. Input can be provided via a form, email, or phone. Feedback will inform forum development, with consultation open until 28 January 2025.

Learn more about the consultation and have your say at DSS Engage.

Families Australia have announced the dates and theme for National Families Week 2025. The week will take place from 12 to 18 May 2025. And the theme for 2025 is,
“Lending a Hand to Thrive – Supporting Each Other.”

Stay tuned for more details on how to get involved via the National Families Week website.

If you have any events you’d like listed on the FRSA Events and Training Calendar or job vacancies you’d like listed on the FRSA Jobs Board, email Communications Officer, Vanessa Lam at communications@frsa.org.au. Please note that posting onto the FRSA website is reserved for FRSA Members only.

If you have an news item or event that you would like to be featured in a future eBulletin please submit your announcement via the form below or email communications@frsa.org.au with the subject “FRSA eBulletin submission”.

Please note FRSA members receive priority for items posted in the eBulletin. And to keep information current, relevant and useful, submissions will not be repeated from week to week.