On 19-22 May 2025, FRSA held its annual National Conference at Sheraton Grand Sydney Hyde Park on the lands of the Gadigal people.

It is always a pleasure to bring the sector together to share research, practice learnings and insights and we were thrilled to have close to 600 delegates join us for this year’s conference. Practitioners, academics and policy makers working to support children, families and communities came together to identify the strengths we can build on and the opportunities we can harness to meet the changing needs of children, families and communities.

The week started with four well subscribed pre-Conference workshops:

• Cultural Frameworks and Embedding Them into Professional Practice (Facilitated by Stuart McMinn, Gawura Cultural Immersions)
• Communities for Children Facilitating Partner (CfC FP) Workshop
• Family Law Workshop
• Survey success: Simplifying data collection for maximum impact (facilitated by the Australian Institute of Family Studies and the Parenting Research Centre).

On Tuesday 20 May we were honoured to have proud Dharug and Gubbi Gubbi man, Stuart McMinn, Welcome us to Country. Prior to establishing his own business – Gawura Cultural Immersions – Stuart worked in the family and relationship services sector for many years which made his Welcome particularly special.

We were delighted and privileged to have the newly appointed Minister for Social Services, the Hon Tanya Plibersek MP, deliver a welcome address. Minister Plibersek reflected that her ministerial appointment to social services ‘felt like coming home’. We look forward to working with Minister Plibersek over this parliamentary term. The Minister’s address was complemented by a departmental address from Letitia Hope, Deputy Secretary, Department of Social Services later in the morning.

It was also a great privilege to have Lil Gordon join us to deliver a keynote address. Lil is the inaugural Acting National Commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children & Young People. Lil’s reframing of ‘early intervention’ as ‘early opportunity’ was testament to her ongoing focus on strengths-based thinking and approaches in social policy and support.

Professor Sharon Bessell’s keynote address – Delivering More for Children – and Families – emphasised the value and importance of asking children directly what matters most to them in building strong and inclusive communities and addressing poverty. Sharon’s presentation was the perfect segue way into our panel discussion – How listening to the voices of young adults can deliver positive impacts for children and young people accessing your services – and a video clip on Uniting NSW.ACT’s work with their Youth Advisory Committee.

Panellists included:

• Greg Kennedy – Uniting Counselling & Mediation
• Kimeaka Bermingham – CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes
• Lachlan Hobman, Youth Advocate
• Rachel Perinparajah, Create Foundation
• Victoria Flanagan, Uniting Counselling & Mediation (Panel moderator).

Day 2 of the Conference opened with another great plenary line-up. The Hon Justice Thomas Altobelli AM, Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia, provided a thought provoking, witty and engaging address on the topic – The impact of emerging technologies on family violence and abuse: utopia or dystopia?

We were grateful to the Hon John Faulks, member of the Family Law Council, for his overview and insights into the Family Law Council Terms of Reference Reports, which were released in March this year. It cannot have been a small task filtering the many recommendations contained in the Council’s reports to bring the highlights to the FRSA audience – we thank John for doing this so deftly!

The great richness and diversity of the sector was showcased each day in the concurrent session program. With 65 presentations and five symposiums delivered by FRSA members and stakeholders, we felt privileged to bring this part of the program to delegates. Slides from these presentations will be made available via the FRSA Conference page subject to author permission. Keynote presentations and the Panel Discussion will be uploaded to FRSA’s YouTube channel in the coming weeks.

The Conference closed with a keynote address from Kath Koschel, 2025 NSW Australian of the Year. Kath has faced unimaginable hurdles yet amid harrowing experiences, Kath created the Kindness Factory on social media to share her small acts of kindness, hoping to inspire a groundswell of people to join her.  Kath’s address was hilarious, heart-rending and inspiring in equal measure – and being reminded of the power of small acts of kindness was the perfect way to end the conference for 2025.

Gala dinner

The Conference Gala Dinner provides an opportunity to come together, relax and celebrate all that the sector has achieved over the previous year. This year’s dinner was held at Doltone House and the FRSA Board and team were delighted to have over 350 Conference delegates join us in an evening of music, dance and fine food.

We were delighted to have Stuart McMinn and his crew from Gawura Cultural Immersions continue a cultural journey with us through story and dance. It was an entertaining learning experience.

Local band, the Baker Boys Band, kept people dancing till the reluctant close of the evening!