I write to you today from Melbourne where our Events Officer, Narelle Kay, and I had the pleasure and privilege of attending the Association AwardsTM 2025 Dinner last night. FRSA was nominated in the Association Event of the YearTM category for the FRSA National Conference 2025. While we didn’t win the award, we were shortlisted and are proud of our achievement. The FRSA team love bringing this event to the sector each year and we appreciated the opportunity to celebrate along with a range of other associations bringing exciting events to their members and stakeholders. We were in a strongly contested competition and congratulate the Institute of Health and Safety on their win.
Last week, FRSA delivered another of our highlight events – the Strategic Leadership Forum. This member-only event brings together senior leaders in Canberra to discuss emerging issues and key sector priorities. It will likely come as no surprise that AI was top on the agenda. We also spent a day at Parliament House where members met with around 60 politicians from across the divide to share the important work of the sector in meeting the needs of children, families and communities across Australia. The team and I greatly enjoyed the opportunity to connect with members, and we appreciated the energy, enthusiasm and insights that our colleagues brought to discussions. You can read more about the Forum here.
Earlier this week, the Department of Social Services released its discussion paper on A new approach to programs for families and children. This follows Minister Plibersek’s announcement on 23 October that 5 programs under the Families and Children Activity would cease in January 2027 with a new single national program established in its place. The consultation focuses on that new national program. The timeline is tight with submissions due on 5 December. FRSA is developing a submission, and we’ll be consulting with members over the next 2 weeks (Members can find out more and register here).
It was recently National Children’s Week (18-26 October), and we share some of the ways FRSA Members celebrated here.
