Welcome to the FRSA e-bulletin for 2023!

The month of January has already been a busy one – as it has for everyone in the sector.

It has also been a month in which I am sure all FRSA members have been able to breathe a sigh of relief with the confirmation of increased funding for 2022-23 to help meet increased costs of service delivery. First, the Attorney-General’s Department advised overall increases to funding for organisations funded under the Family and Relationship Services Program in the order of 4.71%. Then, this week we had the Department of Social Services advise that the increase they would be applying to all eligible grants (which includes all programs under the Families and Children Activity) would be well above the 5.3% identified by the sector as the minimum required to meet increased costs. Whilst these increases are a combination of pre-existing indexation commitments and the October Budget measure ‘to support Community Sector Organisations’ ($560 million over four years), they provide assurance to service providers that the Government has been listening and are committed to supporting community sector organisations to do the important work they do. It is a very welcome outcome!

FRSA is also in the thick of work with the Centre for International Economics (The CIE) to contribute to the evidence base of the value of Family and Relationship Services through the cost benefit analysis project. The work the team at CIE have been doing is very impressive and we can’t wait to deliver the results of that report before the Federal Budget this year.

Looking to the year ahead there are significant opportunities for FRSA and the broader sector to be involved in consultative processes aimed at improving the outcomes for the children, adults, and communities we work with. Already we have two significant consultation processes underway with the proposed amendments to the Family Law Act and the ALP’s Early Years Summit (more on these below). We will be actively involved in both and look forward to working with our members to bring the views of our sector to the table.

In February we will be delivering two ‘Member Only’ webinars, a new deliverable exclusive to the FRSA Membership base. The first will be on the Exposure Draft of the Family Law Amendment Bill 2023 on 8 February 2023, with Rebecca Mills, Assistant Secretary of the Family Law Branch at the Attorney-General’s Department. The second webinar on 21 February 2023, will have Catherine Liddle, CEO of SNAICC, talk about their recent work for the Department of Social Services looking at the role of ACCOs and services for families and children.

My special thanks to members of the FRSA Conference Reference Committee and a couple of other FRSA friends we have had to lean on for assessing and scoring the 147 abstracts over the month of January. We are going through the final stages of assessment and hope to have the concurrent session program out to you in the next few weeks. It is looking really impressive, and we hope you will be able to attend the FRSA Conference at the Gold Coast Convention Centre from 15-18 May 2023.

I am also gearing up for the FRSA member forums we are convening in every state and territory in mid-late March. I can’t wait!

With 2023 well underway, just a reminder that the FRSA team is here to assist you. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch:

• Jackie Brady, Executive Director – ExecDirector@frsa.org.au
• Robyn Clough, Manager, Policy and Research – policy@frsa.org.au
• Narelle Kay, Events and Membership Officer – events@frsa.org.au
• Vanessa Lam, Communications Officer – communications@frsa.org.au
• Sandra Rabjohns, Communities of Practice Project Officer – projects@frsa.org.au
• Carol Reeve – Administrative Officer – admin@frsa.org.au

Or contact the National Office on 02 6162 1811.

Kind regards,
Jackie Brady
FRSA Executive Director

Don’t miss out on early bird registration rates, which end 14 March 2023. As the sector’s ‘go to’ National, annual event – FRSA will not fail to deliver great speakers, great sessions, great networking and a great venue.

Early Bird Registration Fee* Until 14 March 2023

* To be entitled to the early bird registration fee you must have registered and paid by 15 March 2023.

Pre-Conference Workshops – FRSA MEMBERS ONLY

FRSA is pleased to release our Conference Sponsorship Prospectus. This year’s Conference is expected to attract 550+ 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. Just this week Uniting (Sydney) have also come on as a Gold Sponsor for Conference 2023.

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. This includes a new Wellness Sponsor, that will  provide a “Wellness Zone”, a dedicated space for delegates to recharge, relax and reenergise.

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 2023 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.

The Productivity Commission has released part F – Community Services – of its Report on Government Services 2023. This report provides information on the equity, effectiveness and efficiency of government services in Australia and is produced annually.

Within the context of this report, community services include four sub-sections:

• Aged care services
• Services for people with disability
• Child protection services
• Youth justice services

The following report sections have also been released:

• Part C Justice (includes police, courts and corrective services)
• Part D Emergency management (includes fire and other emergency events)
• Part E Health (includes primary and community health, ambulance services, public hospitals, services for mental health)
• Part G – Housing and homelessness

Part B Child care, education and training (includes early childhood education and care, school education, vocational education and training) will be released on Tuesday 7 February.

FRSA is looking forward to participating in the National Early Years Summit, which will be held in Parliament House on 17 February 2023.

FRSA’s Executive Director, Jackie Brady, has been asked to sit on a panel during the Summit event.

The Summit will bring together a range of stakeholders across the early years sector to start a national conversation on key early years issues and identify opportunities to strengthen how the Government supports young children and their families.

This will help inform development of an Early Years Strategy, which was announced by the Albanese Government in November 2022, to create a more integrated, holistic approach to the early years. The Hon Amanda Rishworth MP, Minister for Social Services, and the Hon Dr Anne Aly MP, Minister for Early Childhood Education and Minister for Youth, will lead development of the Strategy over 18 months.

Further information will be made available on the Department of Social Services website.

Public consultation commences

Consultation on the Strategy has commenced with a short survey, which will be open until 3 March 2023. Public submissions will open shortly.

Last week FRSA lodged our Pre-Budget submission 2023-2024 with the Treasury, with the call for submissions closing on 27 January.

We outlined three priorities for consideration in the Federal Budget:

• Funding for family and relationship services that meets the real costs of service provision and increased service demand.
• Increased investment in child inclusive practice in Family Dispute Resolution.
• Greater investment in Australian children, adults and families experiencing poverty and financial disadvantage.

The submission includes seven recommendations across these three priorities and while all are important, we cannot overstate the clear and pressing need for immediate economic relief for children, adults and families living in poverty in Australia. To this end we have recommended that Government increases income support payments to at least $73 per day in line with the minimum increase identified by ACOSS in its Raise the Rate Campaign.

We have also joined the growing body of voices recommending that the Government abandons the stage three tax cuts and redirects these Budget savings to reducing poverty in Australia. The commitment to these tax cuts was made in a different economic environment. Global instability, ongoing domestic crises and rising inflation, and the consequent impacts on children, adults and families mean a new decision is warranted.

FRSA’s submission is available on our website.

The Government has released the first Action Plans under Safe and Supported: The National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children (2021-2031) – First Action Plan 2023-2026 and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander First Action Plan 2023-2026.

Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth and Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney launched the Action Plans, outlining the actions and activities needed to improve outcomes for children and young people in Australia.

Key actions under these two Action Plans include:

• agreeing a national approach for a sustainable and skilled children and families workforce
• improved early and targeted supports for children and families
• supporting First Nations people and communities to exercise authority in family support services and child protection
• investing in the First Nations Community Controlled Sector, and
• fully implementing the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle to the standard of active efforts.

The Action Plans, the National Framework and related information are available on the Department of Social Services website.

Anglicare Australia has released ‘Reforming Rent Assistance‘, a paper showing that rental stress is rife in spite of billions spent on Commonwealth Rent Assistance.

The paper found that:

• One in two people who get rent assistance (46%) are still in rental stress
• Young people fare even worse, with two in three young people on rent assistance (60%) still in rental stress
• The payment leaves out people on the lowest incomes
• Only one in three people on the JobSeeker payment is eligible for the payment (38%), and only one in ten young people out of work (12%)
• Almost no rental vacancies are affordable for people who get rent assistance.

The report was released at the same time as the latest numbers from the Productivity Commission, which show that the Government spends more than three times as much on rent assistance ($4.9 billion) than on social housing and homelessness services combined ($1.6 billion).

Paid family and domestic violence leave is now in effect across Australia , replacing the existing unpaid leave on offer for those affected by family and domestic violence.

Full-time, part-time and casual employees in businesses with 15 or more employees will all have the right to access 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave in a 12-month period, with the Government having passed the law through federal parliament in August.  For workers in small businesses, with fewer than 15 employees, the entitlement will start from 1 August, this year.

For more information visit the Fair Work Ombudsman website.

The Family Law Council is currently consulting on the rights of children and young people in Australia’s Family Law System.

An online stakeholder survey is being conducted to help the Council identify areas of improvement in Australia’s family law system regarding the rights of children and young people.

The survey will help the Family Law Council to understand:

• The extent to which the family law system upholds the rights of children and young people under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
• Whether or not particular parts of the family law system manage the participation of children and young people effectively.
• What, if any, changes would improve the way the family law system upholds the rights of children and young people?

The survey is open until 26 February 2023.

On 25 January 2023, the Albanese Government released its response to the two-year inquiry conducted by the Parliamentary Joint Select Committee on Australia’s Family Law System. The inquiry was relatively broad in scope and included exploration of the operation of the child support scheme.

The Joint Select Committee released four reports with the final report tabled in November 2021. The inquiry came close on the heels of the Australian Law Reform Commission’s (ALRC) review of the family law system. As covered in this edition of the eBulletin, the Government has also released for consultation an exposure draft of legislation that responds to some of the recommendations of that review. Given the ALRC review and the parliamentary inquiry were conducted in quick succession, there is, unsurprisingly, some overlap in recommendations.

The Government’s response to the inquiry of the Joint Select Committee on Australia’s Family Law System is available here.

The Government has just released draft legislation – the Family Law Amendment Bill 2023 – which aims to foreground the best interests of children and make the Family Law Act simpler and safer for separating families.

The draft legislation responds to some of the recommendations from the Australian Law Reform Commission’s (ALRC) 2019 Final Report No. 135: Family Law for the Future – An Inquiry into the Family Law System. It also implements elements of the Government Response to the Joint Select Committee on Australia’s Family Law System (see article in this edition).

A consultation paper has been released to accompany the legislation. Information about the consultation, the exposure draft, and the consultation paper are available on the Attorney-General’s Department website.

Submissions on the Bill are due by 27 February 2023.

FRSA is holding a Members Only webinar on the Exposure Draft on 8 February 2023, with Rebecca Mills, Assistant Secretary of the Family Law Branch at the Attorney-General’s Department.

The Attorney-General’s Department has released a summary report from its 2021 consultation on Improving the competency and accountability of family report writers.

In summary, submissions to the consultation expressed strong support for action to increase the competency and accountability of family report writers, with the majority calling for mandated competencies and standards.

The department has used feedback to inform proposed reform to the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth). The recently released Draft Exposure – Family Law Amendment Bill 2023 includes a measure which will give government the power to make regulations that set standards and requirements for family report writers.

FRSA’s submission to this consultation is available on the department and FRSA websites.

Natasha Rae as been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of Relationships Australia Queensland (RAQ).

She commenced the role earlier in the month, having worked for RAQ for almost 20 years, with over a decade in Executive leadership most recently in the role of General Manager – Client Services.

“Natasha is a visionary, engaging leader with an unwavering commitment to delivering genuine outcomes for individuals, families, and communities,” said RAQ Board Chair, William Owens.

RAQ is a vibrant, resilient organisation that is in an excellent position for the future. Natasha will deliver a seamless transition of leadership ensuring continuity of RAQ’s service excellence with renewed energy and strategic focus. Read more.

FRSA congratulates former The Smith Family CEO, Lisa O’Brien on receiving Australia Day Honours. Lisa was made a member of the Order of Australia (AM) for significant service to the community, particularly through social welfare organisations.

The theme for National Reconciliation Week 2023, “Be a Voice for Generations”, encourages all Australians to be a voice for reconciliation in tangible ways in our everyday lives – where we live, work and socialise.

For the work of generations past, and the benefit of generations future, act today for a more just, equitable and reconciled country for all.

National Reconciliation Week – 27 May to 3 June – is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.

Do you or have you worked with a young person aged between 16-25, who would be a great advocate for young people on the Australia Government’s Youth Advisory Groups?

We know that people with lived experience are vital contributors to policy and program change whatever their age.  The Australian Government has a specific process established to engage with young people wanting to take action on issues that matter to them.  There are five advisory groups available for application:

• First Nations

• Mental Health and Wellbeing

• Promotion of STEM

• Climate Change and Conference of the Parties (COP)

• Safe and Supported: The National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children 2021-31

Applications close at 5PM AEDT on Sunday 12 February 2023. Find out more or click here to apply.

Nominations for the 7th Annual Australian ADR Awards 2022 close in two weeks on 15 February 2023.

The Australian ADR Awards recognise both individual and team excellence in the area of Alternative Dispute Resolution.  The ADR Awards bring together a broad-church dispute resolution community to recognise distinction in the sector.

The Awards are open to all Australian citizens and permanent residents, and Australia-based Dispute Resolution teams.

Click here to find out more.

Researchers from Curtin University are seeking past and present employees of the Australian community services sector to take a survey about their experiences of working with difficult or dysfunctional people in the workplace. The questions are aimed at better understanding the impact on workplace wellbeing and job satisfaction.

This confidential, online survey will take about 20 minutes to complete. Click here to complete the survey.

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.