I’ve been reflecting this week on the overarching message for National Child Protection week (1-7 September), Every child in every community needs a fair go and the important role our sector plays in bringing this vision to life. The theme for 2024 is Every conversation matters and here at FRSA we’ve been focusing on the critical yet often forgotten process of including children and young people in those conversations. All too often we speak for or about children and young people – granted, generally through a desire to protect – when actually, they are perfectly capable of sharing their thoughts and feelings and ideas if provided with a supportive and safe space to share. Lisa, our Communities of Practice Project Officer, has just spent the past few weeks facilitating discussions with her community of practice groups about actively listening to children in program design and evaluation, as well as in the therapeutic service delivery context, and has come away buzzing with the ideas and practices shared by community of practice participants.

On a more sobering note, we’ve been engaging with the Parliamentary Inquiry into family violence orders and one of the clear concerns coming from our members in the family law context is how, too often, children are not listened to and are placed in living arrangements that do not keep them safe. They are simply not getting a fair go and it can be devastating. If the rumour mill and media speculation is right, we are likely to hear about more funds to address family, domestic and sexual violence today – including services to support women and children as victim survivors as well as men’s behaviour change program funding.

I do take this opportunity to point readers to the webinar recording of the first webinar in FRSA’s series: A First Nations focus on family and relationship services. This is a good news, inspiring story of a program done well, where children, young people and their families are actively listened to by embracing Indigenous expertise in using Restorative Practice in child protection matters. I encourage readers to take a look at the recording by Sarah Decrea, Relationships Australia SA – Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Leadership is best practice in Child Protection – and share it with your networks.

We are all excited here at the FRSA Office with our annual member-only Strategic Leadership Forum set to kick off next Tuesday! We have over 70 CEOs and senior managers from across the network joining us in Canberra on 10-11 September. With a Federal election on the horizon, it is an important time to highlight the work of our sector in Canberra. Delegates will spend the first day hearing from key voices within the public service. On day 2, it’s time for government to hear from us. Forum delegates will spend the day up at Parliament House meeting with parliamentary members, senators and senior advisors to share our priorities and our achievements. We are delighted to be starting day 2 with a breakfast address from the Attorney-General, the Hon Mark Dreyfus KC MP. It’s promising to be a great event.

Kind regards,
Jackie Brady
FRSA Executive Director

Register today for the second webinar in our First Nations focus on Family and Relationship services series, Cultural Supervision – Safe yarning presented by Tara Farmer and Dwayne Hayden from Centrecare on Thursday, 19 September 2024 at 12:30PM-1:15PM (AEST)

The presentation will go through how Cultural Supervision has been implemented within Centrecare’s organisation to help develop, promote and embed cultural safety and understanding. With Cultural Lead positions established to support supervision for staff in identified programs across the Perth metro and regional areas including the Goldfields and South-West region of Western Australia.

Cultural Supervision offers a safe yarning space without judgement, staff can share and reflect on practices to increase or better engage with families, individuals, and the community as a whole; enabling practices to be embedded in a culturally safe and respectable manner, throughout their various fields.

If you missed the first webinar in our First Nations focus on Family and Relationship services series, Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Leadership is best practice in Child Protection presented by Sarah Decrea from Relationships Australia SA, you can watch the recording now:

This presentation focuses on the transformative power of Aboriginal leadership in child protection reform. By embracing Indigenous expertise in using Restorative Practice to embed the practice of “high challenge high support” in both our work with families and between each other as sector professionals, we are seeing an innovative way forward that offers hope for sustained change.

In this week’s video we spoke to Nicole Cork, Family Law Counsellor at CatholicCare Sydney in New South Wales.

I’m feeling invigorated having just delivered the first of five rounds of community of practice (CoP) sessions for 2024-25, focused on the ethical and meaningful engagement of children and actively listening to their voices. Over the past month I’ve facilitated eight enriching sessions, bringing together passionate individuals dedicated to enhancing how we connect with and understand the children we provide services for.

For those new to the concept, a Community of Practice is a group of individuals who share a common interest or profession and come together to learn from each other through regular interactions. This collaborative approach fosters shared learning, improves practices, and drives collective improvement in our programs.

Our recent sessions have delved into various aspects of engaging with children in a meaningful way. We’ve explored techniques for creating safe spaces where children feel heard and valued, discussed strategies for incorporating their feedback into decision-making, and shared successful practices from different contexts. A particular highlight for participants has been the sharing of resources and knowledge with one another.

The enthusiasm and commitment demonstrated by our CoP members have been truly inspiring. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to these sessions, and we look forward to our continued collaboration and shared learning.

The Community of Practice Project is funded by the Australian Institute of Family Studies and supported by DSS.

The report on the Rapid Review of Prevention Approaches to help stop gender-based violence – Unlocking the Prevention Potential:
accelerating action to end domestic, family and sexual violence – was released on 23 August 2024.

At the meeting of National Cabinet on gender-based violence in May, First Ministers agreed to strengthen prevention efforts through targeted, evidence based approaches and to be informed by an expert led rapid review of best practices approaches.

The Commonwealth Government established the review and six experts with a mix of skills were appointed to guide the process.

The Rapid Review highlighted a number of areas of priority including:

• Responding to children and young people’s experiences of domestic, family and sexual violence
• Engaging with men and boys in violence prevention, including meeting them where they are at
• Better understanding pathways into perpetration to improve targeting of early intervention initiatives, with the aim of preventing violence from occurring.

A number of FRSA members deliver Men’s Behaviour Change Programs (MBCPs) and the report’s reflections on MBCPs, including the recommendation that MBCPs be supported to enable increased engagement and retention, will be of particular interest.

The first three-year Action Plan for the National Strategy for Volunteering has been released.

Co-designed from over 1,600 suggested actions, Action Plan 2024-2027 includes 22 commitments from the volunteering ecosystem including government departments and agencies, peak bodies, researchers and more.

The Action Plan identifies lead stakeholders who bear responsibility to progress their actions. It also details dozens of supporting actions: opportunities for others in the volunteering ecosystem to flexibly contribute to Action Plan 2024-2027 and the implementation of the National Strategy.

The latest indexation will take effect on 20 September 2024, providing an increase to a range of pensions and income support payments.

At the same time, as announced in the 2024-25 Budget, maximum rates of Commonwealth Rent Assistance will be increased by 10 per cent on the same day, with indexation applied on top.

All increases to pensions and payments are welcome, but it’s not enough. At this point in time, as outlined in the Raise the Rate Campaign, we need to raise the rate of Jobseeker and other income support payments to at least $80 a day so everyone can cover the basics.

Last week Anglicare Australia launched a report showing that Australia’s tax system is fuelling wealth inequality.

The report, Widening the Gap, looks at trends in wealth inequality over the past 20 years and finds that the wealthiest Australians hold 90 times the wealth of those with the least; this has been fuelled by tax breaks for superannuation and housing investments, and high house prices have fuelled inequality and locked many people out of housing and financial security.

Areas for reform

• Reform taxes on housing investments.
• Promote fairness in retirement.
• Reform the tax treatment of investments and shares.
• Curb personal tax avoidance through private trusts and companies.
• Economic security for people on the lowest incomes.

Read the full report

The Attorney-General, Mark Dreyfus, has announced the appointments of the Hon Linda Dessau AC CVO and Professor Helen Rhoades OAM to conduct the review of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia Act 2021. The review is required by section 284 of the Act.

A report of the review is due to be provided to the Attorney-General on or before 1 March 2025. The terms of reference are available on the Attorney-General’s Department website.

On 30 August, the Attorney-General, Mark Dreyfus, announced the appointments of Alexandra Colquhoun, Gregory Shoebridge and Benjamin Zipser as Judges to the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 2). Ms Colquhoun and Mr Shoebridge have been appointed to the Sydney Registry, and Mr Zipser has been appointed to the Parramatta Registry of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 2). They will commence on 16 September 2024.

In WA, state Attorney-General John Quigley has announced the appointment of Max Beckerling as an Acting Magistrate of the Family Court of Western Australia. Max Beckerling is an experienced barrister and has practised principally in family law matters. He will commence in the role on 2 September.

Last week on 30 August 2024 it was Wear It Purple Day, an annual LGBTIQA+ awareness day especially for young people.

See how FRSA Members around the country celebrated the day:

• yourtown shared one of the ways they promote visible safety for their clients, staff and LGBTIQ+ communities, which is with their ‘Safe Space’ and ‘Ally’ stickers that staff can use in the office and elsewhere.
• Anglicare WA staff wore purple to commemorate the day.
• Kyabra Community Association Inc.  recognised and celebrated the day by wearing purple.
• Capital Region Community Services and Libraries ACT held a Wear It Purple Day celebration in Belconnen including a live drag show and drop-in disco.
• MacKillop Family Services shared The Unsaid Says A Lot campaign, an Australian-first campaign in support of trans and gender diverse communities.
• Uniting Communities shared what their team member, Tay (she/they) said about the day, “Wear It Purple is a very special day for the community with the focus on our young people. For me, it means hope that future generations have an easier time of it than past ones, and are accepted and encouraged to be whoever they want to be.”
• Odyssey House Victoria staff across their offices acknowledged the day by wearing their ‘You are loved’ t-shirts and had a ‘Morning Tea with Purpose’ where they shared rainbow themed food and discussed the ways they can ensure LGBTQIA+ people and rainbow families can feel safe in their offices and using their services.
• The YFS team held an afternoon tea to celebrate this year’s Wear It Purple theme, “Your Passion, Your Pride.”
• Staff at Cafs donned their best purple outfits and accessories in support of young people.
• Lifeline Darling Downs & South West QLD took part in the local Wear it Purple day event in Toowoomba.
• Comm Unity Plus Services celebrated by wearing purple.
• The Benevolent Society announced that they are now officially registered as a safe space for the LGBTQI community under the ACON Welcome Here Project.
• Berry Street put together a video sharing the Wear It Purple events their staff held throughout the week.
• Drummond Street Services’ Queerspace Youth and Mentoring program teams were at the Minus18 Queer Wear It Purple Day Pride Party on 24 August and ran a badgemaking space.
• Mallee Family Care shared a video where they asked members of their Rainbow Tick Working Group to share their thoughts on what Wear it Purple Day means to them, their workplace and the diverse individuals, families and communities they support. Watch below:

Last week Relationships Australia Tasmania celebrated their 75 anniversary at an event in Hobart.

In honour of the celebration they are embarking on a mission, 75 Years in 75 Places – partnering with seventy-five communities across Tasmania, and ask the question, ‘what is a connected and respectful community to Tasmanians?’ By celebrating 75 years through conversations in 75 places across the state, their hope is to create a Tasmania where every individual is valued, every relationship is nurtured, and every community thrives.

CEO Michael Kelly said, “I am incredibly proud to lead Relationships Australia Tasmania every day but even more so on days like yesterday. To be shaping the future of an organisation that has continued to evolve to meet the needs of Tasmanians for 75 years is indeed a privilege. I’m looking forward to doing my part to shape our organisation to ensure that we remain relevant and are well placed to meet the needs of the Tasmanian community in the years to come. It’s exciting to engage in 75 conversations, to listen, learn and continue to be shaped by the voices of Tasmanians”.

The National Family Law Pathways Networks in collaboration with Attorney-General’s Department are hosting a series of webinars on family law developments over three weeks in September. The first session will be about the Family Law Amendment Bill 2024.

Date: Thursday, 12 September

Time: 1:00pm – 2:00pm (AEST)

In this session, the Attorney-General’s Department will provide an overview of the content of the Bill, including what has changed to respond to feedback since an Exposure Draft was released in 2023.

Click here to register or download the flyer.

A new grant opportunity coming soon from the Department of Social Services for the Strong and Resilient Communities (SARC) Activity.

The SARC – Inclusive Communities grants will support the social and economic participation of vulnerable and disadvantaged people in their communities by providing funding that supports:

• young people 12 to 18 years who are disengaged, or at risk of disengaging, from education to reconnect with their community, school, training and/or employment
• people with a disability to participate in the community, and work towards becoming or remaining independent and engaged in the economy and/or society
• women who experience, or are at risk of experiencing isolation or discrimination to participate in the community and/or economy and increase their self-agency
• people who are unemployed to increase participation in their community and/or increase their capacity to engage in employment, training, or existing employment services.

The Journal of the Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet has been published online since 2020. In that time, it has received over 31,000 downloads, in 115 countries and 700 institutions around the world. They invite you to submit an article to this rapidly growing publication.

They are seeking papers from researchers and practitioners that address key issues in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health.

They are accepting:

• original research articles – full reports of significant research
• health topic reviews – general evidence-based summaries of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and reviews of specific topics
• brief reports – brief research reports or summaries of innovative health promotion or preventive health programs.

Visit the journal here to submit your work. All submissions are subject to double-blind peer review.

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