As flagged in our last eBulletin edition, the call for abstracts for the FRSA 2025 Annual Conference has just opened (see more below). The 2025 Conference theme is Safe, Strong and Thriving and it will be held at the Sheraton Grand Sydney Hyde Park on 19-22 May 2025. And a reminder – the call for abstracts for the FRSA Child Inclusive Practice Forum is also open. The Forum will be held in Canberra, 18-19 February 2025.

It’s been a huge and challenging week for our nation. Monday 14 October marked one year since the Australian electorate voted ‘no’ in a national referendum for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, causing disappointment and hurt for so many. A year on, however, support for First Nations self-determination is strong, building on the 6.2 million people across the country who voted ‘yes’ in 2023. There is hope. As Megan Davis, one of the architects of the Uluru Statement from the Heart said, an Indigenous Voice is “an idea whose time will come”. I take this opportunity to reiterate FRSA’s commitment to reconciliation and to an Indigenous Voice. Our vision is an Australia in which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, families and communities are safe, recognised, respected and valued.

This week is Anti-poverty week (13-19 October), which supports the Australian community to have an increased understanding of poverty and to act collectively to end it. I note that Australian Children’s Commissioners, Guardians and Advocates have released a statement calling on Australian governments to address structural barriers that contribute to poverty. The joint statement notes that “Child poverty can be overcome. Australian governments have the power and resources to stop it. The persistence of child poverty in Australia – a modern and thriving nation – is indefensible.” FRSA agrees. Australia is one of the wealthiest countries in the world, yet more than one in eight adults and one in six children in Australia live in poverty. With the right policy settings and the collective will of the Australian people, we can change this.

It is also National Carers Week and FRSA joins in recognising and celebrating Australia’s 3 million carers who everyday balance caring for family members and friends with work, study and managing their own health and wellbeing.

Kind regards,
Dr Robyn Clough
FRSA Acting Executive Director

Family & Relationship Services Australia (FRSA) invites you to submit an abstract to present at the FRSA National Conference 2025.

The theme for the FRSA National Conference 2025 is Safe, Strong and Thriving.

FRSA’s vision is an Australia where children, families and communities are safe, strong and thriving. At National Conference 2025 we ask: What will it take to bring this vision to life in a complex and ever-changing environment? How do we navigate complexity, change – and the unexpected – to ensure our services work for children, families and communities? Importantly, how do we ensure that our sector is safe, strong and thriving so that we can realise our vision for the people we work with every day?

Family and relationship services are designed as early intervention universal services – available to all people living in Australia, as and when they need them. However, people are increasingly presenting to family and relationship services with complex and intersecting needs, exacerbated by the cost of living and housing crisis, and overloaded tertiary service systems. In this context, what does early intervention mean? And, how do we ensure access for all?  We ask presenters to reflect on this context as they prepare an abstract that responds to the theme, Safe, Strong and Thriving.

The FRSA National Conference 2025 provides a platform to showcase and learn from on the ground practice, policy, and research. It will provide an opportunity 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 FRSA Conference is heralded as a highlight event for the Family and Relationship Services Network and will, as always, deliver a prime opportunity to showcase the impressive work of the sector.

We welcome abstracts that speak to the conference theme – Safe, Strong and Thriving.

In preparing and making your submission, you are asked to select and position your abstract within one of the six following streams:

1. The first 1000 days (e.g. the preconception period (preconception to birth), the birth of a child, impact on family relationships and transitions into parenting).

2. Schooling Years (e.g. school readiness, transitions into and across primary and secondary schools/school years, young people with significant caring responsibilities and transitioning out of school into training, tertiary education or employment).

3. Children at the Centre (e.g. child-focused and child-inclusive practice, supporting children’s participation in policy development, children’s participation in service design and evaluation, child safety and wellbeing).

4. Relationship breakdown and re-partnering (e.g. family/domestic violence, family legal services, family dispute resolution, men’s behavioural change programs, parenting after separation, sole-parenting and sustaining the best interests and wellbeing of children).

5. Family Domestic Violence (e.g. identifying and managing family violence risk, child maltreatment, perpetrator interventions, adolescents using violence in the home, elder abuse)

6. Across the lifecourse (e.g. diverse and changing family structures, developing and maintaining respectful relationships, social connection, intersectionality and inclusion)

All abstracts must be submitted online by 5:00pm AEDT, Wednesday 13 November 2024. For more information or to submit an abstract, visit the conference website.

Register today for the next webinar in our First Nations focus on Family and Relationship services series, Family-Led Decision Making driving child protection reform in South Australia presented byMegan Waters from Relationships Australia South Australia on Wedneday, 30 October 2024 at 12:30PM-1:15PM (AEDT)

View the full webinar schedule below:

In this week’s video we spoke to Kate Dover, Executive Director at CatholicCare Sydney in New South Wales

On 15 October, the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) released a national review of child sexual abuse and sexual assault legislation.

The review found there is significant consistency across jurisdictions in provisions criminalising sexual conduct, particularly contact sexual offences, image-based sexual offences and child sexual abuse material offences.

However, there is less consistency across Australian jurisdictions in provisions criminalising conduct to enable unlawful sexual conduct, unlawful sexual conduct against specific groups and unlawful sexual conduct under particular circumstances.

This review was commissioned by the Australian Government in 2022 to support implementation of the Standing Council of Attorneys-General’s Work Plan to Strengthen Criminal Justice Responses to Sexual Assault 2022–2027.

The review will help inform nationwide efforts to strengthen criminal justice responses to sexual assault.

The review report is available on the AIC website.

Jobs and Skills Australia has released the latest findings from their online tool called the Occupation Shortage List, or OSL. The OSL provides a point-in-time assessment of the shortage status of occupations in the Australian labour market.

This year’s results show 33% of all jobs are in shortage nationally, down from 36% in 2023. Occupations with more mature-aged workers are less likely to face shortages.

Some occupations relevant to our sector still show shortages in most states and territories, including social workers and psychologists.

You can explore the Occupation Shortage List here. Occupation shortage analysis findings can be viewed here.

New results from the 2021-22 Personal Safety Survey (PSS) released on 16 October by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) show an estimated 2.7 million Australian adults have experienced stalking since the age of 15. The ABS found that one in five women and one in 15 men have been stalked.

Stalking involves various behaviours, such as loitering and following, which the person believed were being undertaken with the intent to cause them fear or distress. To be classified as stalking, more than one type of behaviour had to occur, or the same type of behaviour had to occur on more than one occasion.

You can view the ABS data release on stalking here.

An independent National Commission for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People will be officially operational from 13 January 2025 to help achieve better outcomes for First Nations children and young people and their families.

The Commission has now been established as an Executive Agency under the Public Service Act 1999 with applications for the role of the National Commissioner to open this month.

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.

Minister for Indigenous Australians, Senator Malarndirri McCarthy said “The over-representation of young people in out-of-home care and youth detention is unacceptable. The National Commissioner will focus on working with First Nations people and organisations on evidence-based programs and policies to turn those figures around”.

The Attorney-General’s Department welcomes submission from interested stakeholders on the findings and recommendations of the review of the Attorney-General’s Department funded Family Relationships Services Program (FRSP).

The review report – Support for Separating Families – was released on 11 September and  found that the FRSP is successful in supporting separating families, including families with complex needs, such as where family violence or mental health issues are present.

The report outlines 16 findings and recommendations to improve knowledge about and access to the program and ensure the needs of the community are met into the future.

Submissions can be emailed to the department by 31 October 2024 – frspreviewconsultation@ag.gov.au

The Albanese Government has announced that it will direct the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) to make an enforceable industry standard to ensure appropriate support is provided to telecommunications customers experiencing domestic and family violence.

A current review of the Telecommunications Consumer Protections Code has shown the Code to be an ineffective solution to establish necessary protections in an appropriate timeframe. Directly regulated safeguards on domestic and family violence will address the serious issues being faced by victim-survivors in accessing support from their telcos when they need it most.

Examples of safeguards include:

• Minimum requirements for policies and staff training, with compliance reporting
• Prohibiting alleged perpetrator involvement in discussions with a victim-survivor
• Obligations relating to the privacy, safety and security of accounts
• Removing requirements for victim-survivors to provide evidence or tell their story multiple times
• Requirements for telcos to recognise domestic and family violence as a potential cause of payment difficulties and to consider the impact of any service suspension or disconnection

The Government is encouraging all stakeholders to work constructively with the ACMA on the development of the Domestic and Family Violence Industry Standard.

Tamworth Family Support Services (TFSS) is changing its name and will be known as Sora Community Services. The change is taking place because they have outgrown their original roots in Tamworth and want a new name & brand identity that encompasses their full list of services and geographic scope.

The name Sora is inspired by the sky, symbolising the vast open spaces of their region, often called ‘Big Sky Country’. The new logo features a star, representing integrity and a guiding light. Together, these elements reflect limitless possibilities and Sora’s commitment to providing quality support and care for individuals, families, and the wider community. As TFSS grows to become Sora Community Services, they invite you to join them on their journey.

FRSA congratulates Sora Community Services.

Do you work in the LGBTIQA+ space? The Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) is seeking the support of their valued community to help recruit survey participants, interview participants and focus group members that will shape the understanding of abuse and mistreatment of older LGBTIQA+ people. AIFS has developed a stakeholder kit that includes templates for you to share with your networks.

Grant opportunities through the Department of Social Services Financial Wellbeing and Capability Activity will be opening in the coming weeks, for new grants commencing from 1 July 2025.

The Families Australia policy survey is now live! Each year, Families Australia provides members and stakeholders the opportunity to have their say on current and emerging national policy issues/trends for families, children and young people. Feedback from the policy survey is drawn upon by Families Australia to provide policy advice to the Federal Government on ways to increase the wellbeing of families, especially those experiencing vulnerability. The 2024 survey is now open and closes cob Friday 25 October 2024

Click here to access the survey

The survey should take no more than 10 minutes to complete. This survey collects only demographic information about your organisation and all respondents and responses are anonymous. For inquiries about this survey, please contact: admin@familiesaustralia.org.au

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.