Just before the Family Law Council meeting I was attending today got underway, a media release issued by National Commissioner for Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence, Micaela Cronin, arrived in my inbox raising her concerns that the economic and global uncertainty is increasing levels of family violence risk for an increasing number of people – especially as the cost of living crisis continues.  As I had noted last week, the Commissioner did acknowledge that ‘when households face rising financial stress, housing insecurity and instability, the risk of violence increases.’  The Government is very committed to staying on the front foot in response to this issue and I do encourage those among our readership to keep communicating what they are seeing to us, to their FAMS, or to their local members.  You are often working with people on the cusp of crisis so your perspective is vital.

I am delighted to advise that the Hon Ged Kearney, Assistant Minister for Social Services and Assistant Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence will be representing the Minister for Social Services, the Hon Tanya Plibersek at our conference in May.  Registrations are still open and given the Conference is recognised by Community Work Australia (attendees can claim 10 CPD hours for their participation) another great reason to attend.

This week, we also saw the Minister for Health deliver the news detailing a significant overhaul of the National Disability Insurance Scheme.  It is obvious the announcement has caused a lot of uncertainty for many people living with disabilities, their families and support networks.  We are also awaiting further advice as to the shape of the Thriving Kids Program the Government had previously announced would be designed to provide better supports to children than what they are currently receiving on the NDIS.  I did come across an interesting interview with the Co-Chair of the Thriving Kids advisory group Professor Frank Oberklaid, speaking to what he sees as the significant merits of the new program.  Part of that model relies heavily on a community based system of support for children and their families, rather than individualised support.  The announcement about NDIS more broadly this week also re-introduced the concept of rebuilding capability among community organisations to host genuine participation activities, through a $200 million fund – the Inclusive Communities Fund – with Government acknowledging the introduction of the NDIS had enabled these types of programs to ‘wither’.

In FRSA news I am pleased to announce that following an Expression of Interest process to fill the casual Board vacancy on the FRSA Board, Graeme O’Connor, CEO of Interrelate has been appointed by the Board to fill this role until the FRSA AGM being held on 25 November 2026 (as per the FRSA Constitution).  Welcome back Graeme!  He will also sit on two of the Board Committees, the Research and Policy Committee and the Sector Events Committee who are going to be extremely active with the Strategic Leadership Forum being held in Canberra, 16 & 17 September 2026 and the FRS Workforce Project currently underway and working to an end of October deadline.  Busy times ahead!

For tomorrow though, Anzac Day, it does give us a moment in time and in our busy lives to pause and honour the courage and sacrifice of those who served and continue to serve our nation – ‘Lest we forget’.

Kind regards,
Jackie Brady
FRSA Executive Director

It’s less than a month until the FRSA National Conference 2026 in Brisbane and we’re excited to announce that Assistant Minister for Social Services and Assistant Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence, The Hon Ged Kearney MP will be joining us on day three to deliver a Keynote Address.

It’s not too late to register!

Registration details are available on the Conference website including registration and pre-conference workshop rates.

The FRSA National Conference 2026 provides a platform to showcase and learn from on the ground practice, policy, and research. The Conference is the must-attend event for anyone passionate about family and relationship services.

The Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) recently released a new research report – Care time arrangements after parental separation.

The research examined the trends in care time arrangements after parental separation using information on how many nights per year children of separated parents stay with each parent, as recorded in the child support administrative data. Trends in care time arrangements since 2015, including arrangements beyond shared care and differences by child age, are explored.

The research found that:

• Most payers and payees in the Child Support Program (CSP) data had care arrangements where the mother had primary care or above primary care.
• About 1 in 7 payers/payees were in shared care arrangements (child spending 35%-65% of nights with each parent).
• Payers and payees with father primary and father above primary care arrangements (i.e. father care time of 66%-100% of nights) were the least common, applying to fewer than 1 in 10 payers and payees as at June 2024.

This report can be read alongside the companion report – Changing coverage of the Child Support Program and implications for research on separated parents.

A new report published by Swinburne University – Fembot Debt: Data Injustices, Child Support and Family Tax Benefits Debts has just been released.

The report reveals how the Australian taxation, child support and Family Tax Benefit (FTB) systems are being weaponised as tools of post-separation financial abuse, particularly targeted at single mothers and their children.

The report names the FTB debts that single mothers can incur due to retrospective changes in child support assessment as Fembot Debts. Like the disgraced income averaging practice known as Robodebt, they too are applied automatically. Like Robodebt, they result in significant financial hardship and stress, in this case for single mothers and their children, the most impoverished families in Australia.

Based on survey responses of ~700 single mothers conducted at the beginning of 2026, the report reveals systemic failures that shift responsibility and debts from perpetrators to victims, resulting in financial hardship and ongoing harm to women and children.

The report is published on the Swinburne University website. Single Mother Families Australia has also produced a summary, which outlines key findings and recommendations. The summary is available here.

The Albanese Government has just released the Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee’s fourth report to Government on disadvantage and economic exclusion in Australia.

The Government established the Committee in November 2022 to provide independent advice to government before every federal Budget on economic inclusion and tackling disadvantage. The Committee’s membership includes leading economists, academics, philanthropists and community advocates.

This year’s report includes the following priorities:

• Addressing the adequacy of income support payments, including JobSeeker and the Remote Area Allowance (RAA).
• Housing and rental stress – introduce further increases to the rate of Commonwealth Rent Assistance.
• Family Payments and Child Support – measures to address the high rates of child poverty.
• Employment services reforms –Government to commit to a timeframe for the creation of a new employment services system and to replace the current Targeted Compliance Framework (TCF) with a new and less punitive employment services system.
• Poverty measurement – the lack of official poverty measures is inconsistent with Australia’s egalitarian ethos and important international commitments.
• Deep and persistent disadvantage –new analysis highlights how deprivation is significantly more extensive among people receiving income support than among Australia’s population more generally.

The Committee makes a number of recommendations to address the priority areas and notes that increasing the rate of working age payments is its top priority.

You can download the report and find out more about the role and membership of the Committee here.

On 22 April 2026 the Minister for Disability and the National Disability Insurance Scheme, the Hon Mark Butler MP, announced changes to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) in a National Press Club address.

The Minister said that the Government is taking the next steps to restore the NDIS to its original intent of supporting people with permanent and significant disability – and securing the Scheme for future generations.

The Government’s plan to secure the NDIS rests on four pillars:

• Fighting fraud and stopping rorts
• Slowing rapid cost increases
• Clearer eligibility requirements
• Delivering quality services and support to participants.

The Government will introduce the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for future generations) Bill following the release of the 2026-27 Budget. Changes include:

• Tighter criteria for unscheduled reassessment and measures to reduce plan cost growth
• Reset participant budgets for social and community participation and capacity building daily activities
• Introduce standardised, evidence-based assessments to determine access to the Scheme.
• Fraud prevention by:
  • Improving the quality of plan managers and support coordinators
  • Expanding categories of mandatory provider registration and enrolling providers in a digital payments system.

You can find out more about the changes on the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing website.

Windermere has announced the appointment of Jenny McNaughton as Chief Executive Officer, commencing in early July 2026.

With more than 30 years’ experience in community and human services, Ms McNaughton has led across family violence, child protection, homelessness, disability, foster care and broader family support. She is drawn to Windermere’s strong community connection and evidence-informed, early intervention approach that works alongside children and families to strengthen safety, wellbeing and long-term outcomes.

Ms McNaughton said, “Throughout my career, I’ve seen how powerful early support can be. When we get in early, listen carefully, and build on the strengths that already exist within families and communities, we create better outcomes for children and help families feel safer, stronger, and better supported.”

Ms McNaughton said she was looking forward to listening, learning and working with staff, partners and the community to build on Windermere’s strong foundations.

FRSA looks forward to working with Ms McNaughton in the future.

Upper Murray Family Care (UMFC) recently anounced the appointment of Tom Mulvaney as their new Chief Executive Officer.

With 20+ years of experience across mental health, child, youth and family services, Tom brings exceptional strategic capability, deep sector expertise, and a values-led, trauma-informed approach to leadership.

In their announcement post, UMFC said “Tom is excited to join our strong, purpose driven organisation and his genuine connection to the Upper Murray region makes him the ideal leader to guide UMFC into its next chapter.”

Tom will commence with UMFC on 15 June 2026, FRSA looks forward to working together in the future.

Men’s behaviour change programs (MBCPs) are a key part of Australia’s efforts to prevent violence against women, yet questions remain about when they are effective and for whom.

Relationships Australia Victoria and Relationships Australia New South Wales are delivering a webinar on this on 5 May 2026 at 12:30pm (AEST). The webinar will explore the development of a generalisable Theory of Change to support the evaluation of diverse MBCP models across the Relationships Australia federation. The session will outline key challenges, identify common mechanisms for behaviour change, present the resulting visual model, and discuss how this work is informing the next steps in building a national evaluation framework.

Click here to register

Families Week is just around the corner – 11-17 May 2026.

Every May, thousands of people and hundreds of organisations come together for National Families Week, Australia’s annual celebration of families. The aim of Families Week is to celebrate the vital role families play in Australian society and reflect on their importance in teaching, supporting and nurturing children as they grow.

The week coincides with the United Nations International Day of Families on 15 May – a day to mark the importance of families globally and promote awareness of issues relating to families.

Families Week is an initiative of Families Australia.

The Australian Human Rights Commission has launched an anonymous online survey, which is open to anyone aged 14 to 18 living in Australia.

The survey, which takes 10-15 minutes to complete, is asking young people for their views on consent, respectful relationships and sex education. The insights gathered will help shape how Australian schools teach these topics in the future, supporting schools in building safe and inclusive learning environments.

You can read more about the survey and access the survey link.

Early bird registrations are now open for the AIFS Conference, 9-11 September 2026 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. This year’s Conference theme is Changing Families in changing times.

Early bird pricing is available till 30 June 2026. Click here to find out more.

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.