FRSA NATIONAL CONFERENCE

Family law and counselling programs at Uniting.

At Uniting, we believe in taking real steps to make the world a better place. A not-for-profit organisation, Uniting is the services and advocacy arm of the Uniting Church. We celebrate diversity and welcome all people, regardless of their lifestyle choice, ethnicity, faith, sexual orientation or gender identity.

We also deliver a broad range of family law and counselling programs supporting children and families in NSW.

• Family and relationship counselling supports families facing challenging times and might be an option for children having difficulty with school, friends or problems related to the extended family such as re-partnering, alcohol or drugs.
• Family dispute resolution is for separated couples and families. Accredited mediators help parents reach agreements about children and property in a less stressful and more affordable way.
• Couples counselling is for people with concerns about conflict, closeness and intimacy, or who have a desire to improve their parenting.
• Separation counselling can help people work through the difficult emotions and changes following separation.
• Individual counselling is available for grief and loss, depression, anxiety, life changes and worries at work or home.
•  The Keeping Contact program works with parents who are experiencing difficulty making their court orders and parenting arrangements It aims to strengthen relationships between parents and children, helping them avoid the pain and distress of conflict post-separation.
•  The Anchor supports children and adolescents after separation, employing community outreach, child consultation, and therapeutic support services.
• Gambling Help is a counselling service that uses a specialised model of counselling to minimise the negative impacts of gambling. It works with the person who is gambling, their partners and children.

Uniting has many more services for people of all ages, from early learning centres to residential aged care. Visit our website at uniting.org to learn more.

drummond street services (DS) and queerspace will present on a wide range of topics at the FRSA national conference this year. These include family violence, parenting and evaluation. We are excited to share our learning and knowledge based on the conference theme Be the Change: Leaving No One Behind. 

Presenting her paper ‘Queer-specific intimate partner violence and family violence service provision: A New Experience’, Jill Faulkner of queerspace will address LGBTIQ+ specific intimate partner and family violence service provision. Jill will explore how to include LGBTIQ+ people in family violence prevention and response, and knowledge gained from the implementation of queer-specialist services.

Beth Mc Cann and Shae Johnson will present on the organisation’s use of multi-measure questionnaires to assess outcomes across six domains of individual and family well-being including adult psychological health, child/young person emotional wellbeing, parenting and family functioning, couple/co-parent relationship, financial hardship and community connectedness. Findings from in-house evaluations revealed much about the presenting needs of clients entering DS’s multiple service sites and has aided assessment of where DS programs are having the most impact.

Beth and Shae will demonstrate how drummond street service evaluations are able to better identify distress levels at the commencement of service and assess changes over time; as well as how DS identifies which families are being best supported and how DS can tailor services for those in greater need.

DS are also proud to announce presentations form Stephen Thorpe (Dardi Munwurro Indigenous Leadership Training & Coaching), Sharon Hughes (DS) and Andrew Rush (DS) who will discuss the structures and processes involved in drummond street services contribution to Ngarra Jarranounith Place, a great program which aims to improve Aboriginal men’s relationships with children.

Helen Rimington and Beth McCann will present on some drummond street service research findings in their presentation ‘Look how many likes we got baby!’. This outlines the implications of social media parenting, including the extension of strict gender roles and the impact online parenting may have on children later in life.

Heading to better places – Better Place Australia

As an institution, FMC has seen and been through a lot with the many thousands of Victorians it’s helped since its humble beginnings in the mid-1980s. It started as part of a pilot program for a family mediation service in a single office in outer suburban Melbourne 33 years ago, with a focus on helping families at risk of breaking down and assisting separating couples with their domestic arrangements. In the ensuing years, personal relationships within the society have grown ever-more complicated and FMC expanded its services to meet those changing needs.

As an organisation we have continued to adapt and grow our services to meet those changing needs. We are now a very different organisation compared to as we were in 1985. With the expansion of our services, staff and locations it’s time to better align our brand with who we are now.

As our stand shows at this conference, we have now changed our name to Better Place Australia.

We have expanded of services for clients into new mental health and elder abuse programs, expanded our research and advocacy function, and increased our geographic footprint.

From that single office in Noble Park in 1985, Better Place Australia has grown to an organisation that assists 9000 new clients each year, with more than 90 staff across 25 locations in Victoria. The change reflects our continued commitment to our clients in adapting and growing our services and in strengthening our position as an innovative leader in delivering high quality services.

Now, more than ever, it’s vital that people who find themselves in tough, distressing situations can be offered ways to cope, manage and thrive – to get to a better place, a better space. As we grow, we will continue to help people to become more resilient, to empower them, and to enjoy healthier relationships, by giving them knowledge and skills that enable them to live safer, more secure, more confident lives. Come experience the better place at booth number #8 this FRSA conference.

Find out more at betterplaceaustralia.com.au.

Every day we see people tackling adversity and walk alongside them to achieve positive change and growth. As leaders in crisis response, the protection of vulnerable children, financial resilience and family wellbeing, UnitingCare helps people to live life in all its fullness, using our reach and vision to confront injustice.

Our support for vulnerable individuals, families and communities stretches across urban, regional and remote Queensland. Our three Family Relationship Centres alone have delivered more than 30,000 sessions to more than 5,000 clients.

Among our broad range of support for families, we also offer:

• Family and parenting support
• Individual, family and group counselling
• Family law and family dispute resolution services
• Parenting Orders/Post-Separation Co-operative Parenting Programs
• Supporting Children After Separation programs
• Crisis counselling (including Lifeline telephone counselling)
• Crisis response and community recovery
• Child protection and care
• Supported accommodation
• Financial resilience and wellbeing
• Gambling Help
• Men’s Behaviour Change programs
• Elder Abuse Prevention Unit
• Seniors Enquiry Line.

UnitingCare is a courageous and creative health and community services provider and one of the largest charities in Australia. Our connection with the Uniting Church means we’re an organisation built on compassion.
Through our accessible services, we’re committed to empowering older people, those living with a disability, people requiring health care in hospital or at home, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, children and families. In partnership with clients, communities, governments and other providers, we deliver services characterised by innovation and wisdom.

Come and talk to us about the brighter future we see for individuals, families and communities, or visit our website at www.unitingcareqld.com.au