FRSA was thrilled to hold our Child Inclusive Practice Forum – Children at the Centre – in Canberra last week. This two-day event attracted 175+ delegates from across the country who are committed to keeping the best interests of children at the forefront of Family Dispute Resolution (mediation) and child and family services.

Concurrent sessions on the program were organised across four themes – practice developments, complex clinical scenarios, management issues and research – offering a rich and diverse set of presentations and much food for thought.

The program also included four keynote presentations and two panel discussions. Keynote presentations included:

• Anne Hollonds, National Children’s Commissioner – Child Inclusion – a human rights perspective
• Professor Jennifer McIntosh AM, The Bouverie Centre – Transgenerational healing: Infant led family therapy
• Jon Graham & Lorri Yasenik, The International Centre for Children and Family Law – Parents’ Readiness to Hear Their Child’s Voice
• The Hon Deputy Chief Justice Robert McClelland AO, Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia – On Children’s Voices.

Panel discussions included:

• Skills and Attributes for working with children – in pursuit of a definition or understanding of best practice in the family and relationship services sector
• What makes a difference when working with young people – a young people’s panel.

There were many highlights and takeaways across the two days. We were particularly struck by the reflections of the three panellists comprising the young people’s panel on their service experiences. What helped? Having someone who cared enough to follow through on their promises of support. What harmed? Being ‘dropped’ by a service because their circumstances were too complex or their support worker/counsellor left the organisation and there was no continuity in care. In the past year, there have been several reviews (or reviews are underway) of family and relationship services programs in both the Department of Social Services and Attorney-General’s Department portfolios. In each of these reviews, FRSA has highlighted the importance of funding case management (however loosely defined), to ensure that children, young people, adults and families accessing services are able to be supported in some way, even where the service first accessed is not the right intervention for them.

Thank you to our Gold Sponsor for the Forum, Uniting Counselling and Mediation.

If you were unable to attend the CIP Forum and are interested in learning more, many of our presenters have agreed to make their slides available. You can access them by clicking on the relevant session in the PDF program.

Additionally, all event photos are also now available via the website. If you would like a high-resolution copy of any image, please contact the FRSA team at communications@frsa.org.au.