We are pleased to release work FRSA undertook over the last year, which looked at trends in service demand over the first six months of the pandemic in 2020, for family and relationship services (more on this below). Demand for services has, of course, been hugely impacted during the pandemic across sectors and across industries. Businesses such as cafes and restaurants have been forced to permanently close as extended lockdowns put a halt to service demand (and supply). At the same time, the demand for puppies and home renovations has increased ten-fold! Sadly, we’ve also seen disturbing increases in demand for family violence services and mental health supports.
Our sector has been no stranger to the impacts of the pandemic on service demand. We know that some of our members are, right now, experiencing unparalleled increases in demand for their services. Unsurprisingly, this increase is being experienced in regions that have been most impacted by lockdowns. In our conversations with members, it is clear that service demand trends are quite different across different parts of the country. There are many contributing factors at play in an environment that continues to change and throw up new surprises.
Our discussions with members at the close of 2021, are telling us the same thing we found in the service demand survey report we are releasing today. Service demand for our sector is complex. At a general level, service demand for family and relationship services is steadily increasing, while funding remains, in real terms, relatively static. To put this another way, funding has not kept pace with demand and the increasing cost of running services. The Centre for International Economics report we commissioned that was published back in March 2020 clearly demonstrated this fact. That was even before factoring in the impact of COVID-19 and demands on the sector. What is clear though, is that we have two vital funding issues ahead of us – the need to encourage Government to acknowledge and do something about the imbalance between funding for the family and relationship services sector and service demand and delivery costs. In addition to this, we also need to be encouraging Governments to develop flexible funding pools that can be used and accessed during specific periods of demand, such as the COVID-19 pandemic (with appropriate checks and balances in place of course). During the pandemic – governments have responded to issues in new and innovative ways in real time. Let’s hope the capacity to find solutions in this way to these complex problems is not lost as we find our way forward in the ‘new normal’.
Today is of course, International Day of People with Disability. Inclusiveness and accessibility are core themes of today’s celebrations and I have really been enjoying the ABC’s presentation of stories and specials highlighting the lives of people with disabilities in our community. Special thanks to the mums, dads, children, grandparents and extended family members who often work tirelessly and quietly to care for a family member/s with a disability.
On 19 November, the FRSA Annual General Meeting was held virtually with FRSA’s Annual Report released to coincide with the event. Thank you to those members who were able to attend. With an uncontested election this year, persons nominated to the FRSA Board and FRSA’s two co-opted members were ratified as FRSA Board Directors. Subsequent to the AGM, a FRSA Board Meeting was convened to elect Office Bearer Positions, which remained unchanged across all positions and committee membership for the next twelve months. This decision of the Board ensures ongoing momentum for the Board’s work under the strong leadership of Glenda Devlin as Board Chair, Teresa Jayet as Deputy Chair and Serge Sardo as Treasurer. Full details of Board Members, structure and committee membership are available on the FRSA webpage.
We have closed off the ‘Call for Abstracts’ process for the FRSA Conference being planned for next year – MONDAY, 16 May – THURSDAY 19 May. Monday is of course the pre-Conference workshop day and we are actively working with the membership to design and propose a number of options for Conference delegates to consider. Abstracts will be reviewed over the next few weeks and we hope to be out to authors before the year is out. It is great to see interest and enthusiasm for a FRSA Conference building among speakers, delegates, Conference partners and sponsors. Whilst the latest mutation of the COVID-19 virus might have other plans – we are busy working towards being able to bring the network together in May 2022. Registrations are open!
By Jackie Brady
