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Showing announcements for October 2010 |
| 8 October 2010 |
Announcement that the Australian and Northern Territory Governments are working with the broader Alice Springs community to ensure that children are safe and to improve health, education and employment opportunities for Alice Springs residents.
As part of the Alice Springs $150 million Transformation Plan funded by the Australian and the Northern Territory Governments to improve housing, infrastructure and social support services in the town camps and across Alice Springs, the Australian and the Northern Territory Governments have invested $260,000 to refurnish the Akangkentye Hostel a 65-bed temporary accommodation facility.
This facility will provide much needed temporary accommodation for people visiting Alice Springs, as well as providing town camp residents with a place to stay while their houses are being refurbished.
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Supporting outcomes 1 and 5 |
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8 October 2010 |
Announcement that the Australian Government is continuing to rollout the non-discriminatory income management scheme across the Northern Territory, which now includes a new child protection income management model.
Northern Territory child protection workers now have the authority to instruct Centrelink to income manage 70 per cent of parents' income support and family payments to ensure welfare is spent in the interests of children, when children are being neglected or are at risk of neglect.
Under the new income management model, people who voluntarily participate in income management are eligible for an incentive of $250 at the end of each six months as an added encouragement to budget and save.
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Supporting outcomes 3 and 5 |
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18 October 2010 |
Announcement that the Australian Government will immediately commit more than $34 million to boost measures to protect children from neglect and abuse in the Northern Territory.
While state and territory governments are responsible for statutory child protection, the Australian Government will continue to work with the Northern Territory Government to increase the number of parents on child protection income management, provide additional family support services, boost child protection workers in remote communities and strengthen alcohol controls.
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Supporting outcome 5 |
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18 October 2010 |
Announcement by the Australian Government that since coming into government in November 2007, the Commonwealth has improved community safety and increased jobs for Indigenous people in the Northern Territory, as programs and services under the Northern Territory Emergency Response have been ramped up.
This includes taking action to increase the wellbeing and safety of children in the Northern Territory through the delivery of a mobile child protection team and mobile outreach services to work with children and families affected by child abuse and neglect.
The mobile child protection team was established in 2008 and between 1 January and 30 June 2010 the team visited 56 communities and investigated and provided follow up services on 666 matters of child abuse or neglect.
Sexual assault mobile outreach service teams were also established in April 2008. These teams have conducted extensive visits to remote communities and helped hundreds of children and their families.
As part of our commitment to improving early child education, the Australian Government has also provided more than 250 child care jobs for Indigenous people – jobs that did not exist prior to 2008.
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Supporting outcome 5 |
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26 October 2010 |
Announcement that the Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Jenny Macklin; the Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth, Peter Garrett; and the Minister for Employment Participation and Child Care, Kate Ellis, kicked off the celebrations for Children's Week 2010.
As part of the celebrations, the Australian Government announced it is investing $17.1 billion in early childhood education and care over the next four years.
This commitment shows the Australian Government is committed to supporting Australian families and children through all stages of life.
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Supporting outcome 2 |
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27 October 2010 |
Announcement by the Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Jenny Macklin and the Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Carers, Senator Jan McLucas, that today marks the two year anniversary of the Australian Government's $190 million Helping Children with Autism package, an initiative aimed at providing early intervention services to children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder.
In the two years since its introduction, more than 10,000 Australian children aged up to six years have accessed more than 220,000 early intervention services through the Government's autism package.
So far these children have shared in $50 million in early intervention services, including speech therapy, occupational therapy and behavioural treatment to improve cognitive, emotional and social development.
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Supporting outcome 2 |
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No commitments for September 2010 |
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No commitments for August 2010 |
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Showing announcements for July 2010 |
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15 July 2010 |
Announcement that the Australian Government is providing $10.5 million to 2013 to continue to support 262 MyTime peer support groups across the country.
The Government is expanding the age group for MyTime support groups - parents and carers of children with disability up to 16 years.
The Government is also providing $17 million over three years to continue funding for over 1,000 students aged 12 to 18 years old with disability to access outside school hours care for teenagers in 64 locations across Australia.
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Supporting outcomes 1 and 3 |
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15 July 2010 |
The Attorney-General, Robert McClelland and Federal Member for Solomon, Damian Hale today visited the Darwin Community Legal Service to announce additional funding of $14 million for legal services in the Northern Territory. This brings the Australian Government's total investment to more than $80 million over four years.
As part of this investment, the Darwin Community Legal Service will receive around $348,000 to support their partnership with the Darwin Family Relationship Centre to provide legal advice and assistance to separating families and people at risk of homelessness.
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Supporting outcomes 1 and 5 |
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15 July 2010 |
Announcement by the Australian and Northern Territory Governments that the Commonwealth will provide $3.4 million for additional community engagement police officers in remote Northern Territory Indigenous communities.
An increase in police presence in remote communities will allow officers to spend more time with locals to encourage the early reporting of issues such as violence and substance abuse.
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Supporting outcomes 3 and 5 |
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14 July 2010 |
Announcement by the Australian and Northern Territory Governments to commence buy-back of three take-away liquor licenses in Alice Springs.
The Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Jenny Macklin, said there has been considerable concern in the community about the damaging impact of excessive alcohol consumption and the high number of liquor licenses in Alice Springs.
“This buy-back will help reduce the high-level of alcohol fuelled violence and neglect in the Alice Springs town camps,” Ms Macklin said.
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Supporting outcomes 3 and 5 |
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13 July 2010 |
Announcement by the Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Jenny Macklin, the Minister for Central Australia, Karl Hampton, and the Member For Lingiari, Warren Snowdon, that the Australian and Northern Territory Governments will invest more than $1 million over three years to employ four outreach workers to provide improved support services to Alice Springs and the town camps.
Additional funding will extend current services to women and children to include individualised safety plans, as well as assistance to access other services, including Centrelink, family support services, legal and counselling services.
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Supporting Outcomes 2 and 5 |
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13 July 2010 |
Announcement that the Australian Government is investing around $25 million over the next three years to continue supporting young carers across Australia.
This funding will allow 53 Commonwealth Respite and Carelink Centres to continue delivering respite, education and support services to young carers.
Funding will allow Carers Australia to continue to provide information and referral services for young carers as part of the Young Carers Program including through a national website and 1800 number.
To see a list of organisations receiving funding, go to:
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Supporting Outcomes 1 and 2 |
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12 July 2010 |
Announcement that the Australian Government is providing $5.3 million over three years, with the Northern Territory Government contributing $7.2 million over the next two years to establish and run the new family support services.
Indigenous families in remote communities across the Northern Territory will benefit from new family support services as part of a $12.5 million partnership between the Australian and Northern Territory Governments.
Local Indigenous people will be employed as Northern Territory Government employees and trained as Indigenous Liaison Officers to respond to communities needs and deliver new services focused on child development and early learning, health, hygiene, nutrition and building parenting skills.
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Supporting Outcomes 2 and 5 |
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9 July 2010 |
Announcement that the Australian Government is providing Deakin University with up to $336,120 to purchase and install high-definition video-conferencing facilities to teach students undertaking mental health clinical placements in regional sites of Geelong, Warrnambool, Ballarat and Box Hill.
The funding is provided under the Australian Government's $90 million Innovative Clinical Teaching and Training Grants program to boost the number of clinical teaching and training opportunities available around Australia.
The Deakin University will lead the project with Barwon Health providing in-kind and continuing on-site support for information technology.
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Supporting Outcomes 2 and 3 |
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9 July 2010 |
Announcement that the Australian Government is providing $1.8 million to community organisations delivering child and parenting support services across the country.
Almost 150 local organisations will receive one-off grants of $9,500 to upgrade their IT services for each program they deliver under the Government's Family Support Program. The one-off grants will be used to purchase and upgrade computers, software, telephone systems, internet connections and other IT costs.
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Supporting Outcomes 1 and 2 |
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9 July 2010 |
Announcement that the Australian Government will fund 11 Indigenous youth projects to share more than $1.4 million to tackle family violence and support healthy families in Indigenous communities.
For a list of the community organisations being funded to provide young Indigenous people with healthy and safe activities aimed at building self-confidence and tackling family violence, go to:
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Supporting Outcomes 2 and 5 |
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7 July 2010 |
Announcement that the Australian Government will provide $70,000 to the CREATE Foundation to support children in out-of-home care to improve support for young people leaving care.
CREATE will allocate $40,000 to their ‘What's the Plan?' campaign to empower and mobilise young people transitioning from out-of-home care and their carers to work with child protection case workers to develop and implement leaving care plans.
CREATE will invest $30,000 in bringing together their National Youth Advisory Council to provide advice to the Australian, and state and territory governments on practical solutions to assist young people transitioning from out-of-home care to gain full independence.
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Supporting Outcome 4 |
| 2 July 2010 |
Announcement by the Attorney-General, Robert McClelland, to commence a new National Partnership Agreement on Legal Assistance Services.
Under the new Agreement, States and Territories will receive $785 million over four years to deliver Commonwealth funded legal aid services, including more than $92 million in additional funding from the 2010-11 Budget.
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Supporting Outcome 2 |
Showing announcements for June 2010 |
| 29 June 2010 |
Announcement by the Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Jenny Macklin, and the Member for Lingiari, Warren Snowdon to provide almost $1.5 million in additional funding to Anglicare NT to deliver the Communities for Children Plus program in East Arnhem over the next three years.
Anglicare NT will use funding to employ four family support workers based in Nhulunbuy, Groote Eylandt Archipelago (Angurugu), Milingimbi and Numbulwar, who will also provide a range of outreach services to Alyangula, Ramingining, Galiwinku, Gapuwiyak, Yirrkala, Gunyangara, Milyakbrra, Umbakumba and other nearby outstations that help local families deal with substance abuse, mental health, and child abuse and neglect issues.
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Supporting Outcomes 1 and 2 |
| 21 June 2010 |
Announcement of a new, expanded national 24 hour Pregnancy, Birth and Baby Helpline.
The $17 million helpline will be able to refer to or provide information on other organisations with special areas of expertise, for example the Breastfeeding Hotline, adoption agencies, PANDA, BeyondBlue and Family Planning
The Australian Government is continuing to deliver on an ambitious reform agenda for Australian women and families – with the passage of a historic paid parental leave scheme last week and the landmark $120 million Maternity Services package.
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Supporting Outcomes 2 and 3 |
| 9 June 2010 |
Announcement that more than 120 low income earners in Mirrabooka are now being supported to save for their own education and the education of their children, following the local roll out of the national Saver Plus program in the area.
Saver Plus is a matched savings and financial education program which helps people establish long-term savings habits.
"All up the Australian Government is delivering $600,000 across Western Australia to help local people develop their financial skills, set savings goals and plan for the future."
"These savings must be spent on the participant's own vocational training or the education of their children."
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Supporting Outcomes 1 and 3 |
| 9 June 2010 |
Announcement that Indigenous people living with mental illness, grief, and trauma in the Maddington and Armadale regions of Perth will have greater access to much needed support through the expansion of the Australian Government's Personal Helpers and Mentors (PHaMs) program.
More than $396,000 in additional funding will be provided to help expand the local personal helpers and mentors service.
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Supporting Outcomes 3 and 5 |
| 6 June 2010 |
The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy and the Attorney-General, Robert McClelland, today launched National Cyber Security Awareness Week 2010.
National Cyber Security Awareness Week aims to inform Australians about the importance of cyber security and highlights the simple steps people can take to protect their personal and financial information online.
Australians are advised to take six simple steps to improve their online security at home and at work:
- Install security software and update it regularly.
- Turn on automatic updates so that all your software receives the latest fixes.
- Get a stronger password and change it at least twice a year.
- Stop and think before you click on links or attachments.
- Stop and think before you share any personal or financial information - about yourself, your friends or family.
- Know what your children are doing online. Make sure they know how to stay safe and encourage them to report anything suspicious.
- National Cyber Security Awareness Week
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Supporting Outcome 2 |
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Showing announcements for May 2010 |
| 27 May 2010 |
Announcement that the Australian Government will develop the country's first Learning Framework for Outside School Hours Care programs.
The National Quality Framework is an important reform that will deliver a higher standard of care for children in the critical areas of education, health and safety and will provide clear and comprehensive information for families so that they can choose the best service for their child.
Outside school hours care providers will be assessed against the new National Quality Standard, a key element of the National Quality Framework.
For more information about the National Quality Framework, visit mychild website.
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Supporting Outcome 1 |
| 7 May 2010 |
Announcement by the Minister for Indigenous Health and Rural and Regional Health, Warren Snowdon, of $6 million for a new parenting initiative called Strong Fathers, Strong Families for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men.
The funding is part of the Australian Government's $16.7 million commitment to tackle health challenges facing Australian males, and was launched with the nation's first male health policy.
'The aim of the Strong Fathers, Strong Families initiative is to strengthen the knowledge, skills, confidence of Indigenous males in their roles as fathers, grandfathers and significant male relatives in the lives of their children, by increasing their participation,' Mr Snowdon said.
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Supporting Outcomes 1 and 5 |
| 4 May 2010 |
Announcement of funding of $1.8 million over three years to provide 'at risk' children with access to a new early childhood project bringing together quality early childhood education and care, with intensive family support.
The Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Jenny Macklin, announced the funding at the launch of the Children's Protection Society's new Child and Family Centre in Heidelberg West, where the Integrated Early Education and Care Project will be trialled.
The project provides 15 child care places for vulnerable children in a five day a week program, as well as on-site services for their families such as counselling and parenting classes.
Parents will also be linked with services to address underlying problems such as mental health, drug and alcohol and family violence.
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Supporting Outcomes 1 and 3 |
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Showing announcements for April 2010 |
| 29 April 2010 |
Announcement that Indigenous babies will have a better chance of being born healthy and staying healthy with an investment of $90.3 million over five years in the New Directions Mothers and Babies Services. To date 57 services have been established around Australia.
The Minister for Indigenous Health, Warren Snowdon, said four new services will be established and five existing services expanded.
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Supporting Outcome 5 |
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19 April 2010 |
Announcement that the Australian Government is delivering almost $3.5 million in additional emergency relief until 2011 to help families in New South Wales who are at risk of homelessness because they cannot pay their rent or mortgage.
The Samaritans Foundation, Anglicare Sydney and the Salvation Army will share in the funding to provide emergency relief projects in 11 locations across the state.
Anglicare is receiving more than $320,000 under this package to provide additional services to families in Penrith, the Blue Mountains and the Hawkesbury regions.
'Families under pressure often turn to emergency relief organisations for help with their immediate needs such as food and clothing, pharmacy and transport vouchers, and rent and utility bills,' Ms Macklin said.
'This new funding will build on that first contact and help these organisations provide more intensive support and connect people to other services to prevent their current crisis becoming entrenched.
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Supporting Outcome 3 |
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14 April 2010 |
Launch of the first national youth strategy to help young Australians take charge of their lives.
The National Strategy for Young Australians draws on evidence and experience to help young Australians to take on new responsibilities and fully participate in all aspects of Australian life.
The National Strategy for Young Australians highlights eight priority areas for Australian Government action to help young Australians:
- improve their health and wellbeing
- shape their own futures through education
- support them within their families
- empower them to take part and be active in their communities
- equip them with the skills and personal networks they need to get work
- enable them to participate online confidently and safely
- help them get their lives back on track through early intervention
- establish clear-cut legal consequences for behaviours that endanger the safety of others.
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Supporting Outcome 1 |
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13 April 2010 |
Launch of an innovative new service to help regional and remote communities in the Northern Territory better manage their money.
The Australian Government is providing $1.5 million to Matrix on Board to pilot an innovative money management program - MoneyMob Talkabout over two years.
The funding will support two four-wheel drive vehicles and trailers to travel around the Northern Territory providing free money management education and information to around 60 communities.
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Supporting Outcomes 3 and 5 |
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8 April 2010 |
Australians with a severe mental illness will continue to have access to intensive, one-on-one support through an $80.3 million over three years funding extension to the Personal Helpers and Mentors (PHaMs) program provided by the Australian Government.
Through this funding, 33 providers offering services at 58 locations across Australia will be able to continue to employ 290 full-time equivalent personal helpers and mentors to work individually with people with mental illnesses.
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Supporting Outcome 3 |
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8 April 2010 |
The latest report into Indigenous offending by the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) shows Indigenous people are 15 to 20 times more likely than non-Indigenous people to commit violent offences.
Indigenous perpetrators of violence: Prevalence and risk factors for offending was funded by the Australian Crime Commission as part of the work of its National Indigenous Violence and Child Abuse Task Force.
AIC Director, Dr Adam Tomison, said that where much previous research had focused on the experiences of Indigenous victims, this report looked at the perpetrators of violence, aiming to quantify the prevalence and nature of violent behaviour and examine the relationship between violence and its risk factors.
'We know there are many risk factors linked to violent offending by Indigenous people, including alcohol misuse, illicit drug use, sex, age, childhood experience of violence, abuse and neglect, exposure to pornography, education, income, employment, housing, physical and mental health, geographic location and access to services,' Dr Tomison said.
'Alcohol, however, based on the existing evidence, stands out as a problem over and above all the structural factors such as socioeconomic disadvantage.'
'It is not enough for us to continue to document the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in the criminal justice system without understanding the reasons behind it.
'There are many Indigenous people who experience a constellation of risk factors who do not offend and this report recommends further research into resilience and protective factors, as part of a developmental prevention approach to the problem,' Dr Tomison added.
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Supporting Outcomes 3 and 5 |
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Showing announcements for March 2010 |
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30 March 2010 |
Official opening of UnitingCare West's Merriwa Centre by the Hon Tanya Plibersek, Minister for Housing and for the Status of Women.
This new multimillion dollar facility houses a range of programs and services, including a renowned parenting program New Parent Infant Network (NewPIN) which is a unique program and the first of its kind to be trialled in Western Australia.
'The Merriwa Centre is an asset to the local community and UnitingCare West provides not only the NewPIN program, but also other services such as emergency relief, financial management, advocacy for disability rights, personal support services for people with mental illness, respite for aboriginal carers and intensive services for families at high risk of child abuse,' Ms Plibersek said.
NewPIN is a centre-based early intervention program directed at strengthening family functioning and supporting stressed families, with particular focus on the mother-child relationship and aims to improve parenting outcomes through intensive support and education for parents of children under 5 years old.
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Supporting Outcomes 1 and 2 |
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29 March 2010 |
Announcement that young children with autism spectrum disorders can now access specialist early childhood services vital for them to reach their full potential at a new, autism-specific early learning and care centre in Brisbane.
The Australian Government is providing more than $4 million over three years to AEIOU for Children with Autism to establish the centre at Griffith University's Nathan Campus, including $2.3 million in capital funding to build the new centre.
The Member for Moreton, Graham Perrett welcomed the new centre which will provide support to both children and their parents saying 'This new centre will help local families affected by autism, by providing a supportive environment for the children to learn and grow, as well as helping parents with their caring responsibilities.'
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Supporting Outcome 1 and 2 |
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25 March 2010 |
Announcement that three Australian research teams will receive a share of nearly $4 million to improve outcomes in Indigenous health.
Minister for Indigenous Health Warren Snowdon said the projects range from improving oral health in a research trial to exploring how enhancing education for health professionals can reduce chronic disease and improve outcomes for Indigenous populations.
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Supporting Outcome 5 |
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25 March 2010 |
Announcement by the Minister for Employment Participation, Mark Arbib, and the Leader of the Family First, Steve Fielding, today of $21.5 million for 32 projects under Round 2 of the Australian Government's Jobs Fund - Get Communities Working.
Get Communities Working projects link disadvantaged job seekers with training and employment opportunities with a strong focus on supporting social enterprises.
Senator Arbib and Senator Fielding said the projects would create or retain 1033 jobs, 838 work experience positions and 247 traineeships and apprenticeships.
'It is important we support projects which help those job seekers who need the most help to get back into work.'
'Support for social enterprises which provide training and employment opportunities to the long-term unemployed, homeless people and people with disability is one way to break the cycle of disadvantage and help people into meaningful long-term jobs.'
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Supporting Outcome 1 and 3 |
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24 March 2010 |
Announcement that the Australian Government is providing $1.2 million to Playgroups Australia to deliver 96 supported playgroups over two years for families with children across the country.
The playgroups help to develop children's social, emotional, physical and cognitive abilities and provide opportunities for parents and caregivers to establish social and support networks to assist them in parenting.
The 96 playgroups are in addition to commitments under the Helping Children with Autism Package and our Indigenous closing the gap agenda.
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10 March 2010 |
Announcement that the National Indigenous Health Equality Council (NIHEC) has completed two reports: the Child Mortality Targets: Recommendations and Analysis and National Target Setting Instrument.
NIHEC was appointed by the Prime Minister in 2008, to advise the Federal Government on improving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health.
The Child Mortality Targets: Recommendations and Analysis report provides direction and context for progress towards the Council of Australian Governments' aim to halve the gap in mortality rates for Indigenous children under five years, within a decade.
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Supporting Outcome 5 |
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4 March 2010 |
Announcement that eight new homelessness services across NSW will share $15.3 million in an effort to reduce and prevent homelessness.
The new services will provide help for young people, women escaping domestic violence and families that become homeless in areas of need.
The Minister for Housing, Tanya Plibersek said that homelessness is a complex problem that can't be solved with bricks and mortar alone.
'Many people find themselves on the street as a result of poverty, family breakdown, domestic violence, mental illness or drug and alcohol addiction.
'This funding aims to address the causes of homelessness by linking people to health services, financial support, legal advice, education and employment.'
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Supporting Outcome 3 |
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3 March 2010 |
Announcement that the Australian Government has teamed up with the Australian Football League as part of a national program to encourage respectful relationships between young people.
The Minister for the Status of Women, Tanya Plibersek, announced the AFL would receive $400,000 in funding as part of round two of the Government's $9 million Respectful Relationships initiative.
This announcement follows an overwhelming number of requests from community football clubs across Australia for access to the AFL's Respect and Responsibility Program.
The AFL launched its Respect and Responsibility Program in 2005 and it now runs across all states and territories, including the 16 AFL clubs.
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Supporting Outcome 1 |
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3 March 2010 |
Announcement that ten community projects which encourage young people to engage in respectful relationships will share in $2.3 million funding from the Australian Government.
The funding is part of round two of the Government's $9.1 million Respectful Relationships Program, which aims to prevent violence against women.
The projects, which will operate in schools, sporting clubs, and community halls across the country, will teach young people about ethical behaviours and equip them with the skills necessary to engage in relationships based on mutual respect.
Minister for the Status of Women, Tanya Plibersek, said nearly one in three Australian women experience physical violence in their lifetime
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Supporting Outcome 3 |
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Showing announcements for February 2010 |
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25 February 2010 |
The Australian Government has welcomed the apology made by the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to former child migrants who were sent overseas from Britain.
For the Australian former child migrants who travelled to London, and gathered together in events across Australia, to hear the British Prime Minister's apology, this was clearly a moment of great emotion and significance with the potential to heal past hurt.
Through the establishment of a $A10.4 million restoration fund announced by the British Government, former child migrants will now be given more help to trace and find lost family members.
The British Government's apology follows the apology made by the Australian Prime Minister last year to the around half a million Forgotten Australians and former child migrants who were placed in institutions and foster homes where many were neglected and abused
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Supporting Outcome 4 |
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25 February 2010 |
Announcement by the Minister for Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, Julia Gillard, and Special Adviser for Work and Family Balance and Pay Equity, Senator Jacinta Collins, that small business should apply for grants of up to $15,000 to help them better balance work and family.
From today, eligible small businesses with less than 15 employees can apply for the grants to put in place family-friendly arrangements in their workplaces.
The second round grants form part of the Australian Government's $12 million Fresh Ideas for Work and Family Grants Program.
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Supporting Outcomes 1 and 3 |
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24 February 2010 |
Announcement of $4 million in funding for people living in Western Australia's Kimberley region who will be given help to balance their family budgets and to learn more about how the banking and finance systems operate.
Among those who will benefit are families identified under the child protection income management measure. This measure gives WA Department of Child Protection the power to recommend to Centrelink that income support and family payments are quarantined to ensure welfare is spent in the interests of children.
Money management services will also benefit those who voluntarily participate in income management. Linking welfare payments to people taking responsibility for themselves and the health and welfare of their families is central to our reforms to the welfare system to foster individual responsibility and to give people the support they need to move up and out of welfare.
As at 12 February 2010, the number of WA people referred for income management under the child protection measure stood at 206. A further 322 people have signed up for voluntary income management.
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Supporting Outcomes 1 and 3 |
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19 February 2010 |
Announcement of the national rollout of the school-based cyber safety program ThinkUKnow.
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Microsoft - with the assistance of new partner ninemsn - are expanding the successful ThinkUKnow program to help educate children throughout Australia about cyber-safety and security, and encourage them to think before they act online.
The program involves AFP and Microsoft volunteers providing free interactive training sessions to enable parents, carers and teachers to educate their children about cyber-safety and security.
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Supporting Outcome 2 |
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16 February 2010 |
Announcement of a new Autism Specific Early Learning and Care Centre in Perth that will give young West Australian children with Autism Spectrum Disorders access to specialist early childhood services to help them reach their full potential.
The Australian Government has provided nearly $2.5 million to the Autism Association of Western Australia and Jellybeans Child Care to establish the centre in partnership with Curtin University of Technology.
The centre provides a minimum of 20 child care places for children aged 0 to 6 years with Autism Spectrum Disorders and is one of six autism specific centres, which are part of the Government's $190 million Helping Children with Autism package.
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Supporting Outcome 1 |
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12 February 2010 |
Announcement by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd that the National Library of Australia's has launched of a special website featuring oral history interviews with people who were involved in or affected by the removal of Indigenous children from their families.
This important oral history project was funded by the Australian Government in 1997 in response to the first recommendation of Bringing Them Home: Report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from their Families.
The aim of the project has been to collect and preserve the stories of affected Indigenous people and others, such as police, missionaries and administrators.
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Supporting Outcome 4 |
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11 February 2010 |
Announcement that the Australian Government will provide $9.1 million over three years for 10 new mothers and babies services.
The 10 new services are in addition to the 43 already funded under the New Directions program which give Indigenous babies and their mothers better access to:
- Pre and post pregnancy care
- Standard information about baby care
- Practical advice and assistance with breastfeeding, nutrition and parenting
- Monitoring of developmental milestones, immunisation status and infections
- Health checks and referrals for treatment for Indigenous children before starting school
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Supporting Outcome 5 |
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11 February |
Announcement by the Minister for Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, Julia Gillard, that schools across states and territories will benefit from Smarter Schools Funding.
The Smarter Schools National Partnership between the State, Territory and Australian Governments delivers funding to improve literacy and numeracy outcomes, improve teacher quality and address educational disadvantage.
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Supporting Outcome 1 |
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10 February 2010 |
Announcement by the Minister for Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, Julia Gillard, of 164 schools selected to take part in a national pilot project to address cyber-safety.
The Australian Government is providing $3 million for the world-first cyber safety initiative developed and conducted by child safety charity, the Alannah and Madeline Foundation.
Schools participating in the project will implement policies and practices to support the smart, safe and responsible use of technology. They will be provided with web resources designed to help them create an approach to cyber-safety that meets their own specific needs.
Government and non-government primary and secondary schools in urban, rural and remote Australia will participate in the cyber-safety pilot which will run until 30 April 2010.
The pilot aims to:
- Make cyber-safety an integral part of student wellbeing practices in schools
- Improve the curriculum in relation to cyber-safety
- Increase the skill and confidence of teachers to confront cyber-safety issues
- Help schools work with parents and the community to keep children safe.
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Supporting Outcomes 2 and 6 |
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3 February 2010 |
Announcement that the Australian Government has begun an intensive effort to promote Indigenous leadership as part of its commitment to forge a new relationship, based on mutual trust and respect, with Indigenous Australians.
The 37 new Indigenous engagement officers have discussed their role working with their local communities to tackle a range of issues including housing, employment, health and community safety, with the Minister for Families, Housing, Coummunity Services and Indigenous Affairs, Jenny Macklin.
Being local people themselves, Indigenous engagement officers have a great grasp of complex, cultural and social issues. They complement the work done by the Government business managers, providing guidance and advice on what can be very sensitive and tough issues.
As well, in the 29 communities identified in the Remote Service Delivery Strategy, Indigenous engagement officers are playing a pivotal role in working with their communities to put together their priorities for future economic and social development.
Across the country, a new wave of Indigenous leadership is emerging, keen to take responsibility for the future of their communities and foster the personal responsibility that is at the heart of family life and the foundation of strong communities.
To promote Indigenous leadership, the Government is also holding more than 50 leadership development workshops over the next six months to foster stronger relationships with hundreds of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
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Supporting Outcome 5 |
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2 February 2010 |
Announcement by Minister for Early Childhood Education and Child Care, Kate Ellis, and the Victorian Minister for Children and Early Childhood Development, Maxine Morand, of a new Early Learning and Care Centre in South Gippsland.
The new centre will be built at Foster and will be jointly funded by the Federal Government ($1.85 million), the Victorian Government ($500,000) and the South Gippsland Shire ($200,000).
The Foster centre will cater for up to 58 children and offer long day care, kindergarten, family day care, occasional care, maternal and child health, play groups, parenting programs and allied health services.
The centre will give families access to integrated family and children's services under one roof, making it easier for working families to access services.
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Supporting Outcome 1 |
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Showing announcements for January 2010 |
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28 January 2010 |
Announcement of key findings from the most comprehensive evaluation of Australia's family law system - which draws on the experience of 28,000 Australians - has found that overall the recent reforms are working well for the majority of children and their parents.
Key findings from the evaluation include:
- 71 per cent of fathers and 73 per cent of mothers say they've sorted out their care arrangements
- 39 per cent of parents who used family dispute resolution reported reaching an agreement
- 78 per cent of Family Relationship Centre staff and 86 per cent of family dispute resolution staff say that family dispute resolution is inappropriate due to family violence for up to a quarter of parents they see
- 16 per cent of children are in shared care-time arrangements (i.e., where 35-65 per cent of time is spent with both parents)
- More fathers than mothers propose equal time arrangements when going to court - 10 per cent of mothers and 27 per cent of fathers
- A majority of separated parents were in friendly or cooperative relationships (just over 60 per cent)
- Just under one fifth of separated parents reported their relationship to be full of conflict or fearful, with mothers twice as likely as fathers to report a fearful relationship
- Around one in five parents reported safety concerns with ongoing contact with the child's other parent
- 26 per cent of mothers and 17 per cent of fathers reported their partner had physically hurt them before or during separation.
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Supporting Outcome 2 |
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28 January 2010 |
Announcement by Minister for Housing, Tanya Plibersek, that the Australian Government will provide Anglicare with $1.2 million over the next 18 months for expanded homelessness services for young people in Western Sydney.
The new funding will allow Anglicare to expand its services to include early intervention for 12 to 18 year olds who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless, and support for 12 to 21 year olds who have arrived in Australia in the previous five years.
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Supporting Outcomes 2 and 4 |
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28 January 2010 |
Announcement that the Australian Government is providing an additional $7.5 million to pilot approaches for developing a Community Development Financial Institution sector in Australia.
Community Development Financial Institutions are independent financial institutions that have the primary aim of providing people and organisations, excluded from mainstream banks and services, with access to appropriate and fair financial products - mostly loans.
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Supporting Outcome 3 |
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27 January 2010 |
Announcement of extra funding to assist local residents in WA who are experiencing financial hardship.
Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Jenny Macklin, has announced an extra $20,000 in emergency relief that will be available to existing service providers in Laverton and the Ngaanyatjarra Lands in Western Australia.
Up to $25,000 has also been allocated for extra financial counselling services in and around Laverton and Kalgoorlie.
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Supporting Outcomes 1 and 3 |
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21 January 2010 |
Announcement that the new national standards to safeguard the health, safety and wellbeing of children living in foster homes in all States and Territories will be developed by the middle of the year as a key measure under the Australian Government's National Framework for Protecting Australia's Children 2009-2020.
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Supporting Outcome 4 |
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20 January 2010 |
Announcement by Minister for Housing, Tanya Plibersek, and Member for Kingston, Amanda Rishworth, that the National Rental Affordability Scheme will deliver 83 new affordable rental homes in Adelaide's southern suburbs.
Ms Plibersek said that the National Rental Affordability Scheme was created to increase the supply of affordable housing low and moderate income earners.
'The Scheme will help to build up to 50,000 new affordable rental properties across Australia by 2012'.
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Supporting Outcomes 1 and 3 |
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19 January 2010 |
Announcement by The Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Jenny Macklin, and the Northern Territory Minister for Central Australia, Karl Hampton, of more than $5.4 million over two and a half years to provide much needed services for people seeking alcohol rehabilitation.
People at risk from alcohol abuse will receive intensive support through a new Safe and Sober Program under the $150 million Alice Springs Transformation Plan.
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Supporting Outcomes 2 and 3 |
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14 January 2010 |
Announcement of $2.25 million for a new integrated childcare centre for Bendigo.
The Australian Government is investing $1.6 million, the Victorian Government is contributing $500,000 and the Greater Bendigo City Council is providing $150,000 to build the new centre.
The new Bendigo centre is one of 11 Early Learning and Care Centres in Victoria, designed to provide high quality, affordable and accessible services to all Australian families.
The Early Learning and Care Centres are part of the Australian Government's $114.5 million investment to establish 38 new Early Learning and Care Centres across Australia.
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Supporting Outcome 1 |
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8 January 2010 |
Minister for Early Childhood Education and Child Care Kate Ellis launched a new online tool to help families budget for child care.
The Child Care Estimator shows families what financial support the Government can give them through the Child Care Benefit and Child Care Rebate.
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Supporting Outcome 3 |