Welcome to the fourth National Report on the Family Relationship Services Program (FRSP).
This National Report presents data provided by FRSP funded organisations through the Status Report process, and FRSP Online, as a snapshot of the FRSP for the 2006–07 financial year. A copy of the 2006–07 Status Report template accompanies this Report.
Information provided within the 2006–07 National Report raises as many questions as it answers. Consequently, this Report creates a platform for ongoing, constructive discussion between the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA), the Attorney-General’s Department (AGD), Family Relationship Services Australia (FRSA) and the FRSP services sector.
Outcomes from these discussions will inform ongoing Program development and enhance the capability of the FRSP to respond effectively to client need.
The Family Relationship Services Program (FRSP)
The aim of the FRSP is to improve the wellbeing of families and children by supporting positive family relationships through the full range of early intervention and post separation services.
The FRSP is jointly funded by FaHCSIA and AGD and administered through FaHCSIA’s network of State and Territory Offices (STOs).
Background
This year you will notice significant changes to the National Report’s format. These changes reflect the incorporation of the Status Report into the overarching Performance Framework for the FRSP.
Changes to this year’s National Report also seek to provide a more concise, user friendly snapshot of the capacity of funded organisations to meet their contractual obligations, principally through the Status Report process. While some data has been drawn from FRSP Online, this has been kept to a minimum because some data relating to unregistered clients has yet to be returned to the department by funded organisations. When the FRSP Online reporting portal becomes operational in the near future, funded organisations will be able to view and generate their own reports. Access to this portal will:
- enable authorised stakeholders to access a range of reports from their desktop PC via the internet. Authorised users will be able to run and print available reports with the ability to set a range of customisable filters and date ranges on each of the available reports
- make selected reports available to stakeholders of the FRSP to enable better monitoring of their progress against the desired Funding Agreement outputs
- reduce the time it takes to generate reports. The new reporting portal will be a very efficient process when compared to the current reporting process which is labour intensive and time consuming.
Report Structure
The 2006–07 National Report is divided into two sections. Section One sets the scene by providing a brief overview of the service delivery context from a funding and client profile perspective.
Section Two provides a summary of quantitative and qualitative data that has been drawn from the 123 Status Reports that were submitted by funded organisations as part of the overall FRSP performance reporting process.
Where specific questions within the Status Report template have not been addressed within this Report, reasons for omission include:
- information is only relevant to the individual service submitting the Status Report, for example Questions 2 and 21. Question 2 relates to the range of services being provided. Question 21 relates to the make-up of the organisation’s Executive or Board/Management Committee
- responses were too broadly based to create a national trend, for example Questions 14, 15, 16 and 17
- information is not suitable for aggregation, for example Case Studies.
Methodology
Data presented in Section One has been drawn from FaHCSIA’s Finance Section and FRSP Online.
Data presented in Section Two was developed by quantifying standard yes/no responses in the Status Report template and converting these to a percentage of the total number of responses.
It was not practical to apply this approach in respect of qualitative responses. Therefore qualitative responses were reviewed to identify the issues that were most frequently being reported against each question across the Status Report. Where a specific response became numerous enough to create a trend line, trend data was incorporated into the National Report.
When reviewing qualitative data presented in this way, it is important to note that no attempt has been made to present this information in any order of priority. The broad intention is to flag predominant issues and themes that are clearly evident across the FRSP and utilise this information as a basis for ongoing, more detailed discussion between key stakeholders at both national and state and territory levels.
Next Steps
The 2006–07 National Report will be made available to all funded organisations and its content and future direction in relation to format will be discussed with the FRSP services sector.
Other avenues open to the Departments and funded organisations to access data and share information about the FRSP’s performance include:
- FRSP Online reporting portal once this becomes operational;
- Chief Executives’ Forums
- Family Relationship Services Australia
- the FRSP’s Biennial Conference
- regular meetings with staff from FaCHSIA’s STOs and funded organisations.