Welcome

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The Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaCSIA) and the Attorney-General’s Department recently conducted an open competitive selection process to establish a further 25 Family Relationship Centres, 27 new Early Intervention Services, 8 new Parenting Orders Programs and 9 new Children’s Contact Services under the Family Relationship Services Program across Australia.

The new Family Relationship Centres provide a front door to the family law system, providing information and referral to a range of services that can help. Family Relationship Centres also provide separating families with advice and dispute resolution to help them agree on what is best for their children rather than resorting to court action.

The new Early Intervention Services will deliver a mix of relationship counselling, education and skills training, and men and family relationship services to improve communication and family relationships.

The competitive selection process was advertised on 2 September 2006 and applications closed on 31 October 2006.

On 24 January 2007, the Attorney General announced the successful providers for the new Family Relationship Centres. The 25 Family Relationship Centres will open in July this year, building on the achievements of the first 15 centres which commenced in July 2006.

More recently the Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Mal Brough announced the names of the 27 new Early Intervention Service providers that will deliver a range of services under the Family Relationship Services Program. The new Early Intervention Services will strengthen family relationships, prevent separation and resolve relationship difficulties.

The Attorney-General not yet announced the successful providers to deliver Parenting Orders Programs and Children’s Contact Services. He is expected to do so shortly. These services will also open from mid 2007.

This is the second of three competitive selection rounds announced as part of the 2005-06 Budget family law reform package of $397 million over four years.

A third selection round will be advertised in mid 2007.

For more information, go to Ministerial announcements at Family Relationships Online or the announcement of early intervention service providers.

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A lot of work has already been undertaken by the former Industry Representative Bodies (IRBs) to develop a proposed structure for you, as potential members, to consider during sector consultations held in the first week of February 2007. FRSA is aiming to commence operations to FRSP service providers and Government on 1 July 2007.

An Interim Board has been established to oversee FRSA, until you determine the scope and structure. The Interim Board is representative of the diverse nature of FRSP service providers, with member representatives from the former IRBs as well as service providers currently without industry representation.

All parties are very positive about the possibilities of a united representative structure for the FRSP. The Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Mal Brough, is also aware of the opportunities for families stemming from the decision to unite the bodies. Consequently, the Minister has agreed to provide FRSA with establishment funding during January to June 2007 so it can begin recruiting staff and organising premises.

For more information, email frspe-news@facsia.gov.au.

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One of the key changes introduced on 1 January 2007 provides separating parents more time (up to 13 weeks) to work out parenting arrangements for the family before their Family Tax Benefit Part A is affected. Previously a parent had 28 days in which to apply for child support from their former partner before their Family Tax Benefit Part A payments were affected.

This additional time will allow separated parents a greater opportunity to seek advice and information, often through Family Relationship Centres or Family Relationship Service Providers, to try and sort out parenting arrangements after separation. The extra time will also relieve some of the pressure of sorting out their arrangements in the most sensitive time immediately after separation, when emotions can be raw.

Some of the other major changes introduced from 1 January 2007 include;

• the introduction of appeals against Child Support Agency decisions to Social Security Appeals Tribunal;
• improved powers for courts to deal with child support matters; and
• improved arrangements for parents who dispute paternity.

For more information, go to
http://www.facsia.gov.au/internet/facsinternet.nsf/family/childsupport_reforms.htm.

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Established by AIFS, through funding provided by the Australian Government Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, the AFRC collects and delivers the latest relevant research and best practice to family relationship service providers and practitioners across Australia. The AFRC publishes quality resources and information for providers of family relationship and support services, policy makers, and members of the research and broader communities

Practitioners, service providers and other interested parties can subscribe to AFRC-alert, an electronic newsletter, by completing an online form. Subscribers will receive alerts for new publications and information and invitations to join moderated online discussions through e-relating.

For more information, go to http://www.aifs.gov.au/afrc/

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The resource series is called Keys to Living Together and will consist of a DVD and mini magazine.

The resource suite is intended for a broad audience at a variety of life stages. The first three resources in the series will be aimed at pre-married/committed couples, couples with a young child and blended families.

As the products are released, they will be distributed to the sector via the internet to ease access for the general public.

Relationship educators, skills training practitioners and focus groups participating in concept testing informed the content of these resources.

The resources are scheduled for distribution to the sector in May 2007.

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A recent pilot of MHFA training delivered three training sessions to 47 practitioners in July and August 2006. An independent evaluation by the Hunter Institute of Mental Health found post training participants had:

• improved knowledge, understanding of issues and confidence when identifying and responding to mental health issues;
• had responded more proactively to clients with mental health issues; and
• more routinely screened for and assessed mental health issues, offered assistance, made referrals and offered crisis support.

Managers also noted staff awareness, confidence and willingness to assess and respond to mental health issues increased.

To review the Evaluation Report, go to http://www.facsia.gov.au/frsp.

In response to positive feedback, the Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs is offering FRSP practitioners access to funded places in the Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) Instructor Courses between February and June 2007.

The training is an intensive five-day accredited course available to suitable practitioners wanting to deliver MHFA training. The initiative will further increase community capacity to respond mental health issues.

For a summary of the MHFA training, go to http://www.mhfa.com.au.

To register or for more information, go to Free Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) Instructor Course.

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The first release of FRSP Online (Version 1.3) was launched in September 2006 as part of the pilot testing that occurred in Melbourne, Brisbane and Wodonga. It enabled the registration of clients, client activities (excluding referrals) and support activities for all FRSP services including Family Relationship Centres, Early Intervention Services and Post Separation Services.

Following the successful completion of the pilot testing, version 1.4 of FRSP Online was released in December 2006. This release incorporated the usability issues identified during testing as well as enabling the functionality for referrals and surveys.

Training for FRSP Online was held in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane and Canberra in early December after the release of FRSP Online version 1.4. The training was made available to all service providers to attend. A total of 216 people attended training during this time. Feedback from participants showed that the training helped them understand the basis of the program and how FRSP Online works.

Future releases will include a reporting function to identify useability or other issues.

To assist providers during the transition, the Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs also offered telephone training to those providers unable to attend face-to-face training. Telephone training commenced late January and completed early February.

For those wanting a copy of the FRSP Online training manual, it is available at:

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Stage 1 of the campaign, managed jointly by the Attorney-General’s Department (AGD) and the Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaCSIA), utilised advertisements in national key consumer publications and in local newspapers, radio and outdoor spaces. An information kit was mailed out to key stakeholders, including FRSP service providers, legal professionals, counsellors, schools, churches, GPs, marriage celebrants and childcare centres.

The Departments received funding of $5.7 million over two years from July 2005 to June 2007 to run Stage 1 of the campaign. In the 2006-07 Budget, further funding of $19.9 million was provided to AGD to conduct Stage 2 of the campaign over three years from July 2007 to June 2010.

AGD and FaCSIA will work together on Stage 2 - encouraging help seeking behaviours and normalising use of family relationship services. People in all stages of relationships will be encouraged to seek information, advice and, when necessary, assistance from family relationship services, including Family Relationship Centres, the Family Relationship Advice Line, and Family Relationships Online.

Market research for Stage 2 is expected to begin in February 2007.

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The Attorney-General’s Department (AGD) is currently considering the qualifications, ongoing professional development and other standards family dispute resolution practitioners will be required to meet under the new accreditation arrangements.

There have been reforms to the family law system regarding requirements for parents who seek to take a dispute about arrangements for their children to court. The initial step requires the family to meet with a family dispute resolution practitioner, with some exceptions such as cases involving family violence or child abuse. From July 1 2007 this requirement will apply to new parenting cases, where there has not been a previous application. From 1 July 2008 the requirement is expected to apply to all parenting cases.

It is expected that an accreditation system for family dispute resolution practitioners will be in place by 1 July 2007. However, to ensure that services can continue on an uninterrupted basis, transitional arrangements apply until 30 June 2009. During this time, the requirements for family dispute resolution practitioners in FRSP organisations are largely the same as they were prior to the changes to the Family Law Act introduced on 1 July 2006.

By the end of the transition period, all family dispute resolution practitioners, except those authorised by designated organisations or the courts, will need to meet the accreditation requirements.

For more information, go to http://www.ag.gov.au

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The qualifications are currently proceeding through the VET endorsement process. It is expected that they will be considered for final approval by the Ministerial Council for Vocational and Technical Education in February 2007. The Skills Council is aiming to conduct workshops on the new qualifications and recognition processes for Registered Training Organisations (RTOs), workplace assessors, employers and practitioners in early 2007.

Before adapting their current courses to incorporate the new qualifications, RTOs should apply to State and Territory training authorities to have the qualifications brought within the RTO’s scope.

The competency-based standards and qualifications being developed by the Skills Council do not become compulsory for family dispute resolution practitioners unless they, or any part of them, become a requirement of the Accreditation Rules under the Family Law Regulations 1984. This will be considered during the development of the new accreditation arrangements (see article above).

For more information on the Skills Council qualifications in the context of the new accreditation arrangements, go to http://www.ag.gov.au

Information on the development of family relationship education practitioner competencies will be included in next month’s newsletter.

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The report is based on Dr McIntosh’s research, exploring outcomes for two groups of families using two different types of mediation. The first group received child focused mediation which actively aims to re-focus parents on the needs of their children but does not include any direct consultation with the children. The second group received child inclusive mediation which shares the same goals as child focused mediation. This group’s children also received a consultation in a supportive, developmentally-appropriate manner about their experiences around the family separation and dispute. The information obtained from the children was fed back into the mediation process.

Results showed a significant and enduring reduction in the level of conflict after mediation, regardless of the model of mediation parents participated in. However, after child inclusive mediation, parents and children reported significantly greater satisfaction with their living arrangements and parents were less likely to instigate new legal action over parenting matters. The main effects of child inclusive mediation were that there was a healthier parental relationship after separation, children perceived a reduction of parental conflict, and children reported an improved sense of emotional closeness with their fathers. Fathers in the child inclusive group were substantially more content with the care and contact arrangements and reported closer relationships with their children.

The report is available on the Attorney-General’s Department website at http://www.ag.gov.au/www/agd/agd.nsf/Page/Families_Evaluationandresearch.

A limited number of hard copies will also be available. To place an order, email sophie.charles@ag.gov.au.

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Family Relationships Online provides public access to information about family relationships and separation. It provides a central source of information about a wide range of services that may assist families as well as information about the new Family Relationship Centres and the Family Relationship Advice Line.

Family Relationships Online is the main source of information accessed by the Advice Line to identify services that are most appropriate to caller’s needs. Family Relationships Online is also a resource for service providers looking for appropriate services to which they can refer clients.

The Family Pathways Branch in the Attorney-General’s Department has commenced work to further develop Family Relationships Online. This work will include the development of individual pages for each of the Family Relationship Centres. Comments from the family services sector on its experiences with Family Relationships Online will be sought in the near future. We expect the comments received will significantly assist to enhance and develop Family Relationships Online.