Families and Children Activity
The Families and Children (FaC) Activity is delivered under the Families and Communities Program and provides support to families to improve the wellbeing of children and young people, enhancing family and community functioning, as well as increasing the participation of vulnerable people in community life.
Organisations provide prevention and early intervention activities to improve the wellbeing of families and children, including after separation, enhance family functioning and economic engagement and strengthen communities.
The FaC Activity consists of six sub-activities:
- Communities for Children Facilitating Partners
- Family Law Services
- Family and Relationship Services
- Children and Parenting
- Reconnect
- Adult Specialist Support (Find and Connect, Forced Adoption Support Services)
A suite of key documents have been prepared to support providers under the FaC Activity:
- Families and Children Program Guidelines Overview
- Families and Children Program Logic
- Families and Children Performance Framework
- Families and Children Activity Work Plan
- Families and Children Administrative Approval Requirements
Families and Children Activity program extensions
The Australian Government is extending funding agreements ceasing 30 June 2020 for a further 12 months to 30 June 2021 for families and children services across Australia. Please refer to the Families and Children page for further information.
The services involved in this funding extension are funded under the following programs:
- Children and Parenting Support services
- Communities for Children Facilitating Partners
- Family Mental Health Support Services
- Budget Based Funded services
- Family and Relationship Services
The Home Interaction Program for Parents and Youngsters is also being extended for one year, from 30 June 2022 to 30 June 2023. This will allow an additional cohort of children to commence the two year program in early 2021.
Evaluation and Research Activities
For publications and articles on families, children, parenting and relationships, refer to Publications & Articles.
Families and Children Expert Panel
The Families and Children (FaC) Expert Panel Project helps service providers to plan, implement and evaluate programs for families and children using evidence-based approaches.
Please refer to the Families and Children Expert Panel page for further information.
Child Family Community Australia (CFCA)
Child Family Community Australia is an information exchange at the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS).
The CFCA information exchange is the product of the amalgamation of three AIFS clearinghouses - the National Child Protection Clearinghouse, Australian Family Relationships Clearinghouse and Communities and Families Clearinghouse Australia.
The CFCA information exchange began operation on 30 March 2012, and is a central point of knowledge translation and exchange for professionals in the child, family and community sectors.
More information can be found on the Australian Institute of Family Studies website.
Complaints process
All FaC Activity providers are required to have procedures in place to receive feedback on their services, including complaints. Information on a service provider's complaints policy is available at the service outlet. If you wish to make a complaint about a Service, contact the service provider management directly in the first instance.
If you are not comfortable talking directly with the service provider or if you are not satisfied with how your complaint has been handled by the provider, please contact the DSS Feedback Coordination Team:
Email: complaints@dss.gov.au
Telephone: 1800 634 035
Fax: (02) 6204 4587
Mail: The Department of Social Services Complaints
GPO Box 9820
Canberra ACT 2601
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