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 seven sub-activities:

A suite of key documents have been prepared to support providers under the FaC Activity:

The latest FaC newsletter is available below.

FaC Activity Newsletter

The FaC Activity newsletter highlights important news and information for service providers delivering grant activities under the FaC Activity. The primary focus of the newsletter is helping providers understand and meet the requirements of their grant agreements. The department will issue FaC Activity newsletters several times per year, as necessary. 

FaC Activity Program Extensions

Please refer to the Families and Children Activity program funding extensions for further information.

FaC Activity Service Improvement Consultation

Please refer to DSS Engage for information about the FaC Activity Service Improvement Consultation activities undertaken between November 2020 and March 2021.

Operational Guidelines

To address items raised by stakeholders during the consultation process the department has updated or created Operational Guidelines for the following programs: 

The department will update the Operational Guidelines at regular intervals. If you have any questions about the draft Operational Guidelines above, please contact your Funding Arrangement Manager.

FaC Activity Outcomes Framework

The department and the Australian Institute of Family Studies have developed an Outcomes Framework, which was informed by service providers’ feedback.

The purpose of the Outcomes Framework is to guide the delivery of an organisation’s grant activity and reporting in the Data Exchange. The department also expects organisations to refer to the outcomes in the Outcomes Framework through program logics, Activity Work Plans and reports.

Supporting documents are included below to link the outcomes in the outcomes framework to appropriate indicators and to the outcomes reported in the Data Exchange.

A draft FaC Activity Outcomes Framework was previously included in the Operational Guidelines for each program. The Operational Guidelines are currently under review, and will also be updated with the final Outcomes Framework by early-2022.

New Requirements from 1 July 2021 - Factsheets

The following factsheets have been prepared to provide additional guidance about the new arrangements.

Activity Work Plans (AWPs)

The grant extensions include requirements for Activity Work Plans (AWPs). These requirements are listed in the reporting milestones table of new grant agreements. 

The updated AWP template is available on the Activity Work Plan Reports page, including guidance information about completing the AWP Report.

The Communities for Children Facilitating Partners AWP and Community Strategic Plan (CSP) templates are also available on the Activity Work Plan Reports page. Further information about the AWP and CSP is available in the Operational Guidelines. 

Evaluation and Research Activities

For publications and articles on families, children, parenting and relationships, refer to Publications & Articles.

FaC Expert Panel

The 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.

Critical incident reporting

All FaC Activity service providers must notify the department of critical incidents as soon as possible within 48 hours of incidents occurring or within 48 hours of becoming aware of incidents.

To notify the department, a service provider must complete a critical incident reporting template and email it to their Funding Arrangement Manager.

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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