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 to enhance 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:

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

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

To support more robust prevention and early intervention approaches, a panel of research, evaluation and practice experts has been established.

The Panel will help to build the capacity of service providers to deliver evidence-based programs and practices and continue to build this evidence base through evaluation, with a focus on prevention and early intervention 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.

Organisations approved to conduct marriage education programs under the Marriage Act 1961

Under the Administrative Orders, the Minister for Social Services has the power to approve an organisation to conduct marriage education programs under the Marriage Act 1961.

This approval allows organisations to qualify for Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) status with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). The ATO requires organisations to have the Minister of Social Services’ approval to conduct marriage education programs before they apply for DGR status.

Once approved by the Minister, organisations will be listed on the Department of Social Services’ website. The pre-approval to seek DGR status does not constitute an endorsement of services or providers by the Department of Social Services.

Currently the following providers have been approved to seek DGR status with the ATO: The Department does not endorse these organisations’ service delivery over other organisations which are not currently approved to seek DGR status:

  • PMRC (Australia) Inc.
  • JJunction
  • Faith Revival For The Nations (FReN-Australia)

To find out more about the pre-approval process please email fars@dss.gov.au

Please note: being approved by the Minister of Social Services does not automatically endorse organisations as a deductible gift recipient. Organisations are required to apply for DGR status with the ATO.

Please access the Australian Tax Office to find out more about the Deductible Gift Recipient status.

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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