Families and Children Activity

The Department of Social Services funds a range of programs under the Families and Children (FaC) Activity to provide support and early intervention and prevention activities to families. FaC Activity programs aim to improve the wellbeing of children and young people, enhance family and community functioning, and increase the participation of vulnerable people in community life.

The following programs and services are funded under the FaC Activity:

FaC Activity guidance documents

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

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.

Support for FaC Activity providers

Data Exchange (DEX) support

Fact sheets, task cards, webinars and e-learning modules are available on the Data Exchange Website to help service providers set up and perform different functions in DEX.

The department’s DEX Helpdesk offers one-on-one technical support to DEX users. You can contact the DEX Helpdesk by sending an email to dssdataexchange.helpdesk@dss.gov.au or calling 1800 020 283 between 9:00am – 5:00pm (AEST/AEDT) Monday to Friday.

Evidence and evaluation support

The Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) helps FaC Activity service providers to plan, implement and evaluate programs for families and children using evidence-based approaches. Refer to the Families and Children Evidence and Evaluation Support page for further information.

Child Family Community Australia (CFCA)

Child Family Community Australia is an information exchange run by AIFS for the families and children sector. More information can be found on the AIFS 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, you must complete a critical incident reporting template and email it to your 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: DSS Feedback, GPO Box 9820, Canberra ACT, 2601

Online Complaints Form

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