A new approach to programs for families and children – webinar
To help people take part in the consultation, we held a public webinar on 6 November 2025. You can watch the webinar below.
At the end of the webinar, we answered some live questions from the audience. Questions and answers are available in the Frequently Asked Questions document.
Transcript – a new approach to programs for families and children
Introduction from The Hon Tanya Plibersek MP, Minister for Social Services
The Department of Social Services acknowledges the traditional custodians of country throughout Australia and their continuing connection to land, water, culture and community.
We pay our respects to the elders, past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.
Every child deserves the chance to grow up safe, supported and surrounded by love. The government is proposing important changes to five core programs under the Families and Children activity, to strengthen the way we support children and their families and the communities around them.
Every year, we invest around $300 million under these programs, with more than 240 organisations across Australia. These programs play really important roles in supporting families, whether it’s helping parents build confidence in skills or offering critical early intervention.
But right now, we’re seeing more children experiencing developmental delay and too many children entering out-of-home care. We know based on what you’re telling us, that we need to invest better, not just in services themselves, but in the people, the systems and the infrastructure that underpin them.
That’s why we’re looking at how we can better back organisations on the ground. Those working every day to support families and children. Getting these kinds of programs right is complex and it requires a really coordinated and effective response.
That’s why we’re proposing a new, streamlined program to replace five separate child and family programs and turn them into a single national program. The new program will focus on two key outcomes.
First, we want to ensure that parents and caregivers are empowered to raise healthy and resilient kids. And secondly, we want to make sure that children are supported to grow into healthy and resilient adults.
We want to support the parents. We want to support the kids.
The new program will reduce red tape for service providers, because we know that their time is better spent helping families, not filling out forms. Most importantly, it will ensure that more children and families will get the support they need when they need it most. We know the sector has been calling for change for a long time.
We really want to hear your views on the proposed reforms so that we get this right. Please visit the DSS Engage website to find out how you can get involved.
You can join an online town hall. You can complete a survey. You can make a submission. Your voice will help shape this reform, and I’m looking forward to hearing your views.
Facilitator introduction – Jacqueline Hrast, acting Group Manager, Family Wellbeing Group, Department of Social Services
Hello everyone, and welcome to today’s webinar on our new approach to programs for families and children. Thank you very much for making the time to join us today and learn about this important work. My name is Jac Hrast. I look after the Family and Wellbeing group here at the Department of Social Services. Our purpose today is to provide some context for the proposed changes to our five families and children programs. Outline the proposed changes at a high level. Provide some information on how you can have your say and provide feedback on these proposed changes. And finally, to provide you with an opportunity today to ask some questions about the reform and the consultation process, which we will answer through Frequently asked questions on DSS engage.
So some quick housekeeping for today. We will be recording today’s session. Only the webinar component will be recorded, not the Slido chat and Q&A afterwards. The recording will be posted on the DSS engage site for anyone who would like to refer back to it, or for those who couldn’t join us today. Today we are also joined by our Auslan interpreters, Adrian and Bec. Thank you very much. You should be able to see them spotlighted on your screen now. The webinar is also live captioned and you can see that at the bottom of your screen. Slido is available for you to post questions in throughout the session. You will see the Slido chat on the right hand side. I’ll answer some questions that we have time for today. For the others that I don’t get to they will inform our frequently asked questions on the DSS engage website. We’ll continue to update these frequently asked questions throughout the consultation period. So I’d like to start with our broader context and how we got here.
As you heard in Minister Plibersek’s video message, there are two key policy drivers for this reform. The first is that more children are experiencing developmental vulnerability. The latest results from the Australian Early Development Census showed us that more children are starting school developmentally vulnerable, particularly in the social and emotional domains. The second driver is that for First Nations children, the national rate of children in out-of-home care is worsening. The Productivity Commission projections show that if nothing is done by 2031, the rate of First Nations children in out-of-home care will grow to 54.3 per 1000 children, and that’s around 12,000 children above our Closing the Gap target.
We have five subprograms within the Families and Children Activity that aim to build parenting capacity and provide prevention and early intervention services for children and families. This investment is around $300 million per year, and at the moment, that is delivered to around 240 providers. These programs have similar objectives, but they sit at slightly different stages along the intervention continuum, from prevention to early intervention. Our primary driver in bringing these five programs together into one national program is to reduce the administrative burden on the community sector and reduce barriers to their productivity. We want to streamline grant arrangements to support, support, flexibility in the delivery of services to families and children. We don’t want providers to be restricted by rigid program lines. We want providers to be able to respond to the client in front of them.
Our approach to the reform is informed by what we have heard, and we know many of you have been advocating for change for a long time. Over the last five years the department has undertaken a range of consultation activities on how we can improve programs for families and children. Some examples of these consultations include the broad consultation with the sector, parents, caregivers and children to inform the development of the Early Years Strategy. Consultation in 2023 on the Community Sector Grants Engagement Framework. More recently, consultation in 2024 and 25 as part of Family and Children, Youth and Parenting Program Review and the Productivity Roundtables held by Minister Plibersek this year on the topics of boosting social, economic outcomes by expanding a focus on place and boosting productivity in the not for profit sector. Over many rounds of consultations, we have heard that program design and service is too rigid and inflexible, and delivery needs to be more inclusive and provide the flexibility that is needed to respond to local need. We’ve listened to what the sector has told us across these consultations and in the not for profit sector development blueprint. We know there needs to be integration and coordination between programs and systems. We need to improve our grant processes to support longer term, more stable funding and streamline reporting so providers can spend less time on paperwork and more time delivering services. All of this feedback you have provided has been used to inform the proposed changes. So now I’d like to take you to the reform proposal.
As the Minister outlined, we are proposing changes to five families and children programs that the department runs. They are the Children and Parenting Support program, the Family Mental Health Support Services program, Communities for Children Facilitating Partners, Family and Relationship Services, and the Specialised Family Violence Services program. The proposed changes would bring these five programs under a new national program to support children and families. On DSS engage, you will find a discussion paper to support this consultation and the discussion paper asks if the single national program will provide more flexibility for your organisation.
I would now like to talk about the investment priorities.
Importantly, the new national program would be underpinned by key investment priorities. These priorities are the things the government thinks are most important to prioritise for this funding pool. We propose that these four thing are invest early to improve family wellbeing, break cycles of disadvantage and reduce the need for later interventions like child protection, two, prioritise connected, co-located and integrated services that work together to meet family needs. This means services need to be convenient, easy and available for families to access. Ensure services are informed by and respond to community need and improve outcomes for First Nations children and families by increasing the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community controlled organisations delivering supports in locations with high First Nations populations. In our discussion paper, we ask your view on these four investment priorities and if there’s any others that government should consider. We also ask you to share your views and experiences on delivering programs that meet these priorities. Turning to the proposed program structure.
As the Minister outlined, the national program is underpinned by two key outcomes. The first is that parents and caregivers are empowered to raise healthy and resilient children, and the second is that children are supported to grow into healthy and resilient adults. In the discussion paper, we ask you whether these outcomes and visions and the vision fit together, and we seek your views on whether these are the right outcomes or whether you have suggestions for any others. For the purposes of assessment, three streams will sit under this national program. This structure will help us assess like for like services. So under stream one we’re looking at things that we’re describing as national programs and information services. The goal of activity in this stream is about making sure families have access to trusted advice and resources. We think the sorts of programs that fit into this stream are ones that have a large geographic geographical footprint, and they deliver services to all types of families in Australia, and there are few or no restrictions regarding who can access the support. Things like an information Website for example. Stream two is focused on prevention and early intervention. This really means activity that helps families before challenges become crises. So examples include services aimed at improving children and young people’s development and wellbeing, and those that empower parents, caregivers and families in their important roles. The third stream is focused on intensive family supports. These are services for those families who need more targeted and wraparound support. Examples include services for families at risk of contact with child protection services, or families experiencing multiple vulnerabilities and challenges. In the discussion paper, we ask your view on whether these three streams make sense and whether they reflect what your community needs.
Some other changes that we have proposed in this reform, go to things around streamlining and making things more efficient for community sector organisations. So currently under those five programs, around a third of the organisations we fund hold more than one contract across those programs. And each contract has different reporting requirements. We want to make service delivery more efficient and effective by making funding arrangements easier and streamlining those administration requirements. We want providers to be able to spend more time delivering services to families. Some of the ways we’re going to do that include providers receiving one grant agreement across all the types of services, even if they fund, if they deliver services across those three streams that I talked about earlier, that means only one application at the start. And if a successful in the in the grant round, only one set of reporting arrangements. Something else that the discussion paper proposes is relational contracting That offers a flexible approach that focuses on shared goals and long term outcomes. The new program will also have a focus on evidence informed supports, drawing on research, professional expertise and the lived experience of children and families. In the discussion paper, we ask you about these reforms and your understanding of relational contracting and whether it would be appropriate for your organisation.
The other thing that’s important to talk about today is our. we intend to assess the need of the community a service is delivered in. So when we look at applications for funding, we’re also going to have a look at the need of the community that service is going to be delivered in. So we’ll form a view on that need by using data sources that tell us the areas facing proportional disadvantage, the rates of children’s developmental vulnerability, how many children and families live in an area, and how many young people in that area are not in education, employment or training. And child protection engagement rights.
To highlight where prevention and family supports may be most needed, we’re also making changes to outcomes reporting. Reporting through the government’s Data Exchange will be mandatory for providers working directly with clients. This will help government understand who is receiving a service, the outcomes they experience, and we’ll make sure support is reaching those who need it. But the new program will also collect other qualitative data and information so that you can tell your story and show the real impact of services on children and families. This could include stories, case studies or pictures. The department will work with providers to share these success stories through social media, speeches and reports, so that services can celebrate and learn from each other’s successes. In the discussion paper, we ask you a view on what data or information you would like to share with the government to demonstrate the outcomes your organisation is delivering, and what types of data would help your organisation better understand its impact on the community it serves?
So you can read more about the changes on DSS Engage. And we have a series of documents to help explain our approach in more detail. These include the discussion paper, which includes more detail on what I’ve spoken about today, and some suggested questions to think about ahead of making your submission. An evidence summary which summarises the research and evidence underpinning the proposed program design. A consultation summary which outlines how the changes respond to what the community sector and families have told government in previous consultation processes, and a factsheet for families, parents and caregivers to explain what the proposed changes would mean for them. So how you can have your say.
As Minister Plibersek mentioned in her message, there are a few ways you can provide feedback on the proposed reforms. You can make a written submission to the discussion paper. You can answer a quick survey on DSS engage. It only takes around ten minutes. You can register for an in-person town hall to meet with department officials directly and ask questions. And you can also attend an online townhall, which will be an interactive session where you can ask questions of the department. You can register to attend the online and in-person town halls through DSS engage. If you would like more information on the reform, I encourage you to visit the DSS engage page, which my team will link in the Slido chat. And you can see on this slide. You can also contact us at families@dss.gov.au with any questions or if people require some assistance to make a submission.
Thank you very much for joining us today and we hope to hear from you soon.
