CPD’s submission to the Department of Social Services on its proposed new approach to programs for families and children leverages several years of CPD research and thinking.
It provides advice on how the Families and Children (FaC) Activity can be part of a progressively universal system for children and families—a system where services are available and accessible to all, with well-integrated, targeted support available based on a family’s needs, capabilities and aspirations.
The submission also makes suggestions for embedding relational contracting and community-led decision-making—approaches that would enable the innovation, continuous learning and equity between providers that is needed to make these reforms stick and improve outcomes for children, families and communities.
CPD’s submission to the Department of Social Services on its proposed new approach to programs for families and children calls for an integrated, coordinated, and accessible service system for families and children, and more relational, flexible contracting of services.
The Department of Social Services is proposing changes to the following five FaC Activity programs:
The changes would bring five programs under a new, single national program to support children and families. It aims to achieve more efficient and effective delivery of services by making funding arrangements easier, streamlining administration requirements, and focusing on meaningful outcomes‑based reporting, so providers can spend more time delivering services to families.
CPD makes seven recommendations for guiding reform of the FaC Activity.
The first three recommendations call for a more joined-up service system. This includes aligning the FaC Activity with other universal services across departments and levels of government, establishing a high-quality and genuinely accessible “universal front door” for families, and investing in the “glue” that enables integrated support—such as flexible partnership funding, communities of practice for sharing learnings, and service navigators.
The final four recommendations propose long-term reforms that embed relational contracting and community leadership. This involves sustaining and embedding the Communities for Children Facilitating Partner model, building the capability for more relational, flexible contracting, strengthening community-led service models (including ACCOs and lived experience leadership), and improving outcomes reporting so it is coordinated, meaningful and co-designed with providers and communities.
Together, these changes aim to create a system that is easier to navigate, more locally responsive, and better able to support children and families to thrive.
CPD’s research over the last decade spans a multitude of social service systems, from refugee settlement and early childhood education to criminal justice and employment services. The evidence is clear—the approaches we have used in the past are struggling to keep pace with the challenges we face today. Services are failing to support children and families in the ways they need. A new approach is needed.
The recommendations in this submission would help shift systems and programs for children and families to better build on the strengths of local communities, make services easier to navigate, and ensure people receive the right support at the right time.
