14 October 2022
Member News
Dear Families ACT members,
This update provides information about a briefing we co-hosted on Next Steps, news on raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility, a consultation we participated in about ongoing child protection reforms and upcoming sector development.
Briefing on Next Steps for Our Kids 2022-2030
On 29 September 2022, Families ACT & Youth Coalition of the ACT, in partnership with ACT Government, hosted a community sector briefing on Next Steps for Our Kids 2022-2030 by the Minister for Families and Community Services, Rachel Stephen-Smith MLA. Anne Maree Sabellico, Deputy Director General, and Melanie Saballa, Executive Branch Manager, Next Steps Reform and Strategy Implementation, also spoke.
A panel of experts (Jodie Griffiths-Cook, Professor Morag MacArthur and Selina Walker) provided their views on the ACT’s strategy to strengthen families and keep children & young people safe. The session was MC’ed by Chris Redmond. The briefing was a great opportunity to bring together stakeholders whose support is imperative for the success of Next Steps. The conversations will continue, and we will keep our members and key stakeholders informed on the implementation of Next Steps.
From L-R: A Sabellico, J Griffiths-Cook, M MacArthur, R Stephen-Smith, S Walker and C Redmond .
Minimum age of criminal responsibility (MACR)
Families ACT welcomed the recent announcement by ACT Government of its intention to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 12 years of age without any carve outs by the end of 2022. This is great news for the campaign and Families ACT’s advocacy work. The ACT Government has flagged that this is the first step in the reform process and it is still planning to raise the age to 14 years in due course. The campaign and Families ACT will continue to advocate for the age being further raised as well as for a holistic wraparound therapeutic diversion and support service system to support the legislative changes.
Consultation
Child protection (External Merits Review Appeals)
Families ACT was recently consulted about the external merits review, as one of the first priorities of Next Steps. The review process aims to provide children and families with a way of appealing decisions made by CYPS through an independent panel. While the appeal mechanism has existed for some time it has been criticised by our Advisory Council members as being ineffective. The consultation was led by Professor Aron Shlonsky, head of the school of social work at Monash University. Aron has extensive experience of child protection systems both in Australia and overseas. The action research/focus group format of discussion promoted an environment where we were able not only to suggest how the ACT’s child protection service could be reformed, but also to refine our thinking on the subject by tapping into Aron’s considerable knowledge.
Sector Development
Places still available at upcoming ‘Trans and gender diverse clients’ workshops on 27 October 2022
We are collaborating with the Youth Coalition of the ACT on hosting a training on working with trans and gender diverse young people and families which was postponed because of the public holiday mourning the Queen’s death. More information about the workshop which will be delivered by A Gender Agenda, ACT’s leading trans, gender diverse and intersex peer support organisation can be found on Eventbrite and on our new webpage listing all the training and sector development we provide and facilitate. Updates and new training will be continually added, and we encourage you to have a look at what’s on offer for the rest of this year.
Best wishes,
Yvonne Gritschneder
comms@familiesact.org.au
Policy | Media | Research
