- Queensland launches state-wide campaign to promote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Family Wellbeing Services
- Family Wellbeing Services help parents and families safely care for and protect their children
The Palaszczuk Government has launched an ongoing state-wide campaign to encourage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families to access free Family Wellbeing Services.
Family Wellbeing Services help Indigenous parents to manage the everyday issues of raising a family, like sending kids to school, budgeting to make ends meet and learning how to prepare affordable and healthy meals.
Parents can also speak with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Family Wellbeing Services about complex issues like domestic and family violence, gambling and alcohol misuse.
Evidence shows early intervention like Family Wellbeing Services is paying off with children being kept out of the statutory child protection system.
For families who successfully worked with an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Family Wellbeing Service, the vast majority of children (89.7 per cent) were not subject to investigation by Child Safety within the following six months.
The service has helped more than 28,000 families since it was first rolled out in 2016.
There are 35 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Family Wellbeing Services operating in 56 locations across the state.
They provide free and confidential support and are delivered by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled organisations.
This means families receive culturally safe support based on community and family strengths, local needs and local knowledge from organisations they trust.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Child Safety Craig Crawford:
“Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children deserve the best start in life – growing up in communities they know, being part of their culture and having family around them.
“Protecting children and building strong families is a priority for the government but it is a shared responsibility – everyone has a role to play in keeping Queensland children safe.
“We know Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples benefit more when they are directly involved in making decisions affecting their wellbeing.
“That’s the strength of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Family Wellbeing Services, that they are operated by and for First Nations peoples.
“This campaign gets behind those services, raising awareness of the free and confidential support available for parents and families to support their children’s social, emotional, physical and spiritual wellbeing.
The state-wide campaign will run until 31 May 2024.
