Future Directions

In line with our Strategic Plan, Families Australia's key objectives are to:

  • inform and influence national policies which relate to families
  • promote the importance and needs of families at the national level 
  • act as a two-way conduit for information to and from the family sector.

In 2007-08, Families Australia will undertake to achieve these objectives, in consultation with its members, by:

  • understanding and promoting the views of families and Families Australia member organisations on key and emerging family issues on the basis of focus groups, meetings, surveys and forums
  • developing and disseminating positions on a wide range of policy issues such as family wellbeing, Indigenous families, work and family, child protection, substance abuse, the Forgotten Australians, and grandparenting
  • providing strategic policy input to Government Ministers, the Australian Parliament and Government officials on family-related issues
  • planning a major conference to be held in October-November 2008 on the impact on families of the ageing population
  • advancing the needs and interests of the Alliance for Forgotten Australians
  • leading the development of a national family wellbeing framework, based on the outcomes of the June 2007 National Family Wellbeing Symposium
  • advancing the development of the National Child Protection Strategy
  • increasing the level of participation in National Families Week in May 2008
  • enhancing services to Families Australia's members.

In pursuing these directions, the Families Australia Board wishes to further build the reputation of the organisation as an independent national voice on family matters which fosters a good national public policy environment in which family-related issues and the family sector can prosper, and which focuses on informing and influencing national policy.

We are a strong advocate for the cultural diversity and the value of families, pro-active in support of justice and equity for Australian Aboriginal and Islander peoples, and endeavour not to duplicate what any of our members do.