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A new approach to children and family programs - Australian Government Department of Social Services - December 2025 -
Overview
In December 2025, The Salvation Army made a submission in response to the Department of Social Services’ proposed new approach to programs for families and children. Drawing on extensive experience delivering social services across Australia, the submission supports the vision and outcomes outlined but calls for greater emphasis on community, cultural inclusivity, and strengths-based support. It advocates for trauma-informed change management, sustainable funding, and approaches that reflect diverse family structures and cultural contexts. The Salvation Army stresses the importance of early intervention, community-led solutions, and integrated service delivery to improve outcomes for children and families.
Key Points
- Program Structure: Endorses a single national program with flexibility, reduced administrative burden, and relational contracting. Recommends adding a fourth funding stream for investment at the community level.
- Prioritising Investment: Supports priorities but urges stronger emphasis on place-based, community-led approaches and longer-term, adequate funding. Notes that housing and food security remain critical.
- Connected Services: Integration and collaboration are essential; co-location should be context-specific. Recommends investment in connectors and community navigators.
- Responding to Community Need: Funding decisions should consider local voices, readiness for change, and existing resources. Organisations should demonstrate responsiveness through data, co-design, and evidence of impact.
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Outcomes: Calls for co-design, cultural governance, trauma-informed practice, and Indigenous data sovereignty. Emphasises flexibility and choice.
- Measuring Outcomes: Seeks nationally consistent data, flexibility in outcome measures, and inclusion of qualitative feedback. Recommends building evaluation capacity and integrating lived experience voices.
- Relational Contracting: Supports contracts based on trust, shared purpose, and adaptability, with co-design and co-evaluation built in.