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Annual Report 06–07
Output 2: Child Support Agency—Performance—Effective stakeholder relations and engagment
Stakeholder engagement
The development of a CSA stakeholder engagement strategy commenced during the year. To explore issues and opportunities to achieve mutual outcomes and strengthen relationships, CSA met with key stakeholders such as:
- Australian Institute of Family Studies;
- Dads in Distress;
- Family Court of Australia;
- Family Relationship Centre and Family Relationship Service providers;
- Legal Aid;
- Lone Fathers Association of Australia;
- National Council of Single Mothers and their Children;
- Shared Parenting Council of Australia; and
- Sole Parents Union.
This engagement occurred at both national and state levels, including through State Manager Advisory Panels.
Most of these stakeholders are members of the Child Support National Stakeholder Engagement Group, established in November 2006 by CSA and the Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. The Group provides for effective engagement and consultation in relation to Child Support including the implementation of the Child Support Scheme reforms and Building a Better CSA. Three meetings were held in 2006–07 and feedback confirmed that the initiative was valued by all involved.
As a part of its plans to promote access to support services for separated parents, CSA initiated an employer engagement strategy which includes seminars titled ‘Connecting with business to improve workplace productivity and support for separated parents’. This strategy also involves engaging with large employers and business groups to build greater understanding and collaboration in relation to the collection of child support and the administrative benefits of CSAonline. The first of the seminars was held in Perth in May 2007 and similar events are planned for 2007–08.
During the year, CSA continued to engage with key customer representative groups and attended their meetings and conferences. This cooperation continued to build stronger relationships and understanding of CSA and the child support system, as well as providing an effective avenue for customer concerns to be addressed.
CSA also worked closely with Members of Parliament, both through CSA’s own local liaison programme and as a part of the Human Services Portfolio Local Liaison Network. This provided direct access to a nominated member of staff who took responsibility for helping the constituent navigate the child support system and get timely outcomes.
CSA invited the Attorney-General’s Department to join CSA in working to develop new international agreements on child support collection and cooperation between countries at The Hague. This work is expected to be finalised in 2007–08, following a meeting of relevant officials.
Government and community partnerships
Building on a partnership established in May 2006, CSA and beyondblue—the national organisation working to address issues associated with depression—developed and launched a new information product, Separated parents and tough times. This resource and other CSA information products were distributed widely through a key partnership established in 2006–07 between CSA and the Australian General Practice Network (AGPN), which represents general medical practitioners.
The partnership with the AGPN has been valuable in supporting activities such as joint Media releases and promotions of information resources and services, and the use of CSA’s Community Services Directory to assist general practitioners with non-medical referrals. CSA sees this partnership as a good example of how joint activity can be leveraged to achieve outcomes that could not be achieved by the individual organisations.
Another important partnership established during the year involved the Starlight Children’s Foundation. CSA established a memorandum of understanding with the foundation in February 2007, and has been working with the foundation on ways to derive mutual benefits from collaborative activities. In May 2007, CSA participated in Starlight Day, the annual fundraising event for the foundation.CSA believes the partnership has a strong affinity with the agency’s mission and its focus on children, and will become an important vehicle for CSA staff who choose to contribute to the community outside their work.
Discussions commenced with a number of other potential partners that were identified as presenting opportunities to enhance the effectiveness of CSA’s outreach activities.
Seamless referrals
In 2006–07, CSA focused on building commitment and processes to achieve seamless service delivery for separated parents. CSA worked with Crisis Support Services and Centrelink to provide support services for parents and, where appropriate, assisted other Human Services’ customers using a customer-focused handover process which involves a three-way discussion between the customer, CSA’s Customer Service Officer and the referral agency.
CSA worked closely with the Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, the Attorney-General’s Department and the newly established Family Law Advice Line and Family Relationship Centres to ensure a smooth implementation of referrals between organisations. The new referrals network provided information and mediation services to support separating and separated parents, and to resolve difficulties they were experiencing with child support and related family law issues. A total of 6,112 referrals were made during the year. That number is expected to increase in the future as the number of centres grows and the value of their services becomes more widely known.