making a difference Enfi eld Primary School Café (Children and Families Everywhere), Enfield, South Australia

making a difference

Enfi eld Primary School Café (Children and Families Everywhere), Enfield, South Australia

Research shows that disadvantaged children and families benefi t from integrated service delivery and this support is most effective when it starts at the earliest point in a child’s life.

Enfield has created an environment where families can safely come together in their chosen activities or to have a coffee and a chat. It has helped create strengths within the community. From the parent support groups to community consultations, Café Enfield has become a vital support for local families. The project has been funded by the Stronger Families and Communities Strategy for three years, beginning in 2001.

The Enfield Early Learning Service will receive $200 000 over the next two years for an extension of the Café project. This funding will enable the continuation of a child development and parenting centre in Enfi eld that provides opportunities for young children and their families in the surrounding areas to maximise their potential.

The project will achieve its ends through the use of a central place where services can be provided and where families can get together to identify their needs and develop possible solutions. A range of early childhood and parenting programs, community activities and children’s activities will also be provided.

The project will rely on volunteer participation and community consultations that respond to community need. Integrated service delivery will enable families to get complete help and access to health, education and community services.

The project has been designed to facilitate the establishment of a new model for family centres that is underpinned by integrated services and community involvement. It focuses on early intervention strategies in the areas of education, health and care for families with children from infants to 12-year-olds. It also focuses on community empowerment through the families themselves deciding on the activities and supports they need in order to sustain a positive lifestyle.

More help for families

In its 2004-05 Budget, the Government announced the More Help for Families package of $19.2 billion over five years—the largest-ever single Budget initiative for families.

In the lead-up to the Budget, FaCS was instrumental in providing developed and fully costed options to government.

Thanks to extensive cross-government collaboration, and in a challenging timeframe, FaCS and Centrelink established clear business requirements for computer system changes and necessary interactions with the Tax Office.

Over the last financial year, FaCS provided considered and comprehensive policy advice to government on family assistance, first through the Work and Family Taskforce chaired by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, and then, given our shared responsibility for the Family Tax Benefit (FTB) program, in joint work with the Department of the Treasury.

FaCS was instrumental in providing developed and fully costed options to the Government, which then announced the largest-ever single Budget initiative for families—$19.2 billion over five years.

FaCS was then called upon to deliver multibillion dollar program changes, working with other Australian Government agencies within a very tight timeframe, so families could benefit from these changes as soon as possible.

The Government was able to introduce legislation the day after the Budget speech, on the evening of Tuesday 11 May 2004, which was passed through the Parliament later that week. FaCS and Centrelink established clear business requirements for computer system changes and necessary interactions with the Tax Office. This enabled many one-off payments to be made to Family Tax Benefit Part A customers before the end of June 2004. Changes to the structure of Family Tax Benefit Part A and Family Tax Benefit Part B were also put in place, along with introduction of the new Maternity Payment from 1 July 2004—less than 45 days after the Budget announcement. Meanwhile, families were being informed of the changes through a range of communication approaches.

This has been a clear example of extensive cross-government collaboration, particularly between FaCS, the Department of the Treasury, Centrelink and the Tax Office, and FaCS is proud to have played a major role in implementing such a major set of initiatives in the challenging timeframe set by the Government.

Further work will be required in 2004-05 to continue implementing a number of changes, and FaCS will continue to manage this process effectively.

The More Help for Families package helps families raise their children, helps them balance their work and family responsibilities and improves the rewards from work. It includes:

a $600 one-off per child payment for FTB Part A and for other eligible children, paid to most families before 30 June 2004

a $1000 one-off payment for Carer Payment recipients and a one-off $600 payment for Carer Allowance recipients paid for each care receiver

a universal Maternity Payment of $3000, which will be introduced from 1 July 2004, increasing to $4000 from July 2006 and $5000 from July 2008

an ongoing increase in the rate of FTB Part A of $600 per child, which will be available as a lump sum after tax returns are lodged

a reduction in the main FTB Part A taper rate and the FTB Part B taper rate from 30 cents in the dollar to 20 cents, to allow families to keep more assistance as their income increases

an increase in the FTB Part B income threshold so that second earners in a couple can earn $4000 per year before their FTB Part B starts to reduce (up from the current threshold of $1825 per year)

from 1 July 2005 when parents return to work after caring for a child, the FTB Part B they received during the financial year in which they return to work will not be affected by the FTB income test, no matter how much they earn afterwards.