Community Services Directorate Strategic Plan
Our purpose
We empower Canberrans to meet their full potential within inclusive and strong communities where everyone is respected and valued.
Our wellbeing objectives
We have 4 areas that connect the outcomes of our work to the ACT Wellbeing Framework:
- Safety: People are safe in their homes, relationships and communities.
- Housing needs: People are in homes that meet their needs.
- Access to services: Services are easy to find and provide the right support.
- Identity and belonging: Canberrans participate fully in society with self-determination.
The framework reflects key factors that impact on the quality of life of Canberrans. Measuring wellbeing will help us understand how we can improve the lives of all Canberrans and support those who need it most.
Our priorities
We deliver on policy and programs through the Parliamentary and Governing Agreement of the 10th Legislative Assembly.
We have 7 priority areas under our current Budget Statement.
Prevent and respond to domestic, family and sexual violence
- Design and pilot a structured Victim Survivor Consultation Program to ensure the voices and experiences of victim survivors are central to domestic, family and sexual violence reforms.
- Establish a dedicated service for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and children in the ACT who have experienced domestic and family violence. This will be delivered by an Aboriginal and Community Controlled Organisation.
- Develop an ACT domestic, family and sexual violence strategy that will inform the development of a sector capability plan and a prevention plan.
- Design and pilot an inclusive, highly responsive and culturally safe Multidisciplinary Centre (MDC) in the ACT to embed a victim survivor-centred and coordinated approach for specialist sexual violence responses and services.
- Scope, appoint and establish the role of Independent Sexual Violence Advisers to support victim-survivors of sexual violence and the establishment of the MDC. These advisers will support a coordinated trauma-aware and healing-informed response, tailored to the needs of victim survivors.
- Review specialist domestic, family and sexual violence services to understand where operational improvements are needed to address victim survivors' needs.
- Continue to support a cross-agency taskforce to review recent sexual assault cases reported to ACT Policing that were not progressed to charge, including those deemed unfounded, uncleared or withdrawn.
- Oversee the collection of case data and information from ACT Government agencies to commence a historic review of domestic violence deaths.
- Expand the delivery of the Health Justice Partnerships to further support early intervention for pregnant women and new families at risk of domestic and family violence, to receive free legal support in a health and family services settings.
- Drive early intervention responses for children and young people who are victim survivors of domestic and family violence including upskilling workers in the youth sector with tailored Domestic and Family Violence training, and piloting programs for children and young people.
- Support the Family Violence and Sexual Assault Prevention Program to become a business-as-usual model, embedded in the ACT response system to ensure an ongoing integrated, inclusive and coordinated approach to the needs of high-risk families.
- Support the design and pilot of a model to incorporate the expertise of people with lived experience of domestic, family and sexual violence into policy and program design.
- Progress legislative reforms to establish a domestic and family violence information sharing scheme and support agencies to effectively implement the scheme.
- Develop materials to embed the ACT Domestic and Family Violence Risk Assessment and Management Framework within the human services sector to ensure common language and processes to keep victim survivors safe.
- Undertake market research to understand the knowledge gaps and the best strategies of communicating changes to an affirmative consent model within the local community.
Stronger outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
- Drive policy reform to enable self-determination by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples living in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).
- Provide strategic oversight and coordination on the ACT Government’s commitments under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Agreement 2019-2028 and the National Agreement on Closing the Gap.
- Work in partnership with the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body (Elected Body) and ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to deliver the action plans under the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Agreement 2019-2028.
- Support the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community through cultural, leadership and scholarship grant programs.
- Support the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Co-design Network to develop community-led solutions to issues impacting community.
- Support the Our Booris, Our Way Implementation Oversight Committee to ensure the implementation of the Our Booris, Our Way Review recommendations.
- Implement the Our Booris, Our Way Review in partnership with the community to ensure more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people grow up connected to their family and culture.
- Progress the recommendations from the We Don’t Shoot Our Wounded Report to address family violence issues, guided by representatives from the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.
- Build, enhance and support the Aboriginal community controlled sector by establishing relationship-based partnership approaches and wrap around services.
- Deliver a new service system for Child, Young People and Families underpinned by culturally safe, trauma aware and healing informed practices as part of the Next Steps reform agenda.
- Deliver Family Group Conferencing and Functional Family Therapy, to improve outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people.
- Work closely with Gugan Gulwan to construct a purpose-built facility on the existing site to deliver expanded services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, young people and families.
- Work in partnership with local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to deliver activities utilising the $20 million Healing and Reconciliation Fund.
Strengthen social and public housing and homelessness services
- An investment of $177.068 million over the next four years to provide sustainable funding for public housing. Public housing has experienced reduced viability over several years primarily resulting from rental income not keeping pace with expenditure growth. This investment will maintain and grow portfolio numbers while continuing to provide maintenance and tenancy services.
- An investment of $16.636 million over three years to further expand the capacity of frontline homelessness services to meet current and growing demand and continue specialist homelessness programs that commenced during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Implementing the ACT Housing Strategy: Growing and Renewing Public Housing program that guides a net investment of $257 million over six years to continue the renewal of public housing, support housing stock growth and better meet the needs of current and future housing tenants. This plan implements the ACT Housing Strategy and its goal to strengthen social housing assistance by delivering safe and affordable housing to support low income and disadvantaged Canberrans.
- Undertaking ongoing evaluation and review of homelessness services to ensure funding continues to meet needs of people experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness.
- Continuing to support the expanded hours of operation of the Early Morning Centre.
- Continuing to support the establishment of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Controlled housing organisation.
- Continuing to work with lead directorates to implement the Vulnerable Household Energy Support Scheme for public housing.
- Continuing Business Process Reengineering projects across application, assessment, allocation and tenant experience to improve efficiency and customer experience.
- Enhancing digital service delivery channels to ensure public housing tenants and other members of the community are able to access essential housing and homelessness services 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Stronger partnerships and commitment to best practise
- Enhance the ACT Senior Practitioner’s oversight of restrictive practices and work towards reducing and eliminating their use in care and protection, disability services and the education sectors.
- Support the Strengthening Practice Committee to strengthen the quality of child protection policy and practice in the ACT and to foster ongoing improvement of the child protection system.
- Regulate care and protection, community housing, and non-NDIS specialist disability service providers to ensure effective service delivery, promote sector development and to reduce regulatory barriers.
- Continue to develop best practice complaints handling and management to continuously improve policy and service offerings.
- Support the ACT Children and Young People Death Review Committee to work towards the reduction of preventable deaths of children and young people in the ACT.
- Support the Audit and Risk Management Committee, Strategic Board of Management and the Director-General to ensure the directorate’s compliance with the legislative and governance frameworks and better practices.
- Continue to deliver the Commissioning for Outcomes initiative in partnership with the community sector and ACT human services Directorates.
Strengthen the capacity of people with disability, their families and carers
- Develop and implement a new ACT Disability Strategy informed by a co-designed consultation process led by the Disability Reference Group.
- Deliver programs, events and grants to ensure people with disability are able to fully enjoy their rights as citizens.
- Continue to implement the Integrated Service Response Program (ISRP) to ensure people with disability with complex needs receive a coordinated response from the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and mainstream service systems.
- Work in partnership with the Commonwealth Government on the ongoing implementation and operationalisation of the NDIS, including supporting its review.
- Develop the second action plan of the Disability Justice Strategy to ensure people with disability have access to and are treated equally before the law.
- Support greater utilisation of Specialist Disability Accommodation funding for eligible NDIS participants within the ACT.
Improve outcomes for children, young people and families
- Deliver Next Steps for Our Kids 2022-2030 to underpin reform to out of home care for the next 8 years, including sourcing and commissioning of services from 1 July 2022, the co-design of the first four-year action plans and development of a new performance management framework.
- Deliver the Australian Early Development Census in the ACT, in partnership with the Commonwealth with the purpose of using this data to understand early childhood wellbeing and development in the ACT.
- Continue work to amend the Children and Young People Act 2008 (the Act) to establish a quality framework for the ACT’s child protection and family support system and address key priorities outlined in the 10th Parliamentary and Governing Agreement. The amendments to the Act are aimed at building transparency and confidence in the child protection system and enabling a shift to a family services approach.
- Promote effective and evidence-based interventions that reduce re-offending and contribute to the long-term success and wellbeing of young people in the youth justice system.
- Build capacity and strengthen oversight in Child and Youth Protection Services to ensure better practice, continuous improvement and compliance, in the delivery of services to vulnerable and at-risk children, young people and their families.
- Establish the Child and Family Reform Ministerial Advisory Council.
- Continue to improve the Child and Youth Record Information System (CYRIS).
- Continue to deliver the Children and Young People Equipment Loan Schemes (CAYPELS).
- Continue to deliver the Autism Spectrum Disorder Assessment Service.
- Plan and move existing services out of the Child Development Service in Holder before the end of the life of the building is reached.
- Develop practical actions and test approaches to establish an ACT-wide Child and Family Network.
- Launch the first action plan under Best Start for Canberra’s Children: First 1000 Days Strategy in partnership with the community and ACT Health Directorate.
- Work across government and with community partners to develop system reform and service redesign to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility.
Contribute to social inclusion and connected communities
- Lead the provision of initiatives, policies, grants awards and programs, including support to Ministerial Advisory Councils, which contribute to social inclusion and community connection across the multicultural affairs, women, youth, disability, seniors, veterans and social recovery portfolios.
- Build on existing services and supports, including the Child and Family Centres, to develop a child and family network to strengthen the availability of services at the right time and place for all families.
- Deliver the annual National Multicultural Festival (NMF) including the NMF Grant Program.
- Support the arrival and settlement of refugees, asylum seekers and new migrants, including through employment participation services.
- Develop the ACT Social Recovery Framework to ensure the effective delivery of legislated social recovery requirements following territory emergencies.
- Continue delivery of the Disability Justice Strategy Action Plan, the ACT Women’s Plan, ACT Carers Strategy and Age-Friendly City Plan in collaboration with the community and government agencies.
- Implement the newly enacted Multiculturalism Act 2023.
- Commission a Sector Sustainability Program, in partnership with the Non-Government Organisation (NGO) sector, which will implement strategies to address the agreed recommendations of the Counting the Costs report.