working better and smarter to improve services and lives€¦ · working better and smarter to...

Working better and smarter to improve services and lives

FACS stakeholder 2013–14 Budget briefing

18 June 2013

Published June 2013

Working better and smarter to improve services and lives | FACS Budget 2013–14 ■ 3

Contents

Message from the Minister for Family and Community Services and Minister for Women 4

Message from the Minister for Disability Services and Minister for Ageing 6

How FACS is improving services and lives 8

Reforms to improve services and lives 11

People with disability are supported to realise their potential 11

Seniors have the opportunity to participate fully in community life 12

Improving the lives of children and young people 14

Vulnerable and disadvantaged people are supported to access suitable and sustainable accommodation 16

Reducing domestic and family violence 19

Increasing women’s economic opportunities and participation 21

4 ■ Working better and smarter to improve services and lives | FACS Budget 2013–14

Message from the Minister for Family and Community Services and Minister for Women

Fundamental to our reforms is changing the way we provide services to vulnerable people. This means building stronger relationships with the people we help, recognising that they need to be engaged in meaningful ways in decisions affecting their lives. It also means integrating assistance with other supports so that we can better meet the needs of vulnerable people.

Alongside initiatives to improve how we deliver services, we need to encourage personal responsibility through mutual obligation. That doesn’t mean leaving people to navigate their challenges alone; indeed it means the opposite – improving the support clients need so they can help themselves address their own disadvantage.

In the 2013-14 Budget, the NSW Government continues to invest in FACS to drive our reform agenda. The NSW Government is investing $5.2 billion for services to improve the lives of vulnerable people, and $173 million for capital infrastructure. That is a 5.7% increase on last year’s budget. It demonstrates the Liberal and National Government’s commitment to reforming services to improve lives.

Working better and smarter to improve services and lives

The NSW Government is improving services and lives through real reforms to work better and smarter. Since the election of the NSW Liberal and National Government, we have been working hard on a wide-ranging reform agenda across child protection, social housing, homelessness, domestic violence, women’s economic opportunities, and disability services.

The reforms have one goal: to improve services and lives.

The reforms are governed by the NSW Government’s determination to break disadvantage, rather than just manage it. We can achieve this in three ways:

■■ integrated services aligned to people’s needs, which are delivered locally

■■ mutual obligation where people agree and work to improve their own lives

■■ stronger partnerships with non-government organisations (NGOs), philanthropists, other social investors and business.


Our wonderful non-government partners are instrumental in delivering real reform. Almost half the FACS 2013-14 Budget, $2.4 billion, will go to NGOs to deliver specialist services across child protection, disability services, social housing, homelessness and domestic violence.

Real reform is often difficult, but only real reform can deliver sustained improvement in people’s lives. Working better and smarter challenges us to be innovative. It challenges us to break old rules and do things in new ways. But nothing is more difficult than our clients’ intergenerational disadvantage. Improving services and lives means a better future for vulnerable children, young people and their families – and our State.

Pru Goward MP Minister for Family and Community Services Minister for Women


Message from the Minister for Disability Services and Minister for Ageing

During this transition period, a lifetime person-centred approach to support will be introduced for people with disability, including people with significant and enduring mental health conditions.

The NDIS provides a real opportunity for collaboration between the disability and mental health sectors to ensure that people with disability are given choice and control over their lives and to create greater inclusion in the broader community.

The commencement of the Boarding Houses Act 2012 and Boarding Houses Regulation 2013 means greater protection to this group of vulnerable people. It requires that proprietors of boarding houses not only register but also report details of residents with additional needs. Onus is also placed on the government to regularly monitor the needs of residents living in assisted boarding houses and provide them with services.

Effective laws and their enforcement are only part of ensuring that people don’t slip through the system.

Family and Community Services NSW is reforming the way it operates through a program of ‘localisation’. This involves organising the department into fifteen new districts which will take a holistic view of the needs of clients and the services it delivers to them.

Creating a more inclusive community for people with disability and older people

The NSW Government continues its commitment to reform disability services and prepare for the ageing of our population. This Budget builds on the solid foundations which have been laid, enabling us to move towards creating a more inclusive community for people with disability and older people.

In 2013–14, $2.7 billion will be invested to deliver improved services to older people and people with disability.

The introduction of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) next month will be a landmark in Australia’s history. New South Wales can be proud to be the first state to introduce this reform that will transform the lives of people with disability.

The decision-making power about the supports and services a person with disability needs to live the life they choose will now reside with the person who is affected most – the person with disability.

The eyes of Australia will be on the launch site in the Hunter as it leads the introduction of the NDIS nationally. The 2013–14 Budget includes a total of $550 million over three years, plus $35 million over four years for the Hunter launch, where 10,000 people with disability will be among the first to experience new individualised funding arrangements.


A Memorandum of Understanding between Ageing, Disability and Home Care (ADHC) and NSW Health commits both organisations to work together to provide safe, co-ordinated and accessible disability and mental health care.

Safe accommodation for people with disability is also a key priority of this government. This Budget has allocated $54 million over four years to retrofit group homes and supported accommodation with sprinklers and building safety measures.

The Fire and Building Safety Program will begin its investment with more than $16 million in this Budget period, which will ultimately result in the installation of sprinklers in 330 homes and the introduction of other life-saving measures within supported accommodation settings.

Last year, the NSW Government launched the NSW Ageing Strategy detailing the state’s plan for dealing with significant demographic change. The whole-of-government, whole-of-community response to ageing continues and this Budget dedicates $3.7 million to implement the strategy to remove the barriers to inclusion for older people.

The 2013–14 Budget is a significant one, reflecting inclusion as the ultimate goal and the creation of a community in which every member feels they belong.

Andrew Constance MP Minister for Disability Services Minister for Ageing


How FACS is improving services and lives

The Department of Family and Community Services (FACS) works to improve services and lives to ensure that:

■■ people with a disability are supported to realise their potential

■■ children and young people are protected from abuse and neglect

■■ vulnerable and disadvantaged people have suitable, stable and sustainable accommodation

■■ seniors have the opportunities to participate fully in community life

■■ women and children are safer from domestic, family and sexual violence

■■ women have access to economic opportunities and participation.

Like other states in Australia, NSW faces many social policy challenges, products of often complex and intertwined social and economic forces.

Examples of social forces at work in NSW and Australia today are the increasing demand for our services due to an ageing population, citizens’ increasing expectation of government, difficult social and community issues such as violence and substance misuse, mental illness, and intergenerational disadvantage.

These are tough challenges and the 2013–14 Budget invests in key reforms for FACS to deliver better services and improve the lives of those most in need.

FACS is continuing to drive the NSW Government’s reform agenda that puts people at the centre of everything we do.

Our goal is to break disadvantage, rather than simply manage it. We want to support people on a pathway to a full life. Our approach involves integrating services aligned to the needs of people, embedding mutual obligation in the support we provide, and stronger non-government engagement and partnerships.

For disability services, we will continue to build on the significant reform achievements made in improving the way people with disability, their families and carers access supports and services.

The NSW Government is working towards a new approach in empowering people with disability to make their own life choices. Through individualised funding arrangements, we are putting people with disability at the centre of decision making, allowing them to pick and choose the type of supports and services they need, when they need it.

The NSW Government is proud to lead the states and territories in agreeing to the full rollout of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) with the Commonwealth. This builds on the Scheme’s launch in the Hunter region in July 2013, where 10,000 people living in the Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and Maitland Local Government Areas will be among the first in the country to experience the new individualised funding arrangements which underpin the NDIS.

While the scheme is being launched in the Hunter, the NSW Government will continue to implement its Stronger Together 2 reforms, including self-directed supports and individualised budgets, to ensure the whole NSW system is positioned to move seamlessly to a NDIS. The NSW Government’s $2 billion, five-year increase in disability services, and the reforms to the NSW system are the foundations on which NSW was able to reach agreement with the Australian Government to ensure a full rollout of the NDIS in NSW by July 2018.


For vulnerable children and young people, the priority for FACS is to ensure that they are able to live in a safe, stable, loving and supportive family, to reduce intergenerational disadvantage. Achieving permanency more quickly for children involved with child protection services is a key focus of our child protection reforms.

For people in social housing, we need to provide opportunities, including incentives, for tenants to overcome the underlying causes of their disadvantage and move along a pathway to independence.

For people affected by domestic and family violence, FACS is working collaboratively across the NSW Government and with the non-government sector to deliver comprehensive and systemic reform.

Our approach involves working towards more integrated services that are aligned to people’s needs.

Within FACS, we are establishing fifteen new districts to enable more localised planning and decision-making, to support and empower our valued staff to provide services that are flexible, integrated and tailored to individual circumstances and local needs.

Government alone cannot and could never do everything. FACS is exploring and building partnerships across government and with the non-government sector to deliver personalised and coordinated responses to individual needs.

Improving lives for each individual and family and breaking disadvantage also requires a partnership between government and the people and families we assist.

FACS services should provide a safety net for those who need it most, but it is important that those who are capable of helping themselves help to achieve independence. In the future, FACS will increasingly craft improved support and assistance to incentivise and reward people who take greater personal or familial responsibilities.

The non-government sector is a core partner in the achievement of the NSW Government’s significant reform agenda. FACS is keen to extend the involvement of non-government organisations, the social investment community including philanthropists, the private sector and citizens in increasing the safety and wellbeing of our communities. By working closely with non-government partners, combining our efforts, more people will be reached with better services. Full indexation provided to FACS in this Budget will be passed on to NGOs and foster carers.

FACS will continue to work hard to find better ways of building the resilience and independence of vulnerable individuals and families so that they can address their challenges and live full lives.


How FACS is improving services and lives

The NSW Government is investing $5.2 billion (5.7% increase) in services and $173 million in capital infrastructure to improve services and lives for our state’s most vulnerable people. The Budget will help deliver the NSW Government’s strategic reform agenda in FACS and work towards our NSW 2021 goals.

2013–14 FACS Budget $000

Ageing, Disability and Home Care

Community Support for People with Disability, their Family and Carers

781,362

Short Term Intervention for People with Disability, their Family and Carers

392,598

Supported Accommodation for People with Disability

1,506,763

TOTAL 2,680,723

Protecting Children and Young People

Targeted Earlier Intervention for Vulnerable Children, Young People and Families

245,798

Statutory Child Protection 445,601

Out-of-Home Care for Vulnerable Children and Young People

798,917

TOTAL 1,490,316

Social Housing and Support for the Homeless

Social Housing Assistance and Tenancy Support

755,634

Homelessness Services 251,929

TOTAL 1,007,563

TOTAL FACS 2013–14 Budget 5,178,602


Reforms to improve services and lives

People with disability are supported to realise their potential

Challenges

■■ Approximately 500,000 people are supported through NSW Government- funded services.

■■ 80% of care and support is provided by family and friends.

■■ With an ageing population, it is estimated that care provided by family and friends is decreasing at a rate of 1.6% per annum.

■■ The estimated demand growth for disability services is between 9-10% per year.

■■ People with disability have more choice and better control of the support they need, when they need it.

Reform goals

■■ Individualised funding centred around a person enabling them to choose their supports as and when they need them.

■■ Support planning to assist people to plan for the future.

■■ Better access to information about the supports and services available to people with disability.

■■ Strengthen community inclusion that maximises opportunities for people with disability to participate in their communities.

■■ Ensure that investment continues in workforce and industry development in the sector’s capacity to drive reform.

The NSW Government is working to ensure that the fundamental human right of people with disability to make decisions about their supports and participate in community life becomes a reality in NSW.

FACS is building a person-centred system that places the person at the centre of decision making when it comes to the supports and services they use.

The Government’s vision for a person-centred system in NSW is one in which:

■■ individuals are supported to achieve their full potential and participate in their communities and the economy

■■ families and carers are supported to sustain a care relationship and pursue their own goals

■■ a diverse and sustainable service sector provides person-centred supports and services in cost effective ways

■■ FACS is continuing to roll out Stronger Together 2 (ST2) and is working on putting the necessary supports and mechanisms in place to enable the NSW disability system to transition to the NDIS by July 2018.

The NDIS will provide long term care and support to around 140,000 NSW residents with significant disability. It will give people with disability choice and control over the care and supports they receive.

This significant and transformational reform for people with disability will be launched in the Hunter area in July 2013, with 10,000 people with disability to be transitioned to the NDIS over three years.



Challenges

■■ The number of people living in NSW aged 65 years and over will increase from just over 1 million people to 2.3 million in 2050.

■■ It is expected that health will be the largest contribution to ageing-related expense growth over the next 40 years.

■■ The economic impact of people aged 45 to 64 who are not in the labour force is estimated at $18 billion annually.

■■ Today, 77% of seniors own their own home when they retire. It is anticipated that this figure will decrease to 55% by 2050.

Reform goals

■■ Engage with people in their middle years to help them plan ahead for their later years.

■■ Engage with the private sector in solutions and economic opportunities for a growing ageing population.

■■ Prevent and address abuse against older people.

Seniors have the opportunity to participate fully in community life

The NSW Ageing Strategy is a key step in the NSW Government responding to the challenges of an ageing population and outlines the opportunities and benefits for seniors in our communities. The Strategy highlights the initiatives for people to plan ahead for the future as they enter into retirement.

The NSW Government has developed this as a whole-of-government and whole-of-community strategy that removes barriers to continued participation by seniors. These reform activities will continue to be the focus in 2013–14.



The NSW Government is investing $2.7 billion in 2013–14 so people with disability are supported to realise their potential, and seniors can participate in community life.

Budget highlights

■■ Launch the NDIS from July 2013 in the Hunter area with support for 3,000 people with disability in the first year. Over a three-year period, $550 million, plus a further $35 million over four years, will be invested to support 10,000 eligible people with disability living in the Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and Maitland Local Government areas.

■■ Investments for ST2 will continue with the third year providing over $440 million (capital and recurrent funding) to deliver more than 9,000 places in additional disability support across NSW, with:

■■ over 900 places for supported accommodation

■■ over 2,800 places for flexible respite and more than 300 places for support networks for families, parents and people with disability

■■ continued introduction of self-directed and individualised funding arrangements.

■■ Over $54 million will be invested over four years in retrofitting group homes and supported accommodation facilities with sprinklers and building safety measures. The Fire and Building Safety Program has an allocation of more than $16 million in 2013–14 towards this program.

■■ $208 million in the Community Care Supports program which provides support to more than 51,000 people under 65 (under 50 for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people).

■■ $143 million in capital projects that provide 155 places.

■■ Continuing to service more than 1 million Senior Card members.

■■ Expanding the Elder Abuse Helpline and commence prevention activities.

■■ Commencement of community education activities for people in the middle years of their lives so they are well prepared leading into retirement.

■■ Continuation of training in 34 community colleges under the Tech Savvy Seniors program.

■■ Encouraging private sector solutions and economic opportunities for a growing ageing population.



Improving the lives of vulnerable children and young people

The transition of out-of-home care services to accredited non-government agencies is already delivering good results. We will continue to work with our NGO partners and investigate smarter ways of improving the lives of children and young people in foster care. This is just one area in which social investment can play a role.

The NSW Government has progressed two Social Benefit Bonds – the first two in Australia. A total of $7 million in private capital has already been raised by the Newpin Social Benefit Bond to expand UnitingCare Burnside’s Newpin program. The Benevolent Society Social Benefit Board will raise $10 million to fund their Intensive Family Support Service.

FACS is also working towards a fresh approach to improve services for at-risk children and young people in NSW, including innovative earlier intervention services led by NGOs to support young people aged 9-15 years to turn their lives around.

FACS is working to improve vulnerable children and young people’s lives every day with the aim of developing an effective and efficient child protection system.

The experiences of childhood have enduring effects throughout life. Disadvantage in childhood often continues into adulthood and transfers from parents to children, perpetuating a cycle of intergenerational disadvantage.

The NSW Government’s priority is to ensure that vulnerable children and young people are able to live in a safe, stable, loving and supportive family.

Under the Child Protection Reforms, the NSW Government is proposing a better balance between a parent’s rights and responsibilities, as well as achieving permanency more quickly for children involved with child protection services to minimise disruption in their lives.

FACS will continue implementing the Government’s extensive reform agenda to improve the child protection system, as well as continuing the transfer of out-of-home care services to the NGO sector.

A crucial part of child protection reform is better supporting and empowering the role of Community Services caseworkers, including removing administrative burdens that keep caseworkers away from vulnerable families. Practice First, a new model of child protection service delivery aligned with policy reforms, will help do that, so caseworkers can spend more time working with vulnerable children and their families.



Challenges

■■ There are more than 18,000 children and young people in out-of-home care.

■■ 61,000 children and young people in NSW are reported as being at risk of significant harm.

■■ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people continue to be over-represented in the child protection system.

■■ Children in care are less likely to complete their education and more likely to be involved in the juvenile justice system, experience homelessness and suffer mental health issues.

■■ Disadvantage in childhood often continues into adulthood and transfers from parents to children, creating a cycle of intergenerational disadvantage.

Reform goals

■■ Ensure that vulnerable children, young people and their families get the care they need when they need it.

■■ A responsive child protection system that meets the needs of vulnerable children and young people and their families.

■■ Help create better futures for children and young people by transferring out-of-home care to NGOs.

■■ Connect with more families in local communities by working in close partnership with government and non-government agencies, philanthropists and business.

■■ Better understand the types of support families need, tailored to their individual circumstances, by helping caseworkers spend more time with families.

The NSW Government is investing $1.5 billion in 2013–14 to protect vulnerable children, young people and their families.

Budget highlights

■■ $799 million for out-of-home care (OOHC) services to protect vulnerable children and young people who cannot live safely at home.

■■ $415 million of this is provided to accredited NGOs to deliver out-of-home care services.

■■ $446 million for statutory child protection services including $60 million for the Strengthening Families Program to protect children and families with quality supports and services, including supports for caseworkers to ensure families are engaged with these services to keep their children safe.

■■ $246 million for prevention and earlier intervention services for vulnerable children, young people and their families that address earlier signs of risk, including domestic and family violence, parental drug and alcohol misuse, and parental mental health issues.



Vulnerable and disadvantaged people are supported to access suitable and sustainable accommodation

Challenges

■■ The average length of a social housing tenancy is increasing.

■■ Over 95% of social housing tenants rely on Centrelink benefits as their main source of income, which means less rental revenue that can be put back into the social housing system.

■■ On Census night in 2011, about 28,000 people were homeless in NSW – there was a 20% increase in the overall rate of homelessness from the 2006 Census.

■■ The number of homeless young people – about 10,500 at the 2011 Census – continues to be a significant concern.

■■ The Commonwealth Government has not committed to a new long-term partnership to reduce homelessness.

Reform goals

■■ A housing system that provides better opportunities to help people overcome the underlying cause of their disadvantage.

■■ Reforming the specialist homeless service sector.

■■ Improved efficiency, fairness and transparency of the public housing system.

■■ Continued growth and sustainability of the community housing sector.

■■ Better life opportunities for Aboriginal people and their communities.

The NSW social housing system needs to help people overcome the underlying causes of their disadvantage. Without effective and integrated services to break disadvantage, housing assistance cannot be effective in enabling vulnerable people to live happy and productive lives.

FACS is exploring how the NSW social housing system can better support individuals and families to break disadvantage.

Increasing our clients’ personal responsibility to help them improve their lives requires FACS to improve the transparency of our service delivery and work better to integrate services and work more effectively with NGOs.

FACS is improving the efficiency and fairness of the public housing system including ensuring that tenants are paying the right amount of rent.

The NSW Government introduced reforms to ensure that NSW citizens are given clear and transparent information about the number of applicants waiting for social housing and how long an applicant can expect to wait for housing in any given location.

The NSW Government is reforming the Specialist Homelessness Service system through the Going Home Staying Home homelessness services reform plan. This plan will ensure that homelessness services balance the need to provide prevention and early intervention support with crisis and rapid rehousing options and post-crisis support.



The NSW Government is investing $1 billion in social housing and support for the homeless in 2013–14.

Budget highlights

■■ $138 million for specialist homelessness services.

■■ $162 million towards housing tenancy management.

■■ $66 million towards continuing the Community Housing leasing program

■■ $36 million to the Land and Housing Corporation to deliver 196 community housing dwellings, to be managed by the NGO sector.

■■ $29 million towards the transitional National Partnership Against Homelessness.

■■ $15 million for new homelessness housing support solutions.



Strengthening Aboriginal Housing

FACS recently appointed a new Chief Executive and eight new board members to the Aboriginal Housing Office. Their mandate is to ensure improved Aboriginal Housing services and support to better the lives of Aboriginal families.

FACS will achieve this goal by engaging with the Aboriginal community and moving towards a localised approach to support and services through:

■■ the development of values and guiding principles for Aboriginal service delivery which reaffirms our commitment to Aboriginal people and our partners

■■ the implementation of the NSW Government’s Opportunity, Choice, Healing, Responsibility Empowerment (OCHRE) report, which supports Aboriginal people by building workforce capability, creating economic empowerment, ensuring accountability, and including Aboriginal people in decision-making.

The NSW Government is investing $149 million in Aboriginal housing in 2013–14.

Budget highlights

■■ $26 million to repair and maintain dwellings for the Aboriginal community housing sector and $11 million to reform and strengthen the sector under the NSW Build and Grow strategy.

■■ $49 million to deliver 103 new dwellings under the National Partnership Agreement on Remote Indigenous Housing and through the Aboriginal Housing Office’s own capital works program.

■■ Improving employment and training opportunities for Aboriginal people in NSW through the Employment Related Accommodation (ERA) program.

■■ Continuing the Safe House program to support Aboriginal women and children affected by domestic and family violence with construction commencing on a new complex at Brewarrina.

■■ Implementation of a comprehensive Tenant Support and Education Program across remote areas of NSW.



Reducing domestic and family violence

Challenges

■■ The effects of family and domestic violence is estimated to cost the NSW economy at least $4.5 billion each year.

■■ Approximately 125,000 incidents are reported to NSW Police each year with just under 300,000 additional incidents estimated to be unreported.

■■ In NSW there are around 30 domestic violence-related murders every year.

■■ Securing the safety of victims (including children) who do encounter violence while changing their circumstances so they can get on with their lives instead of being drawn back into the cycle of violence.

Reform goals

■■ Develop prevention and early intervention programs that improve sector capacity.

■■ Establish new partnerships for early intervention and prevention approaches.

■■ Continue to work in partnership with NSW Government agencies and the non-government sector to build an integrated system that will better respond to people affected by domestic and family violence.

The NSW Government is reforming domestic and family violence services to help make women and children safer.

An important element of the NSW Government’s reform agenda is integrating improved services to better support victims of domestic and family violence. Information sharing, minimum practice standards, a risk identification tool to provide consistent assessment, and multi-agency safety action meetings will ensure all victims receive a minimum level of response that both supports and helps them recover from the violence.

FACS has established and supported many broad and effective services to assist people to break the cycle of disadvantage, especially when caused by domestic and family violence and its intergenerational effect.

FACS is partnering with other government agencies to develop whole-of-government reforms to build an integrated system that will better respond to people affected by domestic and family violence in NSW.

These reforms create foundational change by increasing early prevention efforts, improving service system design, creating governance and accountability and improved practice standards and responses.

A collaborative approach has been adopted for the reforms with consultations continuing through 2013–14.



Budget highlights

■■ $3 million in 2013–14 for prevention and early intervention programs that improve sector capacity, builds the evidence base, establishes a men’s telephone counselling and referral service, and new partnerships for early intervention and prevention approaches.

■■ Supporting The Older Women’s Network NSW to promote the rights, dignity and wellbeing of older women.

■■ Continuing the Safe Houses Program that provides local housing solutions for Indigenous women and children escaping domestic violence in Western NSW.

■■ Continued support for a number of community-based domestic and family violence services, including the Staying Home Leaving Violence initiative, the Domestic Violence Line and the Integrated Family and Domestic Violence Service Program.

■■ Continuing the Start Safely program which funds NGOs to provide Specialist Homelessness Services that specifically target women, and provides other local and regional homelessness initiatives that support women.



Increasing women’s economic opportunities and participation

Challenges

■■ Gender equality in the workforce is an important issue for the NSW economy.

■■ Only 10% of jobs in the construction industry and 11% in the mining sector in NSW are performed by women.

Reform goals

■■ Create new funding programs that support women and girls to enter and remain in non-traditional roles.

■■ Continue to take specialist advice from the Council for Women’s Economic Opportunity on strategies to support women.

Budget highlights

■■ $200,000 for Investing in Women, a new program that supports women and girls to enter and remain in non- traditional trades.

The NSW Government is working to increase the number of women working in non-traditional trades so that they can access high-demand, well-paid jobs that until now have been traditionally performed by men.

The Council for Women’s Economic Opportunity has been established to provide specialist advice to the NSW Government on strategies to give women greater economic opportunities.

FACS is building many partnerships with organisations in the private sector and within government which have similar goals of increasing the proportion of women and girls in non-traditional occupations.

Gender equality in the workforce is an important issue for both the NSW economy and the economic and social independence of women.

FACS is working in partnership with Supporting and Linking Tradeswomen (SALT), Skillsone TV, Ausgrid and Wollondilly Shire Council to develop strategies and initiatives that encourage women and girls to complete training in the non-traditional trades and to maintain employment as tradespeople.

Partnerships are being forged with other government agencies, such as working with TAFE NSW to develop mentoring resources and a support network for women undertaking training in non-traditional trades. Another partnership is with Vocational Education and Training to establish the Girls in Trades Ambassadors program for careers advisers to facilitate better education and opportunities for girls to train and work in non-traditional trades.

Department of Family and Community Services

Ph: (02) 9377 6000TTY: (02) 9377 6167 (for people who are deaf) Email: [email protected] Web: www.facs.nsw.gov.au

3047

FA

CS

170

613

working better and smarter to improve services and lives€¦ · working better and smarter to...

Documents