Over the past five years, South Australia’s Child and Family Support System has undergone significant reform, guided by co-design, cultural safety, trauma responsiveness, and a strong learning approach. This page reflects on our journey so far and highlights the positive impact these changes are having for children and families.
We acknowledge and respect Aboriginal people as the first people of this country and recognise the traditional custodians of the lands in South Australia.
We acknowledge that the cultural, spiritual, social, economic, and parenting practices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people come from traditional lands, waters, skies, and that the cultural and heritage beliefs, languages and lore are still living and of great importance today.
We acknowledge elders past, present and those emerging, which are Aboriginal children. We further acknowledge Aboriginal staff, families and communities working to keep children safe in the protective strengths of culture, with a strong sense of self and identity.
We are committed to voice and truth telling, ensuring that the needs and aspirations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are incorporated in the design, development, delivery and evaluation of efforts across the Child and Family Support System.
In South Australia, we have a shared vision: that all children grow up safe, happy, and thriving—within their family, community and culture. Yet we know that many families face significant pressures and complex challenges that can make it difficult to respond to their children’s needs and provide safe and nurturing environments.
The Child and Family Support System (CFSS) has been designed to provide more effective, tailored and coordinated prevention and early intervention services for children and families.
To build the knowledge required to deliver better family support services, a learning system approach has been embedded in the CFSS. This draws on a rich tapestry of evidence: data, research, practitioner insights, lived experience, and the cultural knowledge of Aboriginal people. It reflects the belief that meaningful change comes from listening deeply, learning together, and acting with purpose.
A learning approach for the CFSS reflects on the progress that has been made in developing the CFSS and what we are learning about the needs of children and families and the outcomes that are being achieved.
This knowledge is shaping more responsive and effective practice approaches and helping to build services that are truly aligned with the needs of the children, families and communities we serve.
We can contribute to changing generational outcomes by working strongly together and as early as possible with children and families who need additional support.
Over the past five years, we have been on a significant journey to design and implement a new system of child and family support services in South Australia.
We have focussed our efforts on responding earlier, to improve outcomes for children and families. To do this, we have sought to understand what children and families need from a targeted service system that is ‘fit for purpose’.
The Child and Family Support System (CFSS) is a combined system of non-statutory services and supports delivered by government, non-government organisations (NGOs) and Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOs). Services and supports are designed to respond to different degrees of complexity and safety concerns of children and families.
Our priorities and approaches have been fundamentally co-designed by the people who use, deliver and engage with child and family support services. This co-design process provided consensus and a strong commitment to collaboratively progress shared direction for the design and implementation of the new system.
The Roadmap for reforming the CFSS (2021– 2023) laid out the approach taken across four priority areas, all underpinned by ‘Our Healing Approach’ that combines cultural safety and trauma responsiveness.
We have embedded a ‘learning system’ that supports a holistic and iterative approach to evidence development. This is enabling a better understanding of the needs of families and the outcomes that are being achieved. Our CFSS Learning System brings together data, research, system observation, practitioner experience and builds deeper understandings of the lived and living experience of children and families, and the cultural knowledge and experience of Aboriginal people.
In partnership with our sector, our CFSS workforce and those with lived and living experience, we have built a cohesive, coherent and inclusive system of supports for children and families that is continuously learning, reflecting, adapting and improving.
A learning approach for the CFSS reflects on and celebrates our progress we have made in the first phase of reform and shares what we are learning about the different needs, complexities and characteristics of children and families referred to the CFSS and the collective impact of our system.
New research is showing that CFSS services are helping families stay together. Each year, CFSS Intensive Family Services (IFS) support around 2,600 children. Our research shows that there is a 93.2% family preservation rate after 24 months. 1
Reference list
- BetterStart Health and Development Research Group, University of Adelaide, DHS Intensive Family Service: Quasi-experimental evaluation (2025)
Child and Family Support System
The development and implementation of a new evidence-driven system of child and family support services has been underpinned by a shared vision to keep all children safe and well at home in their family, community and culture.
Our Priority Areas
The CFSS reform has been focussed on actions under four key priority areas:
- Priority 1: Pathways - Ensuring the right support is provided at the right time
- Priority 2: Service integrity - Strengthening practice and workforce
- Priority 3: Service investments - Commissioning for child safety and wellbeing outcomes
- Priority 4: Building evidence - Voices and data for system improvement and service outcomes.
Central to these priority areas is ‘Our Healing Approach’, an overarching commitment for all efforts to be intentionally working together to create a trauma responsive and healing system.
The development and implementation of a new evidence-driven system of child and family support services has been underpinned by a shared vision to keep all children safe and well at home in their family, community and culture.
Our Priority Areas
The CFSS reform has been focussed on actions under four key priority areas:
- Priority 1: Pathways - Ensuring the right support is provided at the right time
- Priority 2: Service integrity - Strengthening practice and workforce
- Priority 3: Service investments - Commissioning for child safety and wellbeing outcomes
- Priority 4: Building evidence - Voices and data for system improvement and service outcomes.
Central to these priority areas is ‘Our Healing Approach’, an overarching commitment for all efforts to be intentionally working together to create a trauma responsive and healing system.
In designing a new system of services that can provide earlier support for families with complex needs, we have had a paradigm shift away from thinking family support is something that is needed for a small number in our population.
From our research, we know that in South Australia there are approximately 9,000 families (with more than 14,000 children) who are at high risk of repeated and escalating involvement with the statutory child protection system each year.
These findings are supported by national research. The Australian Child Maltreatment Study (ACMS) found that child maltreatment is widespread, with 62.2% of the Australian population experiencing at least one type of maltreatment in childhood.1
The drivers of child maltreatment are well known:
- parenting capacity is significantly affected by socioeconomic disadvantage and poverty,
- insecure or unaffordable housing,
- disability, domestic and family violence, and
- substance use.
We know these causes are complex, multi-dimensional and often interconnected and that we must consider the holistic wellbeing of children and families in our approach.
The volume of need is high
- 62.2% of the Australian population report experiencing at least one type of maltreatment in childhood.1
- More than 42,000 children in SA are notified to the Department of Child Protection each year. 2
- 1 in 3 children will be notified by age 10. 2
We can identify and engage early through child protection notifications 2
- 1 in 10 children are notified before age 1.
- 80% of these children are re-notified at least once before age 5.
- 40% of these children are re-notified five or more times before age 5.
Maltreatment is deeply connected to socioeconomic disadvantage 2
- 1 in 20 children born in SA will be subject to a substantiated allegation of child maltreatment.
- Around 70% of substantiations for child maltreatment come from SA’s most disadvantaged areas.
Outcomes for Aboriginal children are disproportionately worse 3
- Almost 1 in 2 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander children were notified to child protection in 2020 to 2021 compared to 1 in 12 non-Aboriginal children.
- About 1 in 10 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander children experienced at least one out-of-home care placement compared to 1 in 100 of the non-Aboriginal population.
Reference List
- Haslam D, Mathews B, Pacella R, Scott JG, Finkelhor D, Higgins DJ, Meinck F, Erskine HE, Thomas HJ, Lawrence D, Malacova E. (2023). The prevalence and impact of child maltreatment in Australia: Findings from the Australian Child Maltreatment Study: Brief Report. Australian Child Maltreatment Study, Queensland University of Technology. https://doi.org/10.5204/rep.eprints.239397
- Pilkington R, Lynch J. (2023). Witness Statement: Royal Commission into Early Childhood Education and Care. Adelaide: BetterStart Health and Development Research Group, The University of Adelaide.
- Montgomerie A, Dobrovic J, Pilkington R, Lynch J. (2023). Analysis of child protection contact to support the SA Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People’s Inquiry into the application of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle. BetterStart, University of Adelaide.
In designing a new system of services that can provide earlier support for families with complex needs, we have had a paradigm shift away from thinking family support is something that is needed for a small number in our population.
From our research, we know that in South Australia there are approximately 9,000 families (with more than 14,000 children) who are at high risk of repeated and escalating involvement with the statutory child protection system each year.
These findings are supported by national research. The Australian Child Maltreatment Study (ACMS) found that child maltreatment is widespread, with 62.2% of the Australian population experiencing at least one type of maltreatment in childhood.1
The drivers of child maltreatment are well known:
- parenting capacity is significantly affected by socioeconomic disadvantage and poverty,
- insecure or unaffordable housing,
- disability, domestic and family violence, and
- substance use.
We know these causes are complex, multi-dimensional and often interconnected and that we must consider the holistic wellbeing of children and families in our approach.
The volume of need is high
- 62.2% of the Australian population report experiencing at least one type of maltreatment in childhood.1
- More than 42,000 children in SA are notified to the Department of Child Protection each year. 2
- 1 in 3 children will be notified by age 10. 2
We can identify and engage early through child protection notifications 2
- 1 in 10 children are notified before age 1.
- 80% of these children are re-notified at least once before age 5.
- 40% of these children are re-notified five or more times before age 5.
Maltreatment is deeply connected to socioeconomic disadvantage 2
- 1 in 20 children born in SA will be subject to a substantiated allegation of child maltreatment.
- Around 70% of substantiations for child maltreatment come from SA’s most disadvantaged areas.
Outcomes for Aboriginal children are disproportionately worse 3
- Almost 1 in 2 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander children were notified to child protection in 2020 to 2021 compared to 1 in 12 non-Aboriginal children.
- About 1 in 10 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander children experienced at least one out-of-home care placement compared to 1 in 100 of the non-Aboriginal population.
Reference List
- Haslam D, Mathews B, Pacella R, Scott JG, Finkelhor D, Higgins DJ, Meinck F, Erskine HE, Thomas HJ, Lawrence D, Malacova E. (2023). The prevalence and impact of child maltreatment in Australia: Findings from the Australian Child Maltreatment Study: Brief Report. Australian Child Maltreatment Study, Queensland University of Technology. https://doi.org/10.5204/rep.eprints.239397
- Pilkington R, Lynch J. (2023). Witness Statement: Royal Commission into Early Childhood Education and Care. Adelaide: BetterStart Health and Development Research Group, The University of Adelaide.
- Montgomerie A, Dobrovic J, Pilkington R, Lynch J. (2023). Analysis of child protection contact to support the SA Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People’s Inquiry into the application of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle. BetterStart, University of Adelaide.
Our system of child and family support services has been specifically designed for children and families who are at risk of deepening involvement with the statutory child protection system and who need targeted, specialised support to break cycles of intergenerational disadvantage and patterns of child maltreatment. The system has a priority focus on supporting Aboriginal children and families.
CFSS services and supports are delivered by:
- government by DHS’s Safer Family Services (SFS)
- non-government organisations (NGOs)
- Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOs) and Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs).
There are many services and supports within the CFSS that are designed to respond to the different needs of children and families. This includes increasing levels of service intensity for families who need it most. Services and supports include:
- Universal Parenting Support Services – that are available to all families.
- Family Support Services – that provide early help and support for families experiencing vulnerability, where there are low to medium level child safety concerns.
- High Intensity Services – that provide Intensive Family Support services (IFS), and other intensive case management and therapeutic intervention for families, where there are high to very high-level child safety concerns.
Families who receive CFSS services are typically experiencing a multitude of complexities that can impact a child or young person’s safety, wellbeing, and development. There are also considerable strengths within these families and the communities that support them, that can be drawn upon to achieve their goals.
Who we collaborate with
CFSS services work alongside other service systems that are contributing to the safety and wellbeing of children and their families. These other service systems include both state and Australian Government funded services. Families may be engaged with many of these service systems simultaneously.
To ensure families receive holistic support that is responsive to their different needs, complexities and characteristics, strong partnerships and collaborations between the CFSS and these ‘Sister Systems’ are critical to providing a seamless service offering.
Our system of child and family support services has been specifically designed for children and families who are at risk of deepening involvement with the statutory child protection system and who need targeted, specialised support to break cycles of intergenerational disadvantage and patterns of child maltreatment. The system has a priority focus on supporting Aboriginal children and families.
CFSS services and supports are delivered by:
- government by DHS’s Safer Family Services (SFS)
- non-government organisations (NGOs)
- Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOs) and Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs).
There are many services and supports within the CFSS that are designed to respond to the different needs of children and families. This includes increasing levels of service intensity for families who need it most. Services and supports include:
- Universal Parenting Support Services – that are available to all families.
- Family Support Services – that provide early help and support for families experiencing vulnerability, where there are low to medium level child safety concerns.
- High Intensity Services – that provide Intensive Family Support services (IFS), and other intensive case management and therapeutic intervention for families, where there are high to very high-level child safety concerns.
Families who receive CFSS services are typically experiencing a multitude of complexities that can impact a child or young person’s safety, wellbeing, and development. There are also considerable strengths within these families and the communities that support them, that can be drawn upon to achieve their goals.
Who we collaborate with
CFSS services work alongside other service systems that are contributing to the safety and wellbeing of children and their families. These other service systems include both state and Australian Government funded services. Families may be engaged with many of these service systems simultaneously.
To ensure families receive holistic support that is responsive to their different needs, complexities and characteristics, strong partnerships and collaborations between the CFSS and these ‘Sister Systems’ are critical to providing a seamless service offering.
The development of the CFSS is driven by a ‘learning system’ approach. The CFSS Learning System embeds a holistic approach to research and evidence development. This means we are committed to:
- incorporating population data science
- practice-informed evidence
- lived experience evidence from children, young people and families
- cultural knowledge and leadership, and
- system observation.
Co-design processes that bring together these different knowledge sources have been integral to the development of the CFSS.
We have established a continuous cycle of learning — generating insights, sharing them across the system, and embedding them into both service and system design and delivery.
Questions that are driving our CFSS Learning System include:
- Who are the families that need supports and what supports do they need?
- What is the service experience for the children, young people and families that we work with?
- What outcomes are being achieved across the CFSS?
- What works to support children and their families and why?
- How does the system respond, or need to respond, to families?
- How does CFSS align with and support Sister Systems and sector partners?
- How can we contribute to the testing and learning of research methods?
- How can we make it easier for families to get the right support at the right time?
The development of the CFSS is driven by a ‘learning system’ approach. The CFSS Learning System embeds a holistic approach to research and evidence development. This means we are committed to:
- incorporating population data science
- practice-informed evidence
- lived experience evidence from children, young people and families
- cultural knowledge and leadership, and
- system observation.
Co-design processes that bring together these different knowledge sources have been integral to the development of the CFSS.
We have established a continuous cycle of learning — generating insights, sharing them across the system, and embedding them into both service and system design and delivery.
Questions that are driving our CFSS Learning System include:
- Who are the families that need supports and what supports do they need?
- What is the service experience for the children, young people and families that we work with?
- What outcomes are being achieved across the CFSS?
- What works to support children and their families and why?
- How does the system respond, or need to respond, to families?
- How does CFSS align with and support Sister Systems and sector partners?
- How can we contribute to the testing and learning of research methods?
- How can we make it easier for families to get the right support at the right time?
Our ability to understand the complex needs and the many pathways and experiences of children and families within the service system has been significantly enhanced by the development of new population data capture tools and operational systems to manage referrals, service placements and service delivery.
Prior to the reforms, the main source of data capture was through unstructured case notes, which largely focused on recording the “harm” perpetrated and imminent risk, as well as activity data such as inputs. There was limited data that could describe changes in safety and wellbeing for families in response to services, with no longitudinal capability and limited data linkage across the system.
To reach a more sophisticated understanding of families and answer the question of what works to support them, DHS has focused on building a data system and supporting processes to measure changes being made in the system itself.
How data is collected now
Data is now collected by practitioners about all families referred to the CFSS Pathways Service. This includes data collection for families regardless of whether they received a service or not. We are now better informed about the needs of families, how well service demand is being met, and the things we need to know to reach more families and have greater impact.
Our data collection follows the family through various contact points with services, to measure families’ experience of services and changes in families’ risk and wellbeing over time.
Our data asset is giving us deeper insight into the short-term and long-term outcomes for children and families. This is helping us to understand the pathways of disadvantage from childhood through to adulthood and used to inform how we design programs to disrupt disadvantage at critical points.
Our ability to understand the complex needs and the many pathways and experiences of children and families within the service system has been significantly enhanced by the development of new population data capture tools and operational systems to manage referrals, service placements and service delivery.
Prior to the reforms, the main source of data capture was through unstructured case notes, which largely focused on recording the “harm” perpetrated and imminent risk, as well as activity data such as inputs. There was limited data that could describe changes in safety and wellbeing for families in response to services, with no longitudinal capability and limited data linkage across the system.
To reach a more sophisticated understanding of families and answer the question of what works to support them, DHS has focused on building a data system and supporting processes to measure changes being made in the system itself.
How data is collected now
Data is now collected by practitioners about all families referred to the CFSS Pathways Service. This includes data collection for families regardless of whether they received a service or not. We are now better informed about the needs of families, how well service demand is being met, and the things we need to know to reach more families and have greater impact.
Our data collection follows the family through various contact points with services, to measure families’ experience of services and changes in families’ risk and wellbeing over time.
Our data asset is giving us deeper insight into the short-term and long-term outcomes for children and families. This is helping us to understand the pathways of disadvantage from childhood through to adulthood and used to inform how we design programs to disrupt disadvantage at critical points.
The voices and insights of our CFSS workforce and practice leaders are critical to help us understand whether our efforts and investments are improving outcomes for the children and families we work with.
To help achieve this, we have established CFSS Communities of Practice model to bring together practitioners and leaders from across government, ACCOs and NGOs. Communities of Practice support a collective approach to building a shared understanding of issues, emerging data and evidence, innovative practice approaches and practice learnings, including learning from those with lived experience.
The CFSS Communities of Practice model has three tiers:
- Strategic Oversight forum (CEs and leaders from ACCOs and NGOs, DCP, and DHS Executive Directors and Leaders).
- Practice Oversight forum (middle and upper leadership, and strategic external input from DCP and academic partners).
- Statewide Practitioner forum (practitioners at all levels, including sub-level Regional Practitioner Forums).
Communities of Practice forums are held throughout the year
“As the CFSS Communities of Practice continues to grow, it strengthens our CFSS Learning System. Practice wisdom deepens our understanding of family needs and helps us to understand what drives better outcomes. Informed by the insights of the workforce, the CFSS Learning System remains dynamic and responsive.” CFSS Statewide Practitioner Communities of Practice, 2025
The voices and insights of our CFSS workforce and practice leaders are critical to help us understand whether our efforts and investments are improving outcomes for the children and families we work with.
To help achieve this, we have established CFSS Communities of Practice model to bring together practitioners and leaders from across government, ACCOs and NGOs. Communities of Practice support a collective approach to building a shared understanding of issues, emerging data and evidence, innovative practice approaches and practice learnings, including learning from those with lived experience.
The CFSS Communities of Practice model has three tiers:
- Strategic Oversight forum (CEs and leaders from ACCOs and NGOs, DCP, and DHS Executive Directors and Leaders).
- Practice Oversight forum (middle and upper leadership, and strategic external input from DCP and academic partners).
- Statewide Practitioner forum (practitioners at all levels, including sub-level Regional Practitioner Forums).
Communities of Practice forums are held throughout the year
“As the CFSS Communities of Practice continues to grow, it strengthens our CFSS Learning System. Practice wisdom deepens our understanding of family needs and helps us to understand what drives better outcomes. Informed by the insights of the workforce, the CFSS Learning System remains dynamic and responsive.” CFSS Statewide Practitioner Communities of Practice, 2025
Our learning system is underpinned by a deep respect for families and their voices.
A Lived Experience Network (LEN) of System Advisors was established in 2020, as a direct outcome of the CFSS co-design process. The establishment of LEN recognises that the voices of families with lived experience must be an integral part of the continuous evidence and learning that shapes the system. The catchcry of our System Advisors - “nothing about us without us” - reflects their commitment to strengthening the system to support others like them.
LEN is made up of 15 System Advisors of diverse ages, cultures and backgrounds who have an experience of significant family stress and the need for support services to keep their families safe and well. LEN meets fortnightly to provide advice about the ongoing development and implementation of the CFSS.
System Advisors provide first-hand knowledge of the CFSS and the real-world struggles families experience to access the support they need. This includes essential insights into the realities and nuances of complex, systemic issues and where the challenges lie – shining the light on blind spots professionals and policy makers can miss. This leads to more effective and empathic solutions.
Advice provided by LEN takes many forms, including:
- Contributing to the design of CFSS policy and practice, as well as websites, marketing and communications to reach families going through tough times
- Participating in Communities of Practice forums and discussion panels
- Providing advice to service providers, universities and training providers about how practitioners can best work with families
- Providing advice to support the implementation of recommendations of the Royal Commission into Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence
- Sharing the perspectives of their community i.e. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, culturally and linguistically diverse, LGBTIQA+, and families with additional needs.
System Advisors are supported by a DHS Community Engagement Coordinator. The Community Engagement Coordinator has a crucial role in organising meetings, liaising with people and organisations that are seeking advice from LEN, supporting LEN members to communicate their experiences and expertise, and managing recruitment into the network.
“Hearing LEN’s perspectives challenged me to think hard about how we are accountable to the families we serve and as a large organisation how important it is for us to find timely and tangible ways to act on the lived experience expertise they are offering us.” Community Engagement Coordinator, CFSS Lived Experience Network, 2025
Reflections, highlights and challenges from a Lived Experience perspective
Written by Jessica Burnage, System Advisor, CFSS Lived Experience Network
I am now one year in with LEN and it's amazing to be able to look back and see how much collaboration I've been able to be a part of in that time. Not only in DHS but also with those outside services and providers who are asking for our input. My involvement in LEN has helped me see how much lived experience is valued from a systems point of view.
Despite the change being slow and not as immediate as we would like, this doesn’t take away from the fact that all these people have heard us and are passionate about incorporating lived experience into the work they do. For me it feels satisfying to know that I have contributed to something bigger. My perspective is shaped by my experiences as someone who went through a lot at a very young age and at a time in life when I was still trying to figure out who I was.
Being a part of LEN has given me new insight into what it looks like when lived experience meaningfully forms part of a co-design or co-production process. I have seen first-hand that lived experience must fundamentally weave its way through the design process and be valued equally on par with professional expertise. It’s important that LEN is actively involved from the initial problem stage through to the final product—rather than being asked to comment only on a pre-developed idea or solution. So that way there is co-ownership. We're freely sharing our advice from the get-go and that feeds into shared-decision making - where every person's voice is holding equal weight.
When I reflect on my childhood experiences, I can see how that led me down the path of homelessness and domestic violence and how things outside of my control impacted me. LEN has provided me with the opportunity to reflect on those difficult times and sharing my experiences has helped me heal my inner child. I hope sharing my experiences inspires change so that it doesn’t happen to the next generation. It helps me feel like my journey was worth it because now I am able to provide that insight.
My passion is to improve the sector so that people like me don’t slip through the cracks and practitioners think a lot more about children’s experiences in families facing addictions and domestic violence. My hope is that practitioners feel better equipped to step in earlier so that children’s experiences are validated and they are not left feeling like it is all their fault.
LEN provides me with the opportunity to raise the voice of the child and helps the CFSS better understand the gaps in the system that is designed to support them.
Our learning system is underpinned by a deep respect for families and their voices.
A Lived Experience Network (LEN) of System Advisors was established in 2020, as a direct outcome of the CFSS co-design process. The establishment of LEN recognises that the voices of families with lived experience must be an integral part of the continuous evidence and learning that shapes the system. The catchcry of our System Advisors - “nothing about us without us” - reflects their commitment to strengthening the system to support others like them.
LEN is made up of 15 System Advisors of diverse ages, cultures and backgrounds who have an experience of significant family stress and the need for support services to keep their families safe and well. LEN meets fortnightly to provide advice about the ongoing development and implementation of the CFSS.
System Advisors provide first-hand knowledge of the CFSS and the real-world struggles families experience to access the support they need. This includes essential insights into the realities and nuances of complex, systemic issues and where the challenges lie – shining the light on blind spots professionals and policy makers can miss. This leads to more effective and empathic solutions.
Advice provided by LEN takes many forms, including:
- Contributing to the design of CFSS policy and practice, as well as websites, marketing and communications to reach families going through tough times
- Participating in Communities of Practice forums and discussion panels
- Providing advice to service providers, universities and training providers about how practitioners can best work with families
- Providing advice to support the implementation of recommendations of the Royal Commission into Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence
- Sharing the perspectives of their community i.e. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, culturally and linguistically diverse, LGBTIQA+, and families with additional needs.
System Advisors are supported by a DHS Community Engagement Coordinator. The Community Engagement Coordinator has a crucial role in organising meetings, liaising with people and organisations that are seeking advice from LEN, supporting LEN members to communicate their experiences and expertise, and managing recruitment into the network.
“Hearing LEN’s perspectives challenged me to think hard about how we are accountable to the families we serve and as a large organisation how important it is for us to find timely and tangible ways to act on the lived experience expertise they are offering us.” Community Engagement Coordinator, CFSS Lived Experience Network, 2025
Reflections, highlights and challenges from a Lived Experience perspective
Written by Jessica Burnage, System Advisor, CFSS Lived Experience Network
I am now one year in with LEN and it's amazing to be able to look back and see how much collaboration I've been able to be a part of in that time. Not only in DHS but also with those outside services and providers who are asking for our input. My involvement in LEN has helped me see how much lived experience is valued from a systems point of view.
Despite the change being slow and not as immediate as we would like, this doesn’t take away from the fact that all these people have heard us and are passionate about incorporating lived experience into the work they do. For me it feels satisfying to know that I have contributed to something bigger. My perspective is shaped by my experiences as someone who went through a lot at a very young age and at a time in life when I was still trying to figure out who I was.
Being a part of LEN has given me new insight into what it looks like when lived experience meaningfully forms part of a co-design or co-production process. I have seen first-hand that lived experience must fundamentally weave its way through the design process and be valued equally on par with professional expertise. It’s important that LEN is actively involved from the initial problem stage through to the final product—rather than being asked to comment only on a pre-developed idea or solution. So that way there is co-ownership. We're freely sharing our advice from the get-go and that feeds into shared-decision making - where every person's voice is holding equal weight.
When I reflect on my childhood experiences, I can see how that led me down the path of homelessness and domestic violence and how things outside of my control impacted me. LEN has provided me with the opportunity to reflect on those difficult times and sharing my experiences has helped me heal my inner child. I hope sharing my experiences inspires change so that it doesn’t happen to the next generation. It helps me feel like my journey was worth it because now I am able to provide that insight.
My passion is to improve the sector so that people like me don’t slip through the cracks and practitioners think a lot more about children’s experiences in families facing addictions and domestic violence. My hope is that practitioners feel better equipped to step in earlier so that children’s experiences are validated and they are not left feeling like it is all their fault.
LEN provides me with the opportunity to raise the voice of the child and helps the CFSS better understand the gaps in the system that is designed to support them.
DHS is committed to supporting the growth of a culturally valid evidence base for the design and evaluation of services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families and supporting Aboriginal-led research to develop culturally informed assessment and outcomes measurement tools.
Central to this work is the elevation of Aboriginal voices, decision-making, and cultural governance. These elements are recognised as essential to achieving meaningful change and the best outcomes for Aboriginal children and families
“CFSS as a positive contributor to bringing balance back, righting the wrongs of injustice and walking together with Aboriginal people.” CFSS Co-planning Workshop, 2024
System observation
Ongoing observation of the CFSS enables DHS to measure and understand the impact and effectiveness of our system in providing suitable supports to children and families. This involves understanding and measuring governance structures, system dynamics, processes, and decision-making mechanisms.
System observation also includes a focus on understanding and measuring the interconnectivity between the CFSS and other government service systems providing early intervention and family support.
DHS is committed to supporting the growth of a culturally valid evidence base for the design and evaluation of services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families and supporting Aboriginal-led research to develop culturally informed assessment and outcomes measurement tools.
Central to this work is the elevation of Aboriginal voices, decision-making, and cultural governance. These elements are recognised as essential to achieving meaningful change and the best outcomes for Aboriginal children and families
“CFSS as a positive contributor to bringing balance back, righting the wrongs of injustice and walking together with Aboriginal people.” CFSS Co-planning Workshop, 2024
System observation
Ongoing observation of the CFSS enables DHS to measure and understand the impact and effectiveness of our system in providing suitable supports to children and families. This involves understanding and measuring governance structures, system dynamics, processes, and decision-making mechanisms.
System observation also includes a focus on understanding and measuring the interconnectivity between the CFSS and other government service systems providing early intervention and family support.
Our achievements and learnings so far
Our focus
Embedding a healing approach, where every part of the system works together to respond to trauma, wherever it presents. The aim has been to build a caring, responsive and healing service system that meets the needs of children and families and cares for the practitioners who do this work.
What we have done
- Established the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander System Design Criteria and co-design principles to guide our healing approach.
- Co-designed and implemented the Trauma Responsive System Framework to provide guidance for building our capacity to be trauma responsive at all levels of our system.
- Supported the Yaitya Mingkamingka Purrutiapinthi (Indigenous Trauma Healing) training program, which was developed by Aboriginal people to build the capacity of the sector’s practitioners to work in culturally responsive and trauma responsive ways with Aboriginal people.
- Established the CFSS Lived Experience Network to ensure lived experience insights are embedded in the ongoing design and promotion of trauma-responsive practice.
“Do everything you can to honour the “Aboriginal Way” and work with that not against it. Respect the cultural authority of Elders along with the Aunties and Uncles watching over their families.” Aboriginal Cultural System Advisors, CFSS Lived Experience Network, 2024
Our focus
Embedding a healing approach, where every part of the system works together to respond to trauma, wherever it presents. The aim has been to build a caring, responsive and healing service system that meets the needs of children and families and cares for the practitioners who do this work.
What we have done
- Established the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander System Design Criteria and co-design principles to guide our healing approach.
- Co-designed and implemented the Trauma Responsive System Framework to provide guidance for building our capacity to be trauma responsive at all levels of our system.
- Supported the Yaitya Mingkamingka Purrutiapinthi (Indigenous Trauma Healing) training program, which was developed by Aboriginal people to build the capacity of the sector’s practitioners to work in culturally responsive and trauma responsive ways with Aboriginal people.
- Established the CFSS Lived Experience Network to ensure lived experience insights are embedded in the ongoing design and promotion of trauma-responsive practice.
“Do everything you can to honour the “Aboriginal Way” and work with that not against it. Respect the cultural authority of Elders along with the Aunties and Uncles watching over their families.” Aboriginal Cultural System Advisors, CFSS Lived Experience Network, 2024
Our focus
Designing new service models and pathways for our priority population groups and continuing to build our evidence and knowledge about what works to support them.
Our research identified four population groups who are likely to experience the most challenges and therefore are at greatest risk of escalation into the statutory child protection system. These families need access to services of varying intensity, across multiple social service systems, to keep their children safe and their family strong.
Our four priority populations are:
- children born to young parents
- infants deemed to be at high risk in their first 1000 days
- Aboriginal children whose families are experiencing multiple and complex needs, and
- young people experiencing vulnerability.
We know that prioritising these families, particularly at early stages of the parenthood journey, can maximise the service impact, disrupt intergenerational vulnerability, and capitalise on higher levels of engagement and trust in support systems.
What we are learning
Our research is continuing to help us understand the success of efforts to design new service models and pathways to meet the needs of these families. It is also improving our understanding about other families our system could do more to support.
We learned that:
- Many young people in vulnerable situations need earlier and more focused support, see Young people experiencing vulnerability.
- Supporting young parents early can create positive changes, see Children born to young parents.
- Many families referred to CFSS have experienced domestic or family violence, and services need to respond as part of a wider system, see Families experiencing domestic and family violence.
- Families with disability experience higher levels of disadvantage and need support that recognises these extra pressures, see Children and parents with disability.
Our focus
Designing new service models and pathways for our priority population groups and continuing to build our evidence and knowledge about what works to support them.
Our research identified four population groups who are likely to experience the most challenges and therefore are at greatest risk of escalation into the statutory child protection system. These families need access to services of varying intensity, across multiple social service systems, to keep their children safe and their family strong.
Our four priority populations are:
- children born to young parents
- infants deemed to be at high risk in their first 1000 days
- Aboriginal children whose families are experiencing multiple and complex needs, and
- young people experiencing vulnerability.
We know that prioritising these families, particularly at early stages of the parenthood journey, can maximise the service impact, disrupt intergenerational vulnerability, and capitalise on higher levels of engagement and trust in support systems.
What we are learning
Our research is continuing to help us understand the success of efforts to design new service models and pathways to meet the needs of these families. It is also improving our understanding about other families our system could do more to support.
We learned that:
- Many young people in vulnerable situations need earlier and more focused support, see Young people experiencing vulnerability.
- Supporting young parents early can create positive changes, see Children born to young parents.
- Many families referred to CFSS have experienced domestic or family violence, and services need to respond as part of a wider system, see Families experiencing domestic and family violence.
- Families with disability experience higher levels of disadvantage and need support that recognises these extra pressures, see Children and parents with disability.
Our focus
Creating a system that encourages people to ask early and ask often, and ensures children and families have access to services that meet their needs.
What we have done
- Embedded the CFSS Pathways Service to provide a single point of entry for all referrals to Intensive Family Services (IFS).
- Built new data systems to more efficiently and fairly process and track referrals as well as better understand system performance and outcomes for families.
- Commenced a project to develop a new self-referral pathway for Aboriginal families. This responds to the findings of the Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People South Australia’s.
- Created the Adults Supporting Kids (ASK) website to provide early help and information for anyone who has concerns about the safety or wellbeing of a child, young person or family.
- Established Child and Family Safety Networks (CFSNs) to improve state-wide service coordination and partnerships.
What we have heard
“Normalise the act of asking for help and develop transparent self-referral processes to shift the power back to families, allowing them to decide what support they need.” CFSS LEN, 2024
“For Aboriginal families, there is a need to develop referral pathways into Family Group Conferencing to support self-determination.” CFSS Co-planning Workshop, 2024
What we are learning
- The demand for CFSS services is far greater than current capacity, see Service demand and system capacity.
- We are learning about the level of complexity families are experiencing at referral, see Complexity of families being referred.
Our focus
Creating a system that encourages people to ask early and ask often, and ensures children and families have access to services that meet their needs.
What we have done
- Embedded the CFSS Pathways Service to provide a single point of entry for all referrals to Intensive Family Services (IFS).
- Built new data systems to more efficiently and fairly process and track referrals as well as better understand system performance and outcomes for families.
- Commenced a project to develop a new self-referral pathway for Aboriginal families. This responds to the findings of the Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People South Australia’s.
- Created the Adults Supporting Kids (ASK) website to provide early help and information for anyone who has concerns about the safety or wellbeing of a child, young person or family.
- Established Child and Family Safety Networks (CFSNs) to improve state-wide service coordination and partnerships.
What we have heard
“Normalise the act of asking for help and develop transparent self-referral processes to shift the power back to families, allowing them to decide what support they need.” CFSS LEN, 2024
“For Aboriginal families, there is a need to develop referral pathways into Family Group Conferencing to support self-determination.” CFSS Co-planning Workshop, 2024
What we are learning
- The demand for CFSS services is far greater than current capacity, see Service demand and system capacity.
- We are learning about the level of complexity families are experiencing at referral, see Complexity of families being referred.
Our focus
Strengthening our practice across the CFSS and equipping our practitioners to be ‘complexity specialists,’ who can work confidently with multiple complex challenges impacting on child and family safety. Attracting and retaining a strong, more diverse and stable workforce.
What we have done
- Implemented the ‘Common Elements’ approach across the CFSS to support consistent, evidence-informed and trauma-informed practice in forming positive and productive working relationships with families.
- Established a Communities of Practice for practitioners, supervisors and senior leaders to embed evidence-informed practice, support collaborative learning and reflective discussions to inform practice and CFSS reform.
- Developed a range of practice frameworks and resources. Collaborated with Relationships Australia SA on the development of an e-learning resource to complement the DHS SFS Practice Guide, Centring the Child’s Voice, that is available to the CFSS sector. Developed a practice resource for CFSS practitioners who engage with dads and men who use domestic and family violence.
- Developed a roadmap for building a lived experience peer workforce throughout the CFSS.
- Collaborated with universities to enhance the recruitment and job readiness of new graduates and create new student pathways into the CFSS. This includes a strong focus on growing and retaining an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child and family support workforce.
What we have heard
“Transform the mainstream to be culturally safe, decolonising practice.” CFSS Co-planning Workshop, 2024
What we are learning
- Children in CFSS‑referred families are much more likely to have contact with multiple services, see Co-morbidity between social-ecological risk factors.
- Using the right engagement approaches matters more than how complex a family’s situation is, see Supporting family engagement.
- Longer service episodes are becoming more common, reflecting the complexity families face, see Increasing length of Service.
Our focus
Strengthening our practice across the CFSS and equipping our practitioners to be ‘complexity specialists,’ who can work confidently with multiple complex challenges impacting on child and family safety. Attracting and retaining a strong, more diverse and stable workforce.
What we have done
- Implemented the ‘Common Elements’ approach across the CFSS to support consistent, evidence-informed and trauma-informed practice in forming positive and productive working relationships with families.
- Established a Communities of Practice for practitioners, supervisors and senior leaders to embed evidence-informed practice, support collaborative learning and reflective discussions to inform practice and CFSS reform.
- Developed a range of practice frameworks and resources. Collaborated with Relationships Australia SA on the development of an e-learning resource to complement the DHS SFS Practice Guide, Centring the Child’s Voice, that is available to the CFSS sector. Developed a practice resource for CFSS practitioners who engage with dads and men who use domestic and family violence.
- Developed a roadmap for building a lived experience peer workforce throughout the CFSS.
- Collaborated with universities to enhance the recruitment and job readiness of new graduates and create new student pathways into the CFSS. This includes a strong focus on growing and retaining an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child and family support workforce.
What we have heard
“Transform the mainstream to be culturally safe, decolonising practice.” CFSS Co-planning Workshop, 2024
What we are learning
- Children in CFSS‑referred families are much more likely to have contact with multiple services, see Co-morbidity between social-ecological risk factors.
- Using the right engagement approaches matters more than how complex a family’s situation is, see Supporting family engagement.
- Longer service episodes are becoming more common, reflecting the complexity families face, see Increasing length of Service.
Our focus
Commissioning new services to provide families with the right kind of help when and where they need it. This includes a commitment to building Aboriginal services with Aboriginal people, and supporting greater self-determination and an increasing role for ACCOs in the system.
What we have done
- Designed and commissioned new Intensive Family Services (IFS) to work with higher levels of complexity and risk, with a focus on cultural safety, trauma-responsive and evidence-informed practice.
- Commissioned lower intensity Family Support Services to assist families with medium to low level risk concerns.
- Designed new service models for areas where there are service gaps in the system. These services include:
- Young people Empowered to Re-engage Towards Achievement,
- Taikurtirna Tirra-apinthi, and
- Safe Kids Families Together.
- Evaluated out-of-home care prevention pilots that have informed post-pilot service adaptations and funding.
- Established a new SFS Inner North metropolitan region to deliver IFS to an additional 250 families per annum.
- Dedicated 30 percent of all funding to ACCOs and embedded the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander System Design Criteria and Co-design Principles in commissioning and service design.
- Tested a new Cooperative Dialogue Approach to commissioning that seeks to strengthen the role and voice of ACCOs/ACCHOs in the commissioning process.
- Adopted a relational approach to contract management to build trust and walk alongside partners to test new service models.
What we have heard
“Greater investment is needed in services that can intervene early in the life of the problem.” CFSS Co-planning Workshop, 2024
“Commissioning models should be flexible and tailored to suit local contexts, with different approaches for rural and metropolitan services.” CFSS Co-planning Workshop, 2024
"We need to coordinate efforts between State and Commonwealth governments to ensure alignment between community needs and available services." CFSS Co-planning Workshop, 2024
What we are learning
- Some regions have much higher levels of need, especially the northern and southern suburbs, see Family complexity and service need across regions.
Our focus
Commissioning new services to provide families with the right kind of help when and where they need it. This includes a commitment to building Aboriginal services with Aboriginal people, and supporting greater self-determination and an increasing role for ACCOs in the system.
What we have done
- Designed and commissioned new Intensive Family Services (IFS) to work with higher levels of complexity and risk, with a focus on cultural safety, trauma-responsive and evidence-informed practice.
- Commissioned lower intensity Family Support Services to assist families with medium to low level risk concerns.
- Designed new service models for areas where there are service gaps in the system. These services include:
- Young people Empowered to Re-engage Towards Achievement,
- Taikurtirna Tirra-apinthi, and
- Safe Kids Families Together.
- Evaluated out-of-home care prevention pilots that have informed post-pilot service adaptations and funding.
- Established a new SFS Inner North metropolitan region to deliver IFS to an additional 250 families per annum.
- Dedicated 30 percent of all funding to ACCOs and embedded the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander System Design Criteria and Co-design Principles in commissioning and service design.
- Tested a new Cooperative Dialogue Approach to commissioning that seeks to strengthen the role and voice of ACCOs/ACCHOs in the commissioning process.
- Adopted a relational approach to contract management to build trust and walk alongside partners to test new service models.
What we have heard
“Greater investment is needed in services that can intervene early in the life of the problem.” CFSS Co-planning Workshop, 2024
“Commissioning models should be flexible and tailored to suit local contexts, with different approaches for rural and metropolitan services.” CFSS Co-planning Workshop, 2024
"We need to coordinate efforts between State and Commonwealth governments to ensure alignment between community needs and available services." CFSS Co-planning Workshop, 2024
What we are learning
- Some regions have much higher levels of need, especially the northern and southern suburbs, see Family complexity and service need across regions.
Our focus
Embedding a holistic approach to evidence building for the CFSS Learning System and communicating and integrating our evidence into policy and practice.
What we have done
- Developed the CFSS Research Approach 2025 – 2027 to guide research and evaluation efforts and continue to build system knowledge.
- Built new data infrastructure to provide foundational capability to monitor population level patterns to understand the service demand, emerging trends and system outcomes.
- Developed and implemented new population-level data collection tools to support research, evidence and continuous learning.
- Linked the CFSS data set with key administrative data sets from across SA government agencies (Child Protection, Births Deaths and Marriages, SA Health, Youth Justice and Education).
- Engaged the BetterStart Health and Development Research Group to evaluate the CFSS reforms.
- Developed the CFSS Outcomes Hierarchy to provide a shared understanding across the sector of the outcomes that services aim to achieve.
- Implemented the CFSS Communities of Practice to enable the voices and insights of practitioners to form part of the evidence development for CFSS.
- Established LEN to provide an ongoing mechanism for people with lived experience to be involved in the shaping, monitoring and review of the CFSS
What we have heard
“My passion is to see children kept in the care of Aboriginal families and to see the system change in a way that is responsive to Aboriginal families...There must be “deep listening” to people with Lived Experience to find ways to work with families that supports them to make changes that helps children and families stay together.” Aboriginal Cultural System Advisors, CFSS LEN
What we are learning
- CFSS IFS are keeping families together and preventing out‑of‑home care, see Service impact - measuring change.
- Closure data is giving us a clearer picture of how families are progressing, see Outcomes at service closure.
Our focus
Embedding a holistic approach to evidence building for the CFSS Learning System and communicating and integrating our evidence into policy and practice.
What we have done
- Developed the CFSS Research Approach 2025 – 2027 to guide research and evaluation efforts and continue to build system knowledge.
- Built new data infrastructure to provide foundational capability to monitor population level patterns to understand the service demand, emerging trends and system outcomes.
- Developed and implemented new population-level data collection tools to support research, evidence and continuous learning.
- Linked the CFSS data set with key administrative data sets from across SA government agencies (Child Protection, Births Deaths and Marriages, SA Health, Youth Justice and Education).
- Engaged the BetterStart Health and Development Research Group to evaluate the CFSS reforms.
- Developed the CFSS Outcomes Hierarchy to provide a shared understanding across the sector of the outcomes that services aim to achieve.
- Implemented the CFSS Communities of Practice to enable the voices and insights of practitioners to form part of the evidence development for CFSS.
- Established LEN to provide an ongoing mechanism for people with lived experience to be involved in the shaping, monitoring and review of the CFSS
What we have heard
“My passion is to see children kept in the care of Aboriginal families and to see the system change in a way that is responsive to Aboriginal families...There must be “deep listening” to people with Lived Experience to find ways to work with families that supports them to make changes that helps children and families stay together.” Aboriginal Cultural System Advisors, CFSS LEN
What we are learning
- CFSS IFS are keeping families together and preventing out‑of‑home care, see Service impact - measuring change.
- Closure data is giving us a clearer picture of how families are progressing, see Outcomes at service closure.
Our next steps
The next phase will build upon our evidence, experience and achievements so far.
We will have a paramount focus on transformative changes to achieve our commitments under Closing the Gap and to enable the full implementation of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle. Through allyship, co-design and cultural accountability, our aim is to create a supportive and collaborative environment that respects and uplifts Aboriginal voices and leadership in decision-making and self-determination.
We will actively seek opportunities to build on and align with the significant work underway in other service systems – our Sister Systems - that is aimed at improving outcomes for children and families. This will include supporting the implementation of the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Early Childhood Education and Care and the Royal Commission into Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence, as well as the legislative reforms introduced through the new Children and Young People (Safety and Support) Act 2025. We will pursue partnerships that strengthen cross system co-working, promote integrated service approaches and enhance shared workforce capabilities.
Together, we are committed to a long-term, collective shift towards systems and services that prioritise early support and enable children and families to thrive.