Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs

In 2003-2004, the federal budget included a $8.6 million funding that allowed the Department to support a 12-year longitudinal study of Indigenous children. The purpose of the study was to improve the quality of data on Indigenous children and their foundational years growing up. This was led by the senator at the time, the Hon. Amanda Vanstone - Minister for Family and Community Services.

In 2004, certain functions and operational activities within ATSIS-ATSIC were transferred to the apartment in respect to community housing and infrastructure for Indigenous women (Cassells et al, 2009). From July 2004, the Aboriginal Hostels Limited Body was transferred under the portfolio of the Department of Family and Community Services (Bennett & Pratt, 2004).

On 24^th January 2006, the Office of Indigenous Policy Coordination (OPIC) was absorbed by the Department of Families, Community Services, and Indigenous Affairs (FaCSIA) due to an announcement by the Prime Minister. Following this, an upheaval in the organisation of ministerial responsibilities saw Indigenous Affairs allocated to the Department with a new cabinet minister, Mal Brough, to oversee (FaCSIA, 2014).

Mal Brough’s new policy and rhetoric was focused on the relocation of portfolio responsibilities that the Department of Families, Community Services, and Indigenous Affairs now is responsible for. In Mal Brough’s first major speech as minister for the department in late April 2006 at the Social Innovations Dialogue conference, Brough was recorded to have focused strongly on family, and pushing for family values as the “fundamental building block through which children are instilled with values and principles and prepared for the challenges of the future.” (Sanders, p.3, 2015).

Information about the department's functions and/or government funding allocation could be found in the Administrative Arrangements Orders, the annual Portfolio Budget Statements, the Department's annual reports and on the Department's website.

According to the Administrative Arrangements Order (AAO) made on 27 January 2006, the Department dealt with all the previous functions of the Department of Family and Community Services along with matters related to Indigenous affairs and reconciliation[2] Previous functions of the Department of Family and Community Services inherited by FaCSIA were:[1]

• Income security policies and programmes for families with children, carers, the aged and people in hardship
• Services for families with children, people with disabilities and carers
• Community support services, excluding the Home and Community Care program
• Family relationship services
• Welfare housing and rent assistance
• Youth affairs, excluding income support policies and programs
• Women's policies and programs

Matters dealt with by the Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs include Indigenous Affairs and reconciliation, Families, Communities, Individuals, and the Social Support System (FaCSIA, 2014).

Legislation specific to Indigenous Affairs administered by the Minister of the Department both before and after the official establishment of the Department of Families, Community Services, and Indigenous Affairs are as follows (Commonwealth of Australia, 2006):

The Department also commissions reports and reviews, such as the review of Early Intervention Therapies for Autism Spectrum Disorders, DisabilityCare Australia and the Gender Wage gap (Johnston et al, 2013). The review was a follow up and extensions of a 2006 report commissioned by the Australian Government Department of Health and Aging (Prior et al, 2011). The purpose of the review, despite being not directly linked to the department’s main scope and jurisdiction, was to provide up to date information to families about the evidence for efficacy of interventions for young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) from birth up to the age of 7 years (Prior et al, 2011). The Department pursued ratings of scientific merit for the report’s intervention research to establish an internationally recognised scientific criteria for treatment efficacy.

The Department was an Australian Public Service department, staffed by officials who were responsible to the Minister for Community Services and the Minister assisting the Prime Minister for Women's Issues.[1]

The Secretary of the Department was Jeff Harmer.[1]