Family Relationship Centres In Australia: Should They Be Governed By A Single Body?

Marital problems, divorce, separation, child custody battles- all of these social issues hold a significant value in any society let it be Australia or any other part of the world. In the year 2011, there were 24,144 divorces involving children under 18 years of age which represented 48.4% of total divorces granted in Australia. These figures do not even include the children affected by parental separation from de-facto relationships, a phenomenon which is on the rise. This paper discusses the Family Relationship Centres (FRCs) introduced in Australia from 2006 onwards to help separating or separated parents transition from parenting as a couple to a single parent arrangement with a focus on the wellbeing of children caught amidst the separation process. I argue that while FRCs have shown early success largely owing to the centralization of the service, in order for FRCs to sustain in the long run they have to be ultimately run a single service provide as opposed to different ones in different states to achieve consistency in their services. This paper will be divided into five sections. The first will briefly summarise the missions and goals of FRCs. The second will look at some of the key political issues that brought about the inception of FRCs. The third will look at some early signs regarding the early success of FRCs. The fourth will examine FRCs operational structure focusing on different service providers and the last section will provide recommendation regarding the creation of a single governing body to overlook the whole FRC operations in Australia.