David Fawcett (Wakefield, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak to the report which has been tabled. Whilst many of the previous speakers have covered a range of issues, particularly those pertaining to child care—and that was certainly one of the things that came through strongly—there is another aspect to the report which is captured in recommendation 3. I plan to spend the time allocated to me today talking specifically to recommendation 3 of the report. This recommendation is that:

The Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and the Attorney General’s Department establish the following additions to the relationship education components of the Family Relationships Services program …

That is, programs to be offered at different stages of relationships and a multimedia campaign to highlight the availability of these courses and the benefits of attending and completing them.

Why do I choose to focus specifically on this part of a report that deals with balancing work and family? It is predominantly because much of the feedback that we had from people throughout this inquiry ties in with feedback that we have had through many other forums; that is, that there are a range of factors which place stress on relationships and therefore on families—so work conditions and the ability to have things like child care, the ability to have flexibility at the workplace so that you can make adequate arrangements for your families—and contribute to stresses in families. Likewise, the strength of family and the ability to communicate within a family unit about these issues contributes significantly to a person’s resilience to succeed in the workplace, stay there and negotiate for those more flexible conditions.

So the two areas are intertwined, particularly when you also look at the value of family to the community and the impact of family dysfunction and breakdown. This is a recommendation which I strongly encourage the government to take up. It is not a new idea. The government has been supporting marriage and family through its family services program for the last four decades. The program began with grants to organisations offering marriage counselling services back in the 1960s. Over the years it has expanded and developed, but also, in certain areas, it has contracted in the amount of people who have availed themselves of the service and the impact that it has had.

Probably the last serious look at this issue was in 1998 with the report To have and to hold, which had a look at the area of marriage in a community and some of the things that were required to keep marriages together. One of those things, in chapter 4, was looking at the factors contributing to marriage and relationship breakdown. Some of the significant and important reasons included work related problems, as well as some of the other issues around poor communication skills. What we have found through a number of studies in the United Kingdom, in Europe, America and here in Australia is that the ability for couples to communicate and to have a framework to communicate effectively is a key plank in making sure that their relationship and their marriage, for those who are married, last.

Gottman and other people who have done research in this area talk about the fact that all couples will face conflict, and that, for couples to survive that conflict and those issues, they need a framework within which they are given the motivation to work through the issues. Importantly, they need the skills to establish the framework that works for them as a family. There is a very good paper put out by the Australian Institute of Family Studies that looks at why good marriages last. This whole area of relationship education is a very important component of that.

I think it is telling that in 1998, when this report To have and to hold was written, FaCS—as it was named then—was giving $3.5 million per annum for preventative marriage and relationship education programs. In 2003-04, the amount given to the same programs was $3.5 million. So despite the fact that the need is escalating, that there is an even greater evidence base to highlight that this is an area that will help families stay together and, importantly, help them gain the skills to balance work and family life, we have not seen a significant increase in funding.

As part of the rollout of the family relationship centres and the reform of the family law system, I am pleased to note that there was a significant boost to the Family Relationship Services Program. I have literally come to this place from a meeting with a number of providers of family relationship centres. On the one hand I am very pleased to report that their feedback is that the uptake has been very positive from a broad section of the community and that the outcomes have been positive. But on the other hand their consistent comment—not only today, but from other FRCs that I have spoken to—is that they need more investment in resources and materials. They need good quality audiovisual materials so that they can get community groups to facilitate courses in the area of communication skills, conflict resolution and the sort of relationship skills to help families cope in achieving this work-life balance. They need that, and they need another expansion of FRSP programs. They said the content is good though, so those who access it love it, it is very effective, but the amount of people who come to them seeking this is on the rise.

I strongly support recommendation 3 and, as the government considers this report, I would certainly ask that it goes back and considers a number of other reports as well as budget submissions that have gone in separately, from me and from others—including recommendations coming out of the family relationship centre task force. This has been calling consistently, for nearly a decade, for an increased investment in this area, particularly innovative ways to make sure that we capture and utilise the broad community resource that is there through community groups, through faith based groups, even in the workplace.

There are many employers, some in South Australia, who have approached me looking at how we can use resources from the family relationship centres to provide this kind of education in the workplace. They recognise that it will help employees in their workplace to manage relationships and resolve conflict, but also they recognise that, as these employees take these skills home, it will help them manage that balance of work and family life. This will not only keep the families together, but the flow-on for the employer is that they will become a more productive employee.

This is inextricably linked to the positive outcomes that this report is seeking to find pathways towards. Whilst it may not immediately appear to be a recommendation that this report would lead to, when most of the focus has been on child care, I believe it is fundamental that the government give serious attention to this recommendation. I certainly look forward to a boost in this area.

Debate (on motion by Mr Neville) adjourned.

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