A meeting between the Community Services Ministers (CSM) occurred on Friday 17 July 2026 on the lands of the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation in Sydney, New South Wales. This was followed by a meeting of the Safe and Supported Shared Decision-Making Committee.
The CSM meeting:
- reaffirmed CSM’s commitment to work collaboratively on improving policy and program responses for children and families
- noted the Commonwealth’s update on progress against priorities to address family, sexual and domestic violence through the Second Action Plan under the National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children 2022-2032
- discussed next steps in strengthening and expanding the capacity of the ACCO sector to provide family and child supports
- took note of developments in establishing a Records Access Working Group (RAWG), whose objective is to improve access to records for individuals impacted by forced adoption practices and other groups such as care leavers.
Ministers also discussed the impacts of social security and tax treatments on care leaver payments and professional foster carer models and were updated on work to identify service delivery improvement opportunities for Commonwealth services and supports available to care leavers.
The meeting also heard from representatives of the CREATE Foundation about advocacy for young people with care experience. CSM members agreed to work within their respective jurisdictions to improve casework practices around provision of and access to identity documentation for young people in care as a foundational requirement for improving access to carer supports.
The meeting also heard from National Commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People, Sue-Anne Hunter, and the National Children’s Commissioner, Deb Tsorbaris, on their findings following nation-wide consultations with children aimed at better ensuring that children’s voices are heard in the development of policies and services.
The Executive Director of Family and Community Services Insights, Analysis and Research (FACSIAR) within the NSW Department of Communities and Justice, Dr Jessica Stewart, provided a presentation on the ways the NSW Standardised Evaluation Analysis supports evidence-based decision making. The presentation covered the ways Standardised Evaluation Analysis provides robust outcomes evaluations at scale and at low cost, across multiple programs, using linked data. Ministers committed to continue to share expertise and opportunities for data linkage.
Ministers discussed delegation of authority, one of the Actions Items under the Safe and Supported First Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Action Plan, including experiences in jurisdictions that have formally delegated statutory functions to date.
The CSM will next meet on 5 November 2026 in a joint meeting alongside the Women’s Safety Ministers.