Reports & Submissions
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Amplifying Voices
We give voice to children, young people, and families who need it most.
2026 Reports & Submissions
Refresh of SA’s Disaster Resilience Strategy (2026-2030)
August 2026
CAFFSA’s submission to the refresh of South Australia’s Disaster Resilience Strategy 2026–2030, calls for children and young people to remain a distinct priority and for greater recognition of the families, carers, services and systems that support their resilience.
The submission also highlights the need to better recognise people at increased risk, including young people experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity and those transitioning from out-of-home care. Other priorities include meaningful participation by children and young people, Aboriginal self-determination and leadership, sustainable resourcing of community services and ACCOs, and stronger whole-of-government planning for the disproportionate impacts of disasters on children, families and communities experiencing disadvantage.
South Australia’s Education and Early Childhood Services (Registration and Standards) Act 2011
August 2026
CAFFSA’s submission to the review of South Australia’s Education and Early Childhood Services (Registration and Standards) Act 2011 calls for a modern, proportionate regulatory framework that recognises child safety, wellbeing and inclusion as integral to education. With child maltreatment and adversity affecting children across all education settings, CAFFSA supports a stronger focus on prevention, early identification and continuous improvement, alongside contemporary child-centred standards, proportionate monitoring and compliance, accessible complaints processes, recognition of the role that family support services play and effective information sharing across education, government and community services. The reforms should strengthen the capacity to identify emerging and systemic risks and support safer, more inclusive and supportive and culturally safe educational environments for all children and young people.
Second Action Plan under the National Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Child Sexual Abuse 2021–2030
August 2026
CAFFSA’s submission on the Second Action Plan under the National Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Child Sexual Abuse 2021–2030 calls for a stronger focus on implementation, recognising that improved awareness and identification must be matched by timely, accessible and adequately funded services. CAFFSA advocated for sustained investment across prevention, early intervention, specialist therapeutic support and responses to harmful sexual behaviours; stronger workforce capability and wellbeing; Aboriginal-led and culturally safe responses; and specific recognition of children in out-of-home care and care leavers as a priority population. The submission also calls for a stronger public health approach, improved coordination across government and community services, and clearer accountability, data and participation mechanisms to ensure children, families and victim-survivors can access effective support when and where they need it.
Second Action Plan under the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022–2032
July 2026
CAFFSA’s submission on the Draft Second Action Plan under the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022–2032 argues that the critical next step is implementation, moving beyond recognising children and young people as victim-survivors in principle to practical, funded and accountable responses across the systems they encounter. CAFFSA calls for a stronger public health approach to prevention and early intervention, with child and family support recognised as core infrastructure so families can access help before violence escalates, homelessness occurs, children enter care, young people are criminalised or crisis and statutory responses become the only option. Priorities also include long-term therapeutic recovery, mental health and suicide prevention, Aboriginal-led and culturally safe responses, housing as essential safety infrastructure, stronger workforce capability, better system integration and cross-system accountability, and improved child-level data and accountability.
Healthier South Australians across generations Strategic Plan for Preventive Health Action 2026–2034
June 2026
CAFFSA supports the Draft Strategic Plan for Preventive Health Action 2026–2034’s focus on prevention, equity, evidence, partnerships and system-wide change. Strengthening children, families and communities is preventive health action. CAFFSA recommends the Plan more clearly recognises families, parenting, caregiving, childhood experiences, cultural connection, safety and early support as central to lifelong health and wellbeing. Broader measures of preventive health, including preventable harm, trauma, family violence, child maltreatment, housing instability and service access barriers are also needed. The importance of Aboriginal leadership, culturally safe approaches, lived experience leadership and strong cross-sector partnerships are highlighted.
CAFFSA’s submission to The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Education’s Inquiry into the Factors Driving Educational Attainment
June 2026
CAFFSA’s submission highlights the prevalence and intersectionality between childhood maltreatment, adversity, disability, gender and sexual identity, culture, and educational attainment. Recommendations include improving supportive approaches to educational journeys grounded in flexible and inclusive frameworks, early holistic supports, specialised workforce training, and service coordination. Embedding these in educational environments, policy and procedures will help create more effective, equitable and cohesive systems that better meet the needs of children and young people, resulting in improved educational outcomes for all.
CAFFSA’s submission to the Federal Inquiry into the relationship between domestic, family and sexual violence and suicide
April 2026
CAFFSA’s submission to the federal inquiry highlights the significant impact of domestic, family and sexual violence (DFSV) on children and young people, noting clear evidence that DFSV substantially increases suicide risk. The submission highlights that children’s trauma is often invisible within adult‑centric systems, leading to inconsistent identification, missed intervention opportunities and a lack of trauma‑informed, culturally appropriate and youth‑specific supports. As a result, many children and young people do not receive the responses required to ensure their safety and wellbeing.
CAFFSA Submission 2026/27 State Budget
April 2026
CAFFSA’s FY27 Pre-Budget Submission, incorporates evidence-based recommendations for keeping SA children and families safe, secure, and thriving while contributing to improvements to the bottom line.
CAFFSA calls for increased funding for Intensive Family Support Services, investment in the HomeStretch Campaign to better support young people exiting care, additional investment in Reunification Services to strengthen family preservation outcomes, and a fairer approach to NGO sector indexation alongside measures that soften the impact of rising cost‑of‑living pressures on vulnerable populations and the services and agencies that support them.
Department for Child Protection Disability Access and Inclusion Plan (2026–2030) – March 2026
March 2026
CAFFSA identified several key themes in the draft DCP DAIP (the Plan) that could be strengthened to ensure it reflects disability inclusion across the family support and child protection continuum. CAFFSA argues the Plan should apply to everyone the Department engages with, not only children already in care. CAFFSA also calls for stronger alignment with national and state reform agendas, emphasising early support and intervention to prevent unnecessary child removals, especially for children with disability or those with parents with disability.
SA Police DRAFT Disability Access and Inclusion Plan 2025 – 2029
March 2026
CAFFSA’s submission calls for the SA Police DRAFT DAIP to be strengthened so it more accurately reflects disability inclusion across crisis and policing contexts. Central to this is identifying priority groups including children, young people and families with disability who may come into contact with police during welfare checks, family and domestic violence incidents, mental health crises and residential care call‑outs. The submission emphasises the need for culturally safe, trauma‑informed and disability‑informed policing, alongside improved referral pathways and stronger cross‑system coordination, to ensure police are not the default response to unmet disability needs.
Joint Letter to the Federal Government on NDIS and Thriving Kids Reforms
March 2026
CAFFSA, alongside Connecting Foster and Kinship Carers SA, CREATE Foundation and the Reily Foundation, has written to the Federal Government seeking a briefing on proposed NDIS and Thriving Kids reforms and their potential impacts on vulnerable children and young people, including those vulnerable to statutory intervention or under the guardianship of the South Australian Government. The letter highlights the importance of ensuring these children and young people are not disadvantaged during the transition to new disability support arrangements.
An artificial intelligence strategy for the South Australian Government
February 2026
Drawing on consultation across the child and family services sector, the submission highlights both the opportunities and risks associated with AI use in government systems that affect children, families and communities. It notes the potential for AI to reduce administrative burden and free practitioner time for relational work with children and families, while emphasising that AI systems must be intentionally designed and governed to identify and mitigate cultural bias, retain strong human oversight in decision-making, and operate with robust governance, transparency and safeguards to support equitable and accountable outcomes.
DRAFT Mental Health and Wellbeing Bill 2025 -February 2026
February 2026
CAFFSA supports the Bill’s strengthened human rights approach, supported decision‑making model, higher threshold for involuntary treatment, and focus on reducing coercion. The submission emphasises the Bill’s impact on vulnerable children and young people, particularly those in out‑of‑home care, youth justice, living with family mental illness and those in contact with statutory child protection. It calls for stronger safeguards and supervision for child protection workers using delegated powers. It also recommends broadening the Human Rights and Coercion Reduction Committee to include family and carer representatives, non‑government advocacy organisations, a community mental health provider, and the Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People and the Guardian for Children and Young People.
DRAFT Department for Education Disability Access and Inclusion Plan 2026-2030
February 2026
The submission highlights that children with disability are significantly over-represented in child protection and out-of-home care, face higher rates of trauma and exclusion, and often experience disrupted or reduced access to education. While members strongly support the intent of the Plan, this submission calls for the Plan to move beyond accessibility of infrastructure and information, and instead focus on sustained educational participation, outcome-based accountability, ASD-specific strategies, and coordinated cross-system supports for children with disability who face intersecting vulnerabilities such as trauma, poverty, family violence and statutory intervention.
CAFFSA Submission – Pre-Budget Submission re: The 2026-2027 Federal Budget
January 2026
CAFFSA’s Federal Budget Submission calls for expanded funding to intensive family support services in the new DSS approach to programs for families and children to adequately address unmet demand and prioritise the prevention of, and response to, child maltreatment. It also calls for expanded funding to Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations given the chronic overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people in out-of-home care. A stronger focus on the sustainability of foster care is advocated through support for the call by Families Australia and the National Foster Care Sustainability Group’s for strengthened financial support for foster carers, including the introduction of a national Health Access Card for children in care. These measures are essential to easing financial pressures, addressing Australia’s critical foster carer shortage, and improving outcomes for the nation’s most vulnerable children.
Child and Family Focus SA and The Reily Foundation Joint Submission – Women’s and Children’s Hospital Network DRAFT Disability Access and Inclusion Plan and Autism Strategy Action Plan 2026-2031
January 2026
This submission provides commentary from CAFFSA’s and TRF’s membership on those Priority Areas that have been included in the Women’s and Children’s Hospital Network DRAFT Disability Access and Inclusion Plan and Autism Strategy Action Plan 2026-203. The Priority Areas in each of the Domains do not have complete sets of corresponding outcomes, actions or measures and most of those that do have measures need further work to ensure they are actually measuring a change in outcomes for women and children with disabilities as a result of the actions.
Child and Family Focus SA (CAFFSA) amplifies the voices of children, young people, and families involved in the family support and child protection sectors. We support and represent the not-for-profit organisations dedicated to protecting and nurturing children, young people, families and caregivers in our community.
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0473 617 782
‘Reconciliation’ Artwork by Kobe and Hamish Collins Commissioned by CAFFSA 2024.
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Child and Family Focus SA acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we work, the Kaurna and pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging. Sovereignty has never been ceded and this was and always will be Aboriginal land.
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