Advocating for Families – How Non-Legal Advocacy Support at the Early Stages of Statutory Intervention Can Protect Families and Improve Outcomes for Children.

Being involved with the child protection system can be a scary and daunting experience for families. Victoria Legal Aid’s “Independent Family and Advocacy support” [IFAS] was a pilot program created to assist those involved in the early stages of the child protection system by offering support, non-legal advocacy, and referrals for families to legal services and other supports if required. Several years down the track, the program is being rolled out across the State with noted benefits not just to parents and children involved in the system, but to the professionals who work with them as well.

Victoria Legal Aid’s “Independent Family and Advocacy support” [IFAS] was a pilot program created to assist those involved in the early stages of the child protection system. The program, originally fully funded by Victoria Legal Aid, was implemented to assess and demonstrate the efficacy of non-legal advocacy for families with the hope that families could be diverted away from the court system. The pilot ran from 2018-2021 in LGAs of Darebin and Moreland and suburban Melbourne and Bendigo and Ballarat and was so successful it attracted Victorian government funding until June of 2024. Some of the key findings of the Final Evaluation Study were that IFAS helped parents understand the child protection processes better, helped them speak up for themselves and stand up for their rights, supported them to express themselves in a way that improved communication with chid protection workers and ultimately helped them work cooperatively with child protection to support their children.

Given June 2024 is advancing upon us, the fate of the program at this stage is unknown but the hopes are that it will become a permanent fixture of the child protection system and be available to families Statewide.

In this episode we speak to Isla Swanston, lived experience consultant and Robyn Buchanan, the manager of Independent Family and Advocacy Support [IFAS] about their involvement in the program, what it has to offer and what we can expect from IFAS in the future.

Show notes:

Final Evaluation of Independent Family Advocacy and Support (IFAS) Pilot Final Report,

September 2021, Dr Chris Maylea, Lucy Bashfield, Sherie Thomas, Associate

Professor Bawa Kuyini, Professor Susie Costello, Dr Kate Fitt,

Meena Singh

Social and Global Studies Centre, RMIT University

https://www.legalaid.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2022-04/vla-final-evaluation-of-independent-family-advocacy-and-support_1.pdf

IFAS final evaluation summary, Victoria Legal Aid 

https://www.legalaid.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2022-04/vla-final-evaluation-of-ifas-summary.pdf

Independent Family Advocacy and Support https://www.legalaid.vic.gov.au/independent-family-advocacy-and-support

Best Interests Children’s Law Podcast is sponsored by Ex Curia: Coaching & Consulting Pty Ltd, Meliora Psychology and Claudia Grimberg Lawyers.

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