Family Responsibilities Commission

The Family Responsibilities Commission (FRC) began operation on 1 July 2008 as a key component of the Cape York Welfare Reform (CYWR) objective of restoring social norms in Indigenous communities. The FRC will cease operations on 1 January 2012. The 4 Cape York communities within the FRC's jurisdiction are:

• Aurukun
• Coen
• Hope Vale
• Mossman Gorge

The FRC is an initiative of the partnership between:

• the 4 Cape York Indigenous communities
• Queensland Government
• Australian Government and
• Cape York Institute for Policy and Leadership

The FRC applies to Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal community members who are welfare recipients who reside or have lived in one of the 4 CYWR trial communities for 3 months since 1 July 2008.

The FRC will be notified if:

• a person's child is absent from school 3 times in a school term, without reasonable excuse
• a person has a child of school age who is not enrolled in school without lawful excuse
• a person is the subject of a child safety report
• a person is convicted of an offence in the Magistrates Court or
• a person breaches his or her tenancy agreement - for example, by using the premises for an illegal purpose, causing a nuisance or failing to remedy rent arrears

The FRC has appointed local commissioners who are respected community Elders, thereby rebuilding local authority. There are 24 Local Commissioners across the 4 CYWR communities.

When the FRC holds a conference in the community 3 representatives sit on the panel - the Commissioner and 2 Local Commissioners. Since November 2008 conferences have been chaired by 1 of the Local Commissioners.

Local Commissioners help assess each case individually and conduct proceedings with people in both English and local languages - Wik at Aurukun, Ampithamu at Coen, Kuku Yimithirr at Hope Vale and Kuku Yalanji at Mossman Gorge.

Family Responsibilities Commission Annual Report 2008-09

The Family Responsibilities Commission Annual Report 2008-2009 was tabled in the Queensland Parliament on 29 October 2009. The financial statement section of the report is currently only available as a PDF document. If you need an accessible version of this document please email us at askatsip@communities.qld.gov.au.

Quarterly reports

The fourth FRC quarterly report was tabled in Parliament on 17 September 2009. It covers the reporting period April to June 2009.

From 1 April - 30 June 2009, the Commission received 636 agency notifications within jurisdiction, which comprised:

• 2 housing tenancy notifications
• 46 child safety notifications
• 252 school attendance notifications
• 336 magistrates courts notices

Previous quarterly reports

Quarterly Report No. 3, 2009 (PDF 424 kB)

Quarterly Report No. 3, 2009 (Word 834 kB)

Quarterly Report No.1 and 2, 2008 (PDF 225 kB)

Quarterly Report No.1 and 2, 2008 (Word 599 kB)

Last reviewed: 10 November 2009

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