Produced by the Social Justice Committee for the St Vincent de Paul Society
SJC
43-45 Prospect Street, Box Hill Locked Bag 4800 Box Hill Vic 3128 Ph: 03 9895 5800 Fax: 03 98955850
speaking
Helping families- Who can you refer to? Last year, the Victorian Government published “The state of Victoria’s children report 2006.” Arising from that report, the Government has begun rolling out a new service called “Child First”, which is designed to provide assistance for families with children who may be vulnerable. The support covers children from pre-natal to youth, where there are significant concerns about the well-being of the child. At present, nine “Child First” teams are in place. The rest of the state will have coverage by 2009. Contact numbers for “Child First” services are listed in the table below. Note that in some cases, the contact is through the Dept. of Human Services office – these areas are those which do not yet have full “Child First’ services in place. In some areas, referrals about Aboriginal children and families can be made directly to an Aboriginal organisation, as indicted in italics in the table. DHS Region
Local Government Areas
Child FIRST or Family Service referral number
Barwon South Western
Greater Geelong, Queenscliff, Surf Coast
1300 551 948
Colac-Otway, Corangamite
5232 5500
Warrnambool, Moyne, Glenelg, Southern Grampians
1300 361 680
Eastern Metropolitan
Yarra Ranges, Knox, Maroondah
1300 369 146
Monash, Whitehorse, Manningham, Boroondara
9843 6000*
Gippsland
East Gippsland
5152 0052
Aboriginal children and families
5150 0715
Wellington
5144 7777
Latrobe, Baw Baw
5136 9050
South Gippsland, Bass Coast
5662 5150
Northern Grampians, West Wimmera, Hindmarsh, Yarriambiack, Horsham
1800 195 114
Ararat, Pyrenees, Hepburn, Ballarat, Golden Plains, Moorabool
1300 783 341
Wodonga, Towong, Indigo, Alpine, Benalla, Mansfield, Wangaratta
1800 705 211
Greater Shepparton, Strathbogie, Moira
1300 854 944
Mitchell, Murrindindi
1800 663 107
Grampians
Hume