The Aims and Objectives of Family Focus Australia
Family Focus Australia is an ideal that has been developed over several years through discussion, research and community consultation regarding the changing nature of Australian society and the effect that such change has been exerting on the lives of Australian children and the context in which they live.From an initial small group of parents and couples, disenchanted with the traditional responses of Government, Church and Business to the ongoing developmental needs of Australian children, Family Focus Australia has grown from an unincorporated association into a Public Company Limited by Guarantee which is now set to launch itself as a major service provider within the Australian community.
Family Focus Australia Limited is a community based independent company and is not affiliated, directly or indirectly, with any political, religious, or sectarian group.
With its Head Office in Brisbane, Queensland, it is the stated intention of the Board of Directors to develop meaningful and practical community based responses that will enable disadvantaged Australian children to fully access the social and educational opportunities that, for the majority of our society, is considered the ‘normal’ Australian way of life.
Through direct fundraising to the Australian public, private and Government grants, and commercial activities Family Focus Australia will fund the provision of direct services, support and encouragement to disadvantaged Australian children, and the families in which they live. Such activity will be solely directed towards enabling disadvantaged Australian children to develop the necessary motivations, vision, skills and abilities to overcome the barriers of disadvantage and/or impoverishment and thereby fully participate in, and contribute towards, the wider Australian community, now and in their future lives.
Core Values.
Throughout the early stages of Family Focus Australia’s development several fundamental and key elements emerged as being absolutely necessary in the development of a meaningful and practical response to the needs of Australian children in our contemporary society. These have formed the core values of the Organisation, which means that we consider them to be non-negotiable and they must be present in the formulation of any activity of Family Focus Australia.Intrinsic value of the individual
Family Focus Australia holds, as absolute, that every individual in Australian society has intrinsic value, dignity and self worth. Every individual has a contribution to make in advancing Australian society and the “Australian way of life” and each individual should be nurtured, encouraged, and supported in attaining their full potential for the advancement of society as a whole.
Such intrinsic value requires an holistic response to the needs of each individual which affirm the value of individual diversity and promote self awareness rather than, as is often the case in existing traditional responses, seek to establish a common sameness of equality.
Manumission from Poverty
Family Focus Australia holds, as absolute, that no Australian child should live in poverty or conditions of impoverishment.
Such emancipation requires a recognition of poverty as being much more than merely a measurement of economic indicators, as is often the case in existing traditional responses, and that the root causes of poverty, and therefore the true indicators for measurement, are in fact those which harm and erode the intrinsic value of the individual. Namely:
o Physical – such as, but not limited to, safe housing; health services; adequate food; adequate clothing; financial resources; etc.
o Intellectual – such as, but not limited to, education; recreation; socialization; etc.
o Emotional – such as, but not limited to, security; love; encouragement; creativity; spirituality; etc.
Family Focus Australia holds that it is these indicators which more appropriately identify poverty and that it is the absence of or restriction of access to all or any of these opportunities which define poverty and impoverishment of the human condition in Australian society.
Primacy of the familial unit
Family Focus Australia Limited holds the primacy of the family unit as the core of social structure and cohesion in Australian society and represents the absolute social continuity for all children in society.
Therefore:
the family unit must be nurtured, supported and encouraged in attaining its full potential as the foundation of society and, therefore, the “Australian way of life”;
in order to encourage the intrinsic value of children and liberate family structures from the conditions of impoverishment it is necessary to identify the concept of the family unit on the basis of the quality of the relationships that bind a group of people together;
the definition of the family unit may include, but is not necessarily limited to, such physical family structures as are commonly referred to as: traditional; intact; extended; nuclear; blended; adoptive; same-sex parents; sole parents; divorced; foster; etc.
it is the nurture, encouragement and support of the quality of the relationships within the family unit by all institutions in society which will abolish the conditions of poverty in which Australian children currently live.
Our Purpose
Our predominant purpose is to alleviate the consequences of poverty in the lives of Australian children through direct service, support and encouragement so that they might access and fully participate in all facets of contemporary Australian society and; to remove the barriers of impoverishment that prevent Australian children from enjoying open access, opportunities, and participation within the wider Australian community.This purpose is espoused in the Company’s Constitution and is the motivating force behind all our activities.
Our Vision
“An Australian society in which all children are supported and encouraged to realize their full potential for the advancement of the whole community.”Our Objectives
The objectives of Family Focus Australia are the means, to the extent determined by the Board of Directors to be practicable and desirable from time to time, by which the Organisation shall carry out its Purpose:• Providing Australian children, living in poverty, with relief through the provision of direct services, monies, goods, or support.
• Enabling deprived Australian children, through the up-skilling of themselves, their families and their local community, to meet their basic needs and increase their potential to participate in and benefit from their wider society.
• Empowering Australian children, living in impoverished conditions, and their families, to develop the skills and strategies necessary to maintain an existence above and free of impoverishment.
• Advocating for and/or providing services that overcome the barriers of impoverishment that prevent Australian children from enjoying equal access, opportunities, and participation within Australian society.