Our Work

Respecting Dignity and Reducing Harm: The Need for a Tiered Response to Elder Abuse Elder abuse is a complex social and public health issue that cannot be addressed by crisis responses alone. Many older people hesitate to seek support due to concerns about family relationships, uncertainty about legal consequences, or fears of becoming further isolated. This

Making space for children’s voice within a Children’s Contact Service Children’s Contact Services (CCS) were implemented through the Australian Attorney General’s Department to provide children with safe spaces to visit non-residential parents when parents cannot manage their own contact arrangements.  These are supervised environments where interactions with parents can take place and where oversight for the transfer of

LGBTIQ+ Family Formation and Known Donors Pathways, Risks and the Role of Written Agreements Many LGBTIQ+ people use known sperm donors when forming their families. This is often driven by a desire for the child to know, or have the option to know, the donor from an early age. It may also be because of

Better Place Australia practitioners’ perspectives of coercive control Better Place Australia practitioners participated in an online survey about coercive control in practice. The survey focused on perceptions relating to gender differences in the use and experience of coercion. Key Findings Female clients more commonly self-identify as victim/survivors of coercive control than male clients, with half

Better Place Australia has provided a specialist Elder Abuse Prevention Service since 2018. In this time, we have supported over 2,000 people experiencing elder abuse. We are the only specialist family violence service dedicated exclusively to working with older people. We conducted an online survey to explore what support older people would like to receive

Evaluating HOPE: The impact of a suicide prevention program on client recovery   Better Place Australia’s HOPE program is a community-based program which provides psychosocial support to people following a suicide attempt or serious ideation planning. It is a non-clinical approach to suicide aftercare and prevention which compliments clinical interventions. This brief report which was

Barriers to accessing suicide prevention services for Australia’s multicultural communities Completed: October 2024  Better Place Australia’s Hospital Outreach Post-suicidal Engagement program (also known as HOPE Outreach Program) is a community-based program which provides psychosocial support to people following a suicide attempt or serious ideation planning. Supporting individuals recently discharged from an emergency department, HOPE provides

Capturing children’s voice within a Children’s Contact Service Children’s Contact Services (CCS) provide children with safe spaces to visit non-residential parents when parents cannot manage their own contact arrangements. Better Place Australia currently operates CCSs in Narre Warren and Sale. Through this project, we aim to understand children’s perspectives about the CCS. We are trialling tools that create space

Moving From Home Into Residential Aged Care “Rates of depression found to be much higher for people living in residential aged care than those of the same age living at home…” Overview This opinion editorial explores how moving into residential aged care is often seen as a ‘normal’ phase of one’s life. Much is made

A Snapshot: Victorian’s attitudes towards love  This work was undertaken by Better Place Australia prior to the establishment of the Centre for Better Relationships. The continued popularity of reality TV programs about love and romance suggests that traditional notions of romantic love remain deeply embedded in our culture. However, attitudes towards love, romance, and marriage

Mental health interventions for aged care This brief review provides an overview of academic and grey literature and provides suggestions for best practice in the field. Overview Little is known about the effectiveness of specialist mental health care interventions in aged care settings. This is predominantly due to the small number of initiatives in operation

Collective Prejudice: Response to the 2021 Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety This position paper presents Better Place Australia’s response to the 2021 Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety. We highlight the urgent need to confront the systemic issue of ageism in Australia. While the Commission and the COVID-19 pandemic brought

Financial Hardship The Centre for Better Relationships published a report that explored the demographics and nature of debt for over 1,900+ users of our Financial Counselling and Capabilities (FCC) service in FY18. The report concluded that complex financial systems make financial counselling services an essential part of supporting people in financial hardship. Findings An alarming

Rainbow Families Research The Rainbow Families project explored the formation and dissolution of rainbow families in Australia. Conducting a scoping review of existing literature, we explored rainbow families’ access to and experiences with family law services, including family dispute resolution, mediation, and counselling, as well as their experiences of family formation and dissolution in the

Better research leads to better relationships The Centre for Better Relationships is the research, advocacy and policy arm of Better Place Australia, and serves as an invaluable resource for our many projects and initiatives. The Centre’s targeted and insightful research supports our commitment to helping Australians lead a better life through fostering stronger relationships. This

Elder Abuse Discussion Paper A summary of experience and practice observations in responding to elder abuse through the Respecting Elders service Overview This discussion paper reports on the experience and practice observations of Better Place Australia in responding to elder abuse through the Respecting Elders service in 2017-18. Elder abuse may take the form of neglect, psychological,