About Us

At Relationships Australia we can assist in a variety of areas:

Relationships

• Education
• Formation
• Maintenance
• Separation

Child and Family

• Family Dispute Resolution (mediation)
• Children’s Contact Services
• Families at risk
• Parenting Orders

Addiction

• Gambling Help
• Alcohol and Drug
• Eating disorders
• Internet

Trauma Related Issues

• Victims of crime
• Natural disaster
• Institutional abuse (physical, sexual, emotional)

Domestic and Family Violence

• Victims of domestic and family violence (women and children)
• Alternatives to Aggression groups (men)

Diverse groups in the community

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
• Culturally and Linguistically Diverse people
• Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex people

Community Liaison, Community Development and Community Education

Our vision

Building healthy relationships for stronger communities.

Our mission

To promote relationships that are respectful, fair & safe, particularly where people & communities are at risk or vulnerable.

Our values

We live and work by our values to help all Australians achieve positive and respectful relationships. Our values are:

Client Focus - We commit ourselves wholeheartedly to our clients' success - understanding and responding to the individual needs of people accessing our services.

Social Justice - We are committed to equity and social justice.

Healthy, Respectful Relationships - We believe that healthy and respectful relationships are fundamental to individual and community wellbeing.

Accountability - We are accountable and open in our operations.

Integrity - We act ethically, honestly, and in the best interests of the community.

Respect - We respect each other and the principles of equity and diversity.

Professionalism - We value the contribution and expertise of staff and commit to high standards of service and performance.

Reconciliation - Our vision for reconciliation is that Australia's first peoples, the Aboriginal people of the Mainland, connected islands and the Torres Strait Islander peoples are recognised, engaged and respected in all our work.  

2021 saw the roll out of our Strategic Plan 2021-2025. RAQ will grow and scale services nationally, informed by client need, business, and workforce transformation, delivering high-quality services and keeping client outcomes at the heart of everything we do. We are driven to achieve enduring positive change and making a difference in the lives of our clients and the community.

Our vision is for an Australian society which upholds Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s perspectives and unique place in Australian history and social fabric through respectful relationships in all of their diversity.

In the achievement of this vision, our role is to support the delivery of quality services to Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and engage in the development of culturally appropriate policies and practices which reflect the needs and aspirations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

Our RAP Background (2011-2013 RAP)

In launching our first RAP in 2011 we embarked upon an ambitious journey to take the whole of our Organisation into a new paradigm of relationship with the First Nations People of Queensland. Guided by our Head of Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Programs we established a Senior Management RAQRAP Working Group which included our previous CEO Shane Klintworth. We then established our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Staff Working Group and an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Working Group which included leaders and Elders from within the local community. These groups were all facilitated by the Director of Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Programs to develop the direction, framework and core values for our RAQRAP.

Once the framework for the RAQRAP was developed every member of our workforce participated in a consultation process over twelve months to share their perspectives on the RAQRAP and how it could be implemented within the workplace and with local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.  Venue staff sought the advice of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff and consulted with existing local Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Reference Groups.

Our Innovate RAP (2018-20)

This is a 2018-2020 update of the plan which takes into account both short and long term goals of our organisation.

In this iteration of the RAQRAP we are focus on three areas : Community Engagement , Learning and Development and Collaboration

The First RAQRAP provided a clear vision for why we are working with a RAP and what we want to achieve, this revised RAP provides a more focussed framework for how we can achieve the goals we have set for our organisation.

The Innovate RAP can be viewed here.

What’s the meaning of reconciliation? How can you contribute? To learn more about reconciliation in Australia, you can click here.

At Relationships Australia, a number of our services are free.

We are a not-for-profit community organisation and only partially funded by the government, so fees are normally charged. However, we do try to make our services as affordable as possible.

Our fees for counselling are $75 or $35 for concession card holders for a 1 hour counselling session.

Family Dispute Resolution Sessions are $35.00 per party for the intake session and $75.00 per party.

If you are unable to afford this, we have fee reduction available to all our clients.

We also offer a number of our services at no cost to the client, call 1300 364 277 to find out more.

Relationships Australia was founded over 60 years ago, with the aim of providing support and advice to people experiencing difficulties in their marriages, during the social upheaval of the post war period. At that stage, it was known as The Marriage Guidance Council.

Australia’s first Marriage Guidance Councils, relying heavily on the British model for keeping husbands and wives together through counselling and educative programs about marriage and family living, were established in Sydney and Melbourne in 1948. Over the next few years the other States followed suit and by 1952 the national organisation had been established.

From the start, the national gold standards were marriage and relationship counselling and education; setting professional standards; and training and accreditation.

A 1968 report by the NMGCA National Secretary, after visiting counselling staff across the country, described ‘a recognisable common quality of spirit and skill that distinguishes them as having been trained within the Marriage Guidance Council framework’.

Though the 1960s was a period of massive social upheaval around the world, the Marriage Guidance Council still saw its core purpose as preventing marriage breakdown. In the next decade, however, changes in family law heralded a different emphasis for the counselling profession. Personal relationships in all their diversity and complexity were considered.

Whilst counselling to help people maintain their relationships remained a priority, if a marriage had broken down, it was now considered best to encourage an amicable approach to separation, particularly if there were children involved. As well as the “rights and obligations” of husbands and wives, parental responsibility was on the agenda. The introduction of no-fault divorce often provided a less fraught atmosphere for a parting of the ways. Thus mediation services were set up and community education courses now included topics such as ‘rebuilding after separation’ and ‘living in a step-family.’

By the early 90s, the title Marriage Guidance Council was beginning to seem outdated and even misleading. Many more couples were living together, without having married, but still sometimes needing guidance on emotional issues affecting their partnership.

In 1994 the Councils in all States agreed to the new name Relationships Australia, signifying a broad approach that valued all kinds of personal relationships in a healthy society. Relationships Australia is all about quality relationships.

Among the steps taken towards a more enlightened professionalism have been: the requirement that clinical staff have tertiary qualifications; an increased awareness of domestic violence and the development of appropriate practice models; an increased awareness of the importance of the voices of children being heard and their wellbeing considered paramount; and the range and style of services provided having expanded way beyond the ‘staples’ of counselling, community education and mediation.

Counselling services have expanded to encompass individuals and families, education programs cover pre-marriage, couple relationships, post-separation, step-families, communication skills and fly-in fly-out relationships. The growth in the community services sector has led to the development of services that now include: family dispute resolution, child contact services and Family Relationship Centres.

These, and many more steps, have shaped Relationships Australia into the dynamic, professional organisation it is today, constantly refining and adding services to support all kinds of relationships, reflecting the complexity of 21st century life.

More than 400 highly qualified and experienced employees make up the heart and soul of Relationships Australia (Qld). Common service delivery positions held within our organisation include:

• Counsellors
• Community Educators
• Family Dispute Resolution Practitioners
• Family Support Workers
• Wellbeing Workers

See our annual reports