About Us
CSMC is a statewide community organisation run for and by single mothers and their children. We provide telephone support and counselling, referral, advice and emergency relief to single mothers throughout Victoria, and have over 2100 single mother members. CSMC aims to improve the conditions of single mother headed families and is funded by the Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (having recently moved from Department of Human Services). We work closely with our members as well as many organizations and institutions that support single mothers, including the National Council of Single Mothers and their Children (NCSMC) and the Victorian Council of Social Services (VCOSS). CSMC is well recognised as a source of expert advice on issues of relevance to single mother headed families. Our expertise is grounded in the concerns expressed to us by single mothers calling our telephone contact line.
In light of the upcoming Federal Election and working with NCSMC we sent policy questions relating to single mother issues to all major political parties, requesting their responses. The questions we sent and the responses we have received can be viewed by clicking on the links below.
Response Australian Greens
Response Coalition (Liberal and National Parties)
Response Australian Labor Party
NCSMC in consultation with CSMC Vic have also formulated policy platforms on single mother issues. Click on the links below to view.
To commemorate the CSMC 40th Anniversary Celebrations in 2009 we have created a booklet which contains edited versions of all the speeches given on the night. The booklet records this important milestone and the speeches detail a brief history of CSMC. Click here to view.
To be sent a copy call 03 9654 0327 or outside Melbourne on 1800 077 374
INVITATION to mothers who have arranged parenting plans after July 2006.... After July 2006, the Australian Family Law Amendment Act fundamentally altered the way parents arrange their child residency agreements after separation.
You are invited to contribute to a project being conducted by PhD candidate Fiona Combe, Associate Professor Jenny Sharples, and Dr. Liz Short of the School of Social Sciences and Psychology at Victoria University.
Click here for contact details and further information.
Submissions to Australia's Future Taxation System CSMC made two submissions to the recently released tax review Australia's Future Taxation System. View them both by clicking on the following links.
Single Mothers: a resource for parenting solo - A publication by the Parenting Research Centre in consultation with CSMC Vic. Funded by the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. Copies are available from the Council of Single Mothers and their Children, which you can access by emailing csmc@csmc.org.au or ringing 03 9654 0622, (freecall for country callers) 1800 077 374.
Budget 2009 - A summary of the impact on single mothers of the Federal Budget 2009.
ACOSS Analysis of proposed changes to FTB indexation - Fact sheet on Family Payments
Report on Emergency Relief in Victoria - Under Pressure: Costs of living, financial hardship and emergency relief in Victoria by Benno Engels, Rivkah Nissim and Kathy Landvogt
You may need Adobe Acrobat Reader installed to read these files. Download Here