CSMC launches report on largest survey of single mothers
CSMC's survey of single mothers is the largest of its kind in Australia and has revealed information that politicians, policy makers, and the community need to pay attention to now.
News and Updates
What a launch!
It has taken significant resources of all kinds to undertake, analysis and launch this national survey of single mothers - the second we have delivered and the largest in Australia. 1168 single mothers invested their time to complete the survey, share their stories...
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Single mothers hit with higher health insurance premium increases than other families
A shocking new report has revealed that single mother families are being slugged with higher premiums than those of partnered mother families. It comes at a time when single mothers are already struggling with rising costs of living. The study, conducted by Choice,...
Robodebt report: “Stop the stigma”
In the 54 years since CSMC was founded, much has changed. Single mothers are now entitled to social security regardless of how they became single mothers; fewer single mothers are forced to relinquish their babies; and laws exist to prevent employment opportunities...
Single mothers go to Canberra; Family Law reform ensues
Two weeks ago, Andi, CSMC's Policy and Communications Coordinator, and Michelle and Charisse, two of our passionate single mother members boarded a plane to Canberra. There they joined Terese Edwards, CEO of Single Mother Families Australia, and headed into...
Bloom Ballarat
Council of Single Mothers and their children is bringing their FREE careers, work and wellbeing guidance program to Ballarat. Enjoy one on one online sessions with an industry professional with lived experience of single motherhood Identify your skills and...
Centrelink and government payments
This is an overview of Centrelink payments to help single mothers start navigating the system. Services Australia through Centrelink, is responsible for administering income support and emergency payments on behalf of the Australian government. Income support...
How much can I earn before my Centrelink payments are cut?
For single mothers receiving Centrelink payments, returning to paid employment can mean the amount they receive is cut or eliminated altogether. Many single mothers make the decision on how many hours to work in paid employment based on how much of their Centrelink...
The Safety Net Bill has passed – so what now?
Single mother families receiving Centrelink payments will know that as of 20 September 2023, the eligibility age to receive Parenting Payment Single has been raised to up until the youngest child turns 14. It's a great win for single mums, but what does it mean and...
Where did the Voice proposal come from and why is CSMC supporting a Yes vote
In a few months, Australians will vote in a referendum to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. CSMC is supporting a Yes vote in the referendum - here's why. Where did The...
CSMC’s statement in support of an Indigenous Voice to Parliament
Council of Single Mothers and their Children is supporting voting Yes in the upcoming referendum to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. CSMC was formed to support single...
Energy saving device door-knockers: what you need to know
Chances are, more than once, you've answered the door to someone offering to replace your lightbulbs or update your heating or cooling systems, as part of a Victorian Government program. Chances are you've also wondered if it's a scam or the real deal. Here's what...
Rent freeze: everyone’s talking about it but is it the answer to the rental crisis?
Skyrocketing rents are crippling the finances of many single mother families living in rental properties, chewing up an unsustainable percentage of their incomes and reducing the stock of affordable housing. Renters are calling for government intervention, and...
Two single mums, three kids, and an open road
Years ago, when I first went on a holiday with my baby daughter, my sister-in-law, also a mother, warned: “The thing you have to remember about holidays as a mother, Margie, is that it’s not really a holiday: it’s just transporting the chaos to a different...
Housing crisis: have your say
Every week, the lines of people queuing to look at rental properties get longer. Things are much worse for those on low incomes or without a great rental history. Even with money and a good rental history, single mothers are going up against two-income families....
Flexible work arrangements: know your rights
Trudy, an accountant with a family run business in Melbourne had long been asking her employer for more flexibility in her working arrangements. A single mother with school aged children, she wanted a later start to drop the kids at school, and the ability to work...
Belonging: stories from CSMC members
When her local Member of Parliament recommended she contact the Council of Single Mothers and their Children, Sandra says she had never heard of the organisation. “Fifteen years later, when I look back, it feels like CSMC has played such an important role in my...
Victorian Budget unpacked
“Whilst our kids will remember COVID, I will not ask them to pay for it." They were the words spoken by Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews on Budget Night 2023 - and the message was clear. COVID measures have left the state $116 billion in debt, and the Government...
A careers, work & wellbeing program designed by & for single mothers
When Erika Williams, facilitator of CSMC’s career, work and wellbeing program Bloom, launched the program she knew there was a need for a career program especially designed for single mothers – and the response she got confirmed she was right. “As single mums, our...
Single mother wins, then and now
Friday 5 May was a momentous day. Early in the morning, an announcement was made of the end of mandatory participation in ParentsNext, affective immediately, with a new co-designed voluntary program to be ready by July 2024. CSMC and our colleagues have been...
Federal Budget and single parents: a deep dive
On Budget Night, Tuesday 9 May, single parents had a significant victory: the Parenting Payment Single will now be accessible to single parents until their youngest child turns fourteen years. This is a terrific outcome - even if it is not a silver bullet for the...
Housing: it’s a human right
When the construction industry talks about housing, it's usually in terms of supply chains and materials; when the media talk about housing, it's normally about house prices and interest rates. Yet, for the single mother and her children escaping family violence,...
Your political briefing: April 2023
Parliament may not be sitting at the moment, but the political machine is still cranking away - with several legislative changes on the agenda. Here's a brief rundown on what's happening in Canberra and how together we're presenting a loud voice to Parliament....
Fix Child Support
Several reviews and reports have not improved our child support system.What is the evidence for this statement? In the public child support system $1.6 billion of agreements are unpaid. We don't know how many agreements may also be unpaid in the private collection...
Our National Child Support Disgrace
Australia consistently ranks as one of the world’s wealthiest nations in the world yet, despite this, thousands of our children are living in poverty or disadvantaged circumstances due in part to a poorly designed and ineffective child support system. Currently,...
Balancing work and study
Finding paid work The Federal government wants to see all single mothers working. We do not support any degree of compulsion and understand why many mothers, single and partnered, choose to invest their time in caring for their babies, children and teenagers over...
An open letter to the Prime Minister from CSMC’s CEO Jenny Davidson
As part of CSMC's campaign to raise the eligibility of Parenting Payment Single, CEO Jenny Davidson wrote this letter to the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and senior ministers. We think it says it all. Dear Prime Minister, Treasurer, Ministers and Senators, I am...
Budget Night 2023
It's the one night of the year where people who normally have very little interest in figures outside their family budgets suddenly have income and expenditure tables front of mind: Yes, next week it's Federal Budget Night 2023. And this year, it's of particular...
Children hiding their hunger
Shiv* tells her children she had a big lunch and is too full for dinner; Roberta* says that she ate while she was cooking dinner; Issy* tells her children she's going to have her dinner when they go to bed. There's many excuses single mothers give their kids for...
Sienna’s story
I hope my story can offer hope to other single mums who feel left behind. I used to love working. Before my daughter was born I worked as an administrative officer in a city accounting firm, a job I enjoyed and which provided me with a comfortable income. But that...
Everyone’s talking about single mothers
Are your ears burning? They might well be - over the past month it seems like everyone's been talking about single mothers. Anne Summers kicked off an explosion of interest in single mothers in July last year with her report The Choice: Violence or Poverty. She...
Carol’s story
For several years, lawyers and the Family Court were very present in my life. I became a single mother over ten years ago when my house was raided by the police and my husband (now ex) went to jail for convictions relating to child abuse material offences. I had no...
New rental laws welcome pets!
New laws in Victoria will make it easier for renters to have a pet. For the most vulnerable people in our community, a pet is more than a lovable hobby. Many women parenting alone look to their dog for protection and security. This is especially important if they...
A Voice for Aboriginal single mothers
No matter what their individual circumstances, all single mothers want one thing: the freedom and support to be the mothers they want to be and to provide their children with the best start in life. Yet, the experience of single mothers is often one of being told...
“Thank you. Goodbye”: Centrelink’s shameful callcentre report card
Last year, CSMC member, Ania*, spent an anxious three months trying to get through to Centrelink. She had managed to secure some part time work that she could do from home while parenting her children, and she wanted to notify Centrelink as soon as possible. "I...
Proposed changes to the Family Law Act
Two weeks ago, The Australian Attorney-General announced his intension to change the Family Law Act to centre on the best interests of the children. He has released an ‘exposure draft’ of the changes he wants made to the existing legislation and asked for comments....
Saver Plus: helping single mothers manage the costs of education
Saver Plus is Australia's largest and longest running matched savings and financial education program. It’s delivered by community organisations across Australia and since it began in 2003, has worked with thousands of single mums. If you’re eligible for the...
Pushing for change
There are a number of issues that CSMC is always working on. ParentsNext, a fair deal for people on JobSeeker and in Workforce Australia Employment Services (the old JobActive), and the growing rate of poverty among single mothers and their children are three of...
Movement on ParentsNext
As soon as the Labor Government took office, single mums began contacting us to ask if anything will change around ParentsNext, and we started nudging the government. What we discovered was that the providers who are paid to run ParentsNext have been telling...
100 Days of the New Federal Government: where single mothers stand
It is generally said that the first 100 days of a new government is a good indication of its priorities and how the government intends to interact with stakeholders. The first 100 days of this new federal government is particularly important for single mother activists, because we are in the unique position of having a Prime Minister who has the lived experience of growing up in a single mother family. So, where do single mothers stand after the first 100 days of the new government?
The Great Ticketing Debate
When Margaret wrote a post in CSMC’s Facebook group, Single Mothers Stronger Together, she thought she was sharing some happy news about an issue that had been annoying her for some time. What happened next was an outpouring of support from single mothers who were...
Workforce Australia – what is this all about?
With a grand title like ‘Workforce Australia’ you could be forgiven for thinking the government is taking on a major new approach to jobs, pay, and training. Sadly, that is not the case. Workforce Australia is the new version of JobActive and started 4 July 2022....
An investment or a right? Housing, homelessness, and single mother families
How much is homelessness an issue for single mother families? According to all available data, it is a huge issue. Statistics tell us that 60 per cent of all women escaping family violence become single mothers at least for a time and many experience years of...
My (Anonymous) Single Mother stories: special edition
Every single mother story is remarkable in its own way. Some single mums boldly tell their stories as they lobby for understanding and change. Sometimes though, the single mums who contact us wish to stay anonymous. They might be fearful of their safety, they may...
Julie’s Story
When I was going through the Family Court, I didn’t just tap into my inner-lawyer, I ended up changing careers and becoming an actual lawyer. Law was actually something I’d being thinking of before then. I initially considered it whilst doing my Arts Degree at...
Shirley’s story
Probably the most difficult thing I’ve ever done in my life was to leave my husband with four children in tow. This was early 1981 and there were few supports for single mothers apart from family. As it was, both my parents had died when I was young and my two...
Fanny’s story
By Kacey Sinclair, La Trobe University On 22 January 1856, an extraordinary event in Australia’s history occurred. It is not part of our collective national identity, nor has it been mythologised over the decades through song, dance, or poetry. It doesn’t even have...
Kakul’s story
I got divorced in 2019 and it was such a terrible time. My life was shaken up completely and I didn’t know that I could be so strong. I came to Melbourne 10 years ago from India, with my husband who I had just married. There were some challenges. I missed my family...
The latest attempts to change the punitive ParentsNext Program
Council of Single Mothers and their Children have been advocating for the rights of single mothers caught up in the ParentsNext Program for over four years, and can vouch for the damage that the mandatory and punitive aspects have had on the lives of the women in...
Skye’s story
CONTENT WARNING: This story contains details of sexual assault. I was born In Tamworth and my family moved to Newcastle when I was four. My dad was a financial director and my mum stayed home to raise the kids. I know from photos and stories that I had a good...
Martha’s story
As a social worker, I speak with females experiencing different kinds of abuse all the time, but I never saw the signs in my own life... until an experience at work made me realise that was me too. I was married when I was 20 years old, was pregnant at 22, and...
My child doesn’t want to go to visitation with the other parent. Do I have to force him?
By Dara Isaacson, family lawyer As a family lawyer, one of the most common questions that I get asked by my clients is what their obligations are when their child or children do not want to spend time with the other parent when the parents have separated. This is...
