The support of good friends is priceless for women as some of us are lucky enough to know. Research backs this up. However, research also shows that chronic stress and lack of time to make or maintain friendships, get in the way of both friendships and good health....
After receiving over 1,500 submissions from people affected by the housing crisis and over 100 community organisations, the People’s Commission into the Housing Crisis has now released its final report, ‘Voices of the Crisis’. The People’s Commission was...
On Friday, CSMC spoke to the Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs' inquiry into family violence orders. The Federal Government hearings were established to investigate how to provide better access for victim-survivors in the family law system,...
What to do if you receive a Centrelink debt letter It's the time of year when Centrelink balances its ledgers and some single mothers may find themselves with an unexpected, nasty surprise: a letter saying we have incurred a Centrelink debt. Centrelink debts are...
When Melbourne single mum, Margaret, received her car insurance renewal notice, she was shocked to see it had risen over 10 per cent and was now nudging $1,000. Posting in CSMC's member-only Facebook group, Single Mothers Stronger Together, Margaret shared that...
A few years ago, Ximena Vengoechea was working three jobs. She had a full time job at a tech company, had recently become a new mum, and had just had her first book published. She was busy; she was tired; but she was living the dream, wasn't she? Then the pandemic...
If you've got school-aged kids, chances are they're bugging you for their own bank account and debit card. Their reasoning seems sound: it will teach them to manage their money, and allow them to get a snack from the tuckshop without cash. But many wary parents are...
Young people have always had a voice, yet they haven't always been listened to. We're changing that. CSMC is exploring with teens and young adults, their experiences of growing up in a single mother household. What we hear from these young people will inform our...
Single mothers who have created their families using donor sperm know that donor linking brings with it a multitude of potential issues and considerations. Now, the Victorian Government has announced that the authority that supports families through the process...
With every new financial year comes changes that impact our family budgets, including tax, superannuation, and new rebates. So what's changing now? Well, there's some good(ish) news. Tax cuts The much talked about stage three tax cuts, which passed through...
On 25 June, Andi, CSMC's policy and advocacy coordinator and Jacqui, coordinator of CSMC support services, spoke at the final session of the People’s Commission into the Housing Crisis. The People’s Commission was convened by...
First of all, let’s take a moment to remember how awful ParentsNext was and how good it was to have it stopped. The end of ParentsNext was a huge victory over a punitive mandatory program. The government agreed in May 2023 to stop almost all compulsory aspects of...
We're partnering with Tenants Victoria to learn more about the legal and related service-experience needs of single parents renting in Victoria. What we learn will inform our future service provision, as well as our advocacy. Interviews will be via Microsoft Teams,...
The report from CSMC's national survey of single mothers, released earlier this year, revealed that single mothers are employed at equivalent levels to partnered mothers. Yet every single mother will tell you, when you are the sole financial provider for your...
Callout for focus group participants Seeking young people aged 15 - 22 who are growing up or have lived in a single mother household Attendance at one focus group session around 2 hours long Participants with be paid $50 per hour for their time Must be available to...
Anyone who caught the news this week knows all the top stories were about Budgets - first the Victorian Budget was handed down, then the Federal Budget. Every Budget covers a broad range of issues, and every Budget is followed by many interviews with experts and...
This week, two pieces of legislation were passed by the Federal Government: The Family Law Amendment Act 2023 and Family Law Amendment (Information Sharing) Act 2023. The changes include new laws about how the Courts will make parenting orders in the...
We celebrated International Single Parents day by launching our Wall of Honour to pay tribute to all the amazing single mothers we know and have known! Congratulations to all the mums who were nominated - you can read the tributes, in alphabetical order, below....
There are a few places left in our Bloom Careers, Work and Wellbeing program for the Northern Metro area - but they are filling fast! Bloom is an eight week online mentoring program to help you define your career, work or training needs in just a few hours per...
At the moment, housing is dominating so many discussions in the media, in Parliament, and around water coolers and school gates across the country. The fact is that CSMC has long advocated for single mother families on housing-related issues, most notably access to...
It's outdated, hopelessly flawed, and it has not kept pace with inflation. Now, the Federal Government is reviewing the child support system, and as many single mothers will attest, there's a lot that needs to be changed. Fixing the broken child support system has...
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.
On Sunday 3 March, Brenda Richards, one of CSMC’s founding members and inaugural Treasurer, died at the age of 85. Brenda’s work in the late 1960s campaigning for the rights of ‘unwed mothers’ and their children set the course for a remarkable life of public...
Thursday March 21 is International Single Parents Day, and to celebrate we're creating out own Wall of Honour to pay tribute to all the amazing single mothers we know and have known. It might be a friend, a relative, or even your own mum - but if you want to thank...
How employment has changed for single mothers since Covid.
Not sure what career would suit and fulfil you? Here’s some tips for getting started.
How to balance all the competing priorities in your single mother life.
Where to find information and resources to help you discover the best career choices for you.
By Emily Wolfinger, PhD After decades of advocacy by sole mother groups, on 20 September 2023, the Australian Labor Government finally reversed the Liberal Howard Government’s welfare reforms that required sole mothers to be looking for employment by the time their...
Discover different training and study options and all the things you need to consider.
HILDA (the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia) survey is considered one of Australia’s most valuable social research tools. HILDA first examined the lives of 14,000 Australians in 2001 and releases data yearly, comparing it to the 2001 data and...
When Fatima and her children fled a domestic violence situation in the middle of the night they had only the clothes they were wearing. In the days following, she discovered she was unable to apply for Centrelink payments or even set up a bank account because she...
It was a payment designed to assist women and children fleeing violence, but a new report has revealed that the majority of applications are being rejected, leading to the obvious question: what's the point in introducing a family violence payment only to make it...
CSMC's FREE careers and employment guidance program for single mothers.
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...
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,...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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....
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...
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...
“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...
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...
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...
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,...
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....
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...
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,...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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 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...
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...
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...
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 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...
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...
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...
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?
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...
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....
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
