Geelong Family Relationship Centre

The Geelong Family Relationship Centre is located in close proximity to Geelong’s central business district and other Geelong amenities such as the train station and hospitals. Outreach services are available fortnightly in Colac and are being explored in other surrounding centres. The Centre is housed in a new, modern building with plenty of parking.

The Geelong Family Relationship Centre has a resource centre stocked with service brochures, computer internet access, and telephones that supports clients to access the range of local services that meet their needs. Helpful staff assist in pointing clients toward local services.

The Centre also has excellent facilities to provide child inclusive work and childcare, with trained child therapists to assess children’s needs. Using a range of different techniques such as sand, water or art therapy, they work with children to gain an understanding of what is going on from their unique perspective. This insight is then provided in an appropriate way to their parents to inform the agreement process.

Staff at the Family Relationship Centre comprise four teams of three staff each.

The four teams include the Administration/Reception team that provide our clients with that vital first contact. They collect essential first details, coordinate mail-outs, collect data for the government, and support other team members in providing support.

The second team is our family advisors who provide intensive intake, assessment, counselling and support services. Family advisors are clinically trained practitioners with a minimum of seven years service, able to administer a range of screening and testing tools to ensure that clients are appropriately referred to services they require. They spend time with clients to identify barriers to successful relationships, to parenting and/or the dispute resolution process.

Family dispute resolution practitioners, with skills in mediation and family law, support clients to reach agreements on issues that relate to their joint parenting roles. Their focus is on the developmental needs of the children as they use their skills to assist involved parties to reach agreement on how best to meet those children’s needs. Recognising that a child's needs change with time, they also seek to build parental negation skills so that parents can revisit their agreements appropriately.

Parenting orders practitioners work with high-conflict clients that have had difficulties in being able to maintain parenting agreements, have multiple issues including the need to re-focus their dialogue on the needs of their children. This ancillary program takes a case-managed approach to family dispute resolution and provides intensive support and skills development to enable these families to develop the necessary skills to assist them with their post-separation parenting tasks.

Attorney-General's Department Disclaimer - The information on this page has been provided by this Family Relationship Centre.

Contact us

Address: Suite 2, 27-31 Myers Street, Geelong
Phone: (03) 5246 5600 Toll Free: 1300 656 043 Fax: (03) 5221 0686
Email: geelongfrc@centacaremelbourne.org.au

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Operating times

9am to 5pm Monday, Wednesday, Friday
9am to 9pm Tuesday and Thursday
Closed on public holidays

Colac satellite site

Address: Glastonbury Child and Family Services, 4 Miller Street, Colac VIC
Phone: (03) 5231 4740 Fax: (03) 5232 2191

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Operating times

10am to 3pm Monday
Closed on public holidays

Resources for download

Client Pathway (DOC 131KB)