Who We Are
Family Inclusion Strategies in the Hunter (FISH) is a parent-led organisation based in the Hunter Valley and Central Coast of NSW. We support families with children in the child protection and out-of-home care systems by promoting family inclusion, peer advocacy, and genuine partnership.
Established in 2014, FISH is led by parents with lived experience who understand the challenges and strengths of families navigating child protection. Our work is grounded in the belief that children do better when families are included and supported, not excluded or judged.
Our Mission
Promoting Family Inclusion
At Family Inclusion Strategies in the Hunter, we are steadfast in our mission to advocate for family inclusion and enhance the lives of children and families within the child protection system. Our efforts are focused on creating a supportive environment where every family member’s voice is valued and respected. Through peer parent advocacy, collaborative research, and educational workshops, we strive to foster meaningful participation and connection, ensuring that family matters are at the forefront of child welfare discussions.
Our Key Activities
Peer Parent Advocacy
We empower parents by providing guidance and support from those who have navigated the child protection system themselves, fostering a community of understanding and resilience.
Lived Experience Workshops
Our workshops offer a platform for parents to share their stories and insights, promoting healing and awareness while influencing positive change in child protection services.
Research & Submissions
We support and lead in research about family inclusion in child protection.
We are currently partnering in an Australian Research Council Linkage project exploring peer parent and family advocacy in child protection. Keep in touch with us to find out more about this project as it progresses. We have partnered in other research about family inclusion since 2014 including research about the experiences of families in the Hunter Valley, research about the experiences of peer advocates and differing perspectives of family inclusion.
Meet Our Team
FISH peer workers have direct lived experiences in the child protection and out-of-home care system in NSW. They are now leaders of change in the system and experts by experience. They care a lot about the experiences of other parents and they understand in a way that most child protection workers never will. Our team is supported by the FISH Manager.
This page is currently being updated. Please do check in to get the latest updates.
Lyn Stoker, FISH Manager
Meet Our Committee
Tammy, President
I started with FISH in 2014 as a founding member. I am a parent with lived experience whose children were removed. I worked hard to get them home and my family is proud of what we achieved together. As part of FISH, I’m helping and educating others to be more family inclusive. Family inclusion is about children’s rights and the importance of them knowing their families and where they come from and for parents and family to be part of decisions about their children’s lives. Workers and carers need to partner more with parents and families and build better relationships so they can all meet children’s needs and rights.
Colleen Mullins, Secretary
I have been part of FISH since its formation in 2014, where I found myself in awe of the parents who had shared their lived experience with us at our first forum, and where it became clear that only through learning from these parents as experts could we improve a stretched and broken system. I am a Social Worker who has worked in the child protection and out of home care sector at different times in my career and I am passionate about early intervention, restoration and family inclusion work. It is a privilege to be part of FISH and I am proud of the work that our Peer Leaders and Committee members have done to contribute to practice and system change.
Catherine, Committee member
I am a mother of four children, a grandmother of eight and I am a student. I am a keen advocate for mothers and for grandparents raising grandchildren when parents need them. Kinship and foster carers should play an active role in supporting parents in their work towards having their children returned home. I think FISH is critical in this work and I am excited to be part of promoting the importance of child-parent-carer relationships.
Jessica, Committee Member
I am a social worker and researcher with a lot of experience in child protection and out-of-home care. I am also a mum to two amazing young men. They were both primary school aged boys when I began working with other social workers and with parents with lived experience to form FISH in 2014. We were angry about the way parents and families were treated and how damaging this was for them and their children. We felt parents and families needed to organise together to make change and to address the underlying causes of child removal. As time has passed, I have become even more committed to supporting parent and family leadership in the child welfare system here and around the world.
Our Aim
Family Inclusion Strategies Hunter (FISH) is a group of practitioners, parents, family members and carers who have formed to promote family inclusion in the lives of children in child protection and out of home care and family inclusive practice in the child protection and out of home care service system.
Our aim is simple. We want better outcomes for children and young people in the child protection system and in out of home care. Family inclusion will contribute to better outcomes, including higher rates of family preservation, restoration and improved family relationships and overall wellbeing for children in long term care.
The voices and action of parents and family are needed to make this happen.
FISH formed because we want the children and young people of the Hunter Valley of New South Wales in the child protection and out of home care systems to have better relationships with their families and for their families to be actively and respectfully included in their lives.
Our Objects
1. To promote and advocate for the respectful inclusion of families in out of home care and child protection systems and practice.
2. To contribute to a reduction of the numbers of children and young people in out of home care in the Hunter Valley and an increase in children and young people being restored to the care of their families.
3. To amplify the voices of parents, family and children in discussion about child protection and out of home care.
4. To identify and make visible family inclusive practice when it happens to generate learning and change in the broader system.
5. To question conventional thinking, concepts and ways of working which may be counter to family inclusion and to improving children’s lives through family inclusion.
6. To actively partner with and learn from the lived experiences of families and children. FISH will model collaboration and partnership between practice, research, parents, family and children in the Hunter Valley.
7. To generate knowledge, solutions and strategies for better practice.
8. To improve access to advocacy, information and support for parents and families that is easy to understand.
Join Our Community Efforts
At Family Inclusion Strategies in the Hunter, we believe in the power of community and the strength of family connections. We invite you to join us in making a difference. Whether you need support or want to contribute, your involvement is invaluable. Together, we can foster an inclusive environment where every family feels supported and empowered. Reach out today to learn more about how you can get involved or receive the support you need.