A meeting between the Community Services Ministers (CSM) occurred on Friday 20 February 2026 on the lands of the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung People of the Kulin Nation, Melbourne.
This standalone meeting took place immediately after the first joint meeting between the CSM and the Women and Women's Ministerial Council (WWSMC), which was coordinated to discuss opportunities for Commonwealth, state and territory governments to work collaboratively to reduce rising rates of family, domestic and sexual violence and rates of children and young people entering out-of-home care (OOHC).
The purpose of this standalone meeting was to progress priority actions from the last CSM meeting in October 2025. Ministers reaffirmed the commitment to working together to help ensure that every child, every family and every community has the opportunity to thrive.
Ministers agreed to focus on the five areas identified as 2026 implementation priorities under Safe and Supported: The National Framework for Protecting Australia's Children 2021-2031 during the last meeting of the Shared Decision-Making Committee in October 2025: transitioning funding to ACCOs, investing in early and targeted supports, delegated authority, workforce development and improving culturally safe and prevention focused systems for children in OOHC. Ministers conducted a strategic discussion on how these priorities are connected to the priorities identified during the joint meeting with the WWSMC and how these focus areas can be progressed concurrently.
Ministers discussed the taxation and social security treatment of carers and care leaver payments and the need to explore changing legislation relating to this. The Department of Social Services will consult with New South Wales on this issue and report back to the CSM.
The CSM agreed to endorse out of session the Community Services Ministers 2025 Annual Report and 2026 workplan priorities.
