This grant will fund a single provider of the FASS Support Service 2 (the FASS Men’s Service) for a 3-year term to deliver social support services to men affected by domestic and family violence.
Key information
- Status: Closed
- Grant amount: $4,845,591
- Application opened: 17 February 2025
- Application closed: 31 March 2025, 3:00 pm
Program objective
The Family Advocacy and Support Service (FASS) was established in 2016 as part of the Third Action Plan under the National Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and Their Children.
In NSW, the program has been managed by Legal Aid NSW since its inception.
The FASS is a Commonwealth Government-funded integrated model of legal and social support for people involved in family law proceedings who are affected by domestic and family violence.
In NSW, FASS legal support is delivered by in-house Legal Aid NSW lawyers, and FASS social support is delivered by non-government organisations contracted by Legal Aid NSW.
These FASS Social Support Services are co-located in the 17 Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (FCFCOA) Registries. In 2023/24, the services assisted over 4,700 clients.
There are two FASS Social Support Services:
- Social Support Service 1 (FASS Women’s Service)
- Social Support Service 2 (FASS Men’s Service).
The Women’s Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Program (WDVCAP) Unit within Legal Aid NSW administers funding for the FASS Social Support Services, and is responsible for:
- monitoring providers’ compliance with service agreements
- providing training and mentoring to FASS staff
- providing policy and procedure guidance to providers and staff.
The current FASS service agreement for Social Support Service 2 (FASS Men’s Service) ends on 30 June 2025.
Legal Aid NSW is seeking grant applications in the form of a Request for Application (RFA) in an open application process to appoint a single provider for the FASS Men’s Service from 1 July 2025 for a three-year term, ending 30 June 2028.
The agreement will also include an extension clause. All applications are to be submitted on the buy NSW website.
Purpose and objectives
Legal Aid NSW is seeking to engage a provider with suitable experience, capability and skills for the FASS Men’s Service for the period 1 July 2025 – 30 June 2028.
The primary role of the provider is to manage the FASS Men’s Service to ensure compliance with the FASS Service Agreement and FASS Policy Manual.
The provider is responsible for recruitment and management of FASS staff, financial management, ensuring compliance with workplace health and safety requirements and overarching performance management of the FASS Men’s Service.
The provider will be required to deliver the FASS Men’s Service at all Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (FCFCOA) Registries and circuit locations in NSW as follows.
| No. | Court |
| 1 | Sydney Registry |
| 2 | Parramatta Registry |
| 3 | Newcastle Registry and Gosford Circuit |
| 4 | Wollongong Registry |
| 5 | Armidale, Tamworth, and Gunnedah Circuits |
| 6 | Port Macquarie, Wauchope, and Forster Circuits |
| 7 | Coffs Harbour Circuit |
| 8 | Lismore Circuit |
| 9 | Wagga Wagga and Albury Circuits |
| 10 | Dubbo, Orange, and Broken Hill Circuits |
The appointment of a single provider for the FASS Men’s Service at all registries was chosen as the best approach because it created value for money outcomes within the limited funding available and presents a more attractive package to prospective grant applicants.
This program is administered by Department of Communities and Justice.
This program is funded by Australian Government.
Eligibility
Who can apply
To be eligible to apply, applicants must meet the following criteria:
- not-for-profit, non-government organisation operating in NSW
- conformance with all application requirements (for example, a response to every mandatory question has been provided)
- ability to meet the minimum insurance requirements.
Who can’t apply
You are not eligible to apply if you:
- are an individual, for-profit organisation, or government entity
- do not operate in NSW
- cannot provide evidence of not-for-profit status.
What your application needs to include
You can download the full guidelines:
Timeline
- RFA Close Date: 31 March 2025 - 3pm
- RFA Assessed week of: 7 April 2025
- Applicants advised of Outcome week of: 28 April 2025
- Change Management: 5 May - 30 June 2025
- Service go live: 1 July 2025
Aims of the Family Advocacy and Support Services
The aims of the Family Advocacy and Support Services (FASS) are to:
- assist families affected by family violence, including to move between state and federal based court systems
- work closely and co-operatively with the family law courts and court staff to support the safety of service users and their children affected by family violence
- work co-operatively with all stakeholders to support the safe, effective, and efficient resolution of court matters. The FASS is a specialist family violence service that provides legal and social support to clients affected by family violence in the family law courts. This includes people who have experienced family violence, people who are alleged to have committed family violence, and other family members who may be impacted by family violence, for example, grandparents.
The FASS is based on an understanding of the importance of providing integrated legal and social support services to clients affected by DFV.
The purpose of integration is to provide holistic, trauma-informed, client-centred, and safer services for clients.
This can minimise the need for people impacted by family violence to recount traumatic experiences multiple times.
FASS Legal Services and FASS Social Support Services work together in a partnership approach to deliver the best possible supports to clients.
Clients have a right to confidentiality and to be informed of situations where that confidentiality may be limited.
Subject to client consent, the FASS Social Support Services provide information and documents, including any relevant threat assessments or safety plans, to the duty lawyer working with the same client, if requested, and for the purpose of assisting the client with their legal matter.
This does not affect any other professional or legal obligation of the Support Service or Legal Service to either maintain client confidentiality or alternatively to disclose information.
It is acknowledged that clients accessing the FASS may have matters before the Court on the day of initial access or soon after and/or may have urgent legal issues (including legal issues about significant risk affecting children and/or the safety of the parties).
FASS Social Support Workers will refer clients to legal services in the first instance, where they identify that legal advice is required urgently.
Prepare your application with this checklist
Applications for the FASS Men’s Services will be open for 6 weeks and will be assessed following the application process below.
All Request for Applications (RFA) responses must be lodged and submitted via the buy NSW website by the closing date, 3pm on Monday 31 March 2025.
The RFA is made up of Parts A to E (all available via the buy NSW website):
- Part A contains the introduction and description of the Requirement, and includes:
Attachment 1 – Family Advocacy and Support Service (FASS) Social Support Service Policy Manual
Attachment 2 – Referee Report Template (two references must be included with each Application). - Part B contains the Conditions of the Application.
- Part C contains the Application Response form for the Applicants to complete, and includes:
Attachment 1 – Annual Budget Report Template - Part D contains the FASS Service Agreement
- Part E contains definitions of key terms used throughout the Application package.
Part C must be submitted by Applicants in accordance with instructions contained in Part B. Once submitted, Part C becomes the Application.
Part D is the draft FASS Service Agreement that the successful Applicant will be asked to enter into with Legal Aid NSW for the period 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2028.
Address the assessment criteria
Refer to Part C of the RFA via the buy NSW website.
This is an open and competitive grants program. Applications will be assessed and competitively ranked against the assessment criteria below. Assessment panel members will individually score each application, then the panel will meet to finalise consensus scores.
Applications will be assessed in three stages, as outlined below. Applicants must pass:
- Stage 1: Compliance Assessment
- Stage 2: Weighted Criteria Evaluation
- Stage 3: Due Diligence
Assessment criteria
| Criteria | Specific information and evidence required |
|---|---|
| Stage 1: Compliance Assessment (Eligibility Criteria) | Applicants will be required to meet the following compliance requirements:
Applicants that pass Stage 1 will progress to the Stage 2 Evaluation. |
| Stage 2: Weighted Criteria (Assessment Criteria) | The project for which funding is proposed to be provided is deliverable within the proposed time frame and scope:
|
The proposed grant recipients have sufficient capacity and expertise to deliver the project:
| |
The grant will provide community benefit:
| |
The grant will achieve value for money:
| |
Alignment with NSW Government policy objectives:
| |
| Stage 3 – Due Diligence | References will be checked for the highest-ranked applicant following Stage 2. Two referee reports will be required from each applicant. Additional due diligence may be undertaken as considered appropriate. |
After the application is submitted
Successful applications will be decided by: The Legal Aid NSW CEO
The applications will be assessed and both successful and unsuccessful applicants will be notified.
Support and contact
Name: Merna Maher
Email: mmaher@procuregroup.com.au
Program evaluation
Legal Aid NSW will conduct on-going monitoring of Grant recipients' compliance with performance requirements.