About Us
The Mackay Children's Contact Service offers supervised contact visits and changeovers for children, separated parents and other family members.
Funding
The Mackay Children's Contact Service is funded by the Australian Government Department of Families, Housing, Community Services & Indigenous Affairs; and the Attorney General's Department.
Operation of the Service
Please refer to the home page for information about the operation of our Service, such as who the Service is for, how it works, fees, contacting us in advance, and referrals.
History
The Mackay Children's Contact Service Inc has been providing a valuable service to the Mackay community since 1997.
The idea for a Contact Service in Mackay began with a public meeting in September 1994. At that time there was a growing awareness that when couples separated and there was family violence or high levels of conflict between parents, children were continually caught in the middle.
The Service commenced operation in April 1997 with a grant from the Gambling Community Benefit Fund. This enabled the Service to operate on a Friday and Sunday afternoon for two hours to facilitate the changeover of children between separated parents. At that time the service operated from the George Street Neighborhood Centre premises.
In 2000, the Mackay Children's Contact Service was one of 25 services chosen nationally to receive ongoing funding from The Australian Government Attorney-General's Department.
The Service then opened Wednesday to Sunday each week for facilitated changeovers and supervised contact visits. In 2002, the move was made to a purpose-built building in Boddington Street.
Seven day trading was introduced in 2007 to accommodate changes to the Family Law Act and parents working rosters in the mining industry. As of the 1st October 2011, the service will close each Wednesday. The Centre will remain open 6 days a week from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.
Principles of the Service
Children have the right to know and be cared for by both parents.
Children have the right to be safe and feel safe.
To ensure the confidentiality of all parties.
To be accessible to anyone needing this service.
To offer a safe, pleasant environment for our families.
To remain independent from all parties.
To provide suitable trained staff for each changeover.
To provide an efficient, effective and appropriate service.
