About Us

Who are we?

Sole Parents’ Union is a non-profit community advocacy organisation that works on behalf of all sole parents, representing their views and issues to government. We work on behalf of both female and male sole parents, share-care parents, and children.

Our vision

To have the reality of changing families recognised in policy, law and the community.

Our Mission

To improve outcomes for sole parent families and improve recognition of the issues inherent in parenting alone or across multiple households.

To promote the idea of a "good divorce"

To encourage responsible parenting and a focus on children's best interests

To improve understanding and acceptance of changing family structures

How We Do It

We do this through working with government to improve policy for sole parent and other families, including in family law, social security, child support, tax and any other issues affecting families. We also work with the media to raise awareness of issues surrounding sole parenting, and improve the profile of sole parents in the media and the community.

We are represented on a number of government advisory panels, and make submissions and appear before enquiries on all matters that affect sole parent families.

Advocating in the Media

Our key spokesperson is our Board Chair, Kathleen Swinbourne.

Kathleen has extensive media experience and an in-depth knowledge of sole parenting issues. She has been a sole parent for the past 16 years, so knows personally what it's all about.