What we do

Sole Parents' Union is a community advocacy agency. That means we work with government, media and others to get better policies and practices for single parent families.

We also recognise that single parents don't always stay single, but even when repartnering many of the issues for sole parents remain, and sometimes even intensify. Some of the issues we work on are:

Family law  |  Child Support  |  Parenting across multiple households  |  Ensuring adequate income

More information on each of these areas can be found under the "Issues" tab on our toolbar.

We listen to you

Unfortunately we do not have the resources to provide direct support to single parents, but we're working on it. Talking with single parents, hearing your stories and understanding your issues helps us in our work with government. Being able to support our position with real stories is a powerful and effective tool.

If you would like to tell us your story please use the link in the left hand column of this page.

Where possible we can also come and listen directly to you. If you have a group that would like to talk with us, or you run a program that we can learn from, or you would like us to come and talk to you about our work and what's happening for sole parents, let us know. If at all possible we'll try to get there.

You can call us on (02) 8086 2858 (we'll call you back if you are interstate), or email admin@soleparentsunion.org.au

We provide you with information

We put out a regular newsletter with updates on what is happening for single parents. This newsletter is for single parents as well as those working with single parents.  You can register to get this newsletter on the front page of our wesite.

We represent you with government

Sole Parents' Union provides advice directly to government through representation on government advisory panels. We also provide submissions on issues of importance to single parent families, and appear before Senate or House of Representatives enquiries. We try to meet directly with politicians where possible, and work closely with government departments such as Centrelink and the Child Support Agency.

We talk with the media about single parents

The media - radio, newspapers, television,  magazines and electronic media - all regularly run stories on single parents. Sole Parents' Union has appeared in all these media and tries to provide accurate information about parenting on your own or across multiple households.  We also blog ourselves and write opinion pieces for others.

Importantly - we try to bust the negative stereotypes of single parents and their children