The Department for Communities was established in 2007 in response to a review conducted by Ms Prudence Ford in 2006 which recommended the abolition of the Department for Community Development and the establishment of two separate departments, namely the Department for Communities and the Department for Child Protection and Family Support. The Department for Communities was responsible for administering the State Government’s $114 million ‘Redress WA Scheme’ and holds records of applications and decisions made on applicants. It also ran the Country High School Hostels Ex-Gratia Scheme. In 2013, it became the Department for Local Government and Communities.
The State Records Office website provides an overview of the Department:
The Department for Communities incorporates the Office for Youth, the Office for Women’s Policy, the Office for Seniors and Carers, the Family and Domestic Violence Unit, the Volunteering Secretariat, Children and Family Services and the Office of Multicultural Interests.
The Department incorporates support for children and families through child care licensing, children services policy development, support for delivery of children’s services and a range of parenting programs.