The Men and Family Relationships Service is funded by the Commonwealth Department of Family, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and provides services for Greek men and their families. This occurs on a number of levels including one to one relationship counselling, group education on men’s issues and community education on emerging needs.

Clients supported via the counselling service including first, second and third generation Greek speaking individuals. The counselling service is offered at head office in Brunswick with an outreach service, one day per week, in Oakleigh. The counselling service is a culturally and linguistically appropriate service providing the opportunity for men to address the many personal, relationship and family issues.

Some of the issues presented by men and their families included the following:

• Relationship issues
• Anger management
• Grief and Loss
• Domestic Violence
• Alcohol and Drug Abuse
• Ageing and impact on relationships
• Isolation
• Assistance with separation issues and access to children
• General Family Law
• Mental Health issues
• General health and well-being

In 2007, the project delivered a total of 203 Family Relationship Services activities. Clients participated in various courses and groups including skill development, support groups, workshops and forums organized throughout the year. The activities addressed topics on developing healthy family relationships, couple communication, preventing abuse, stress management, conflict resolution, fathering, parenting and step-parenting, grand parenting and the role of the extended family, and men’s health including mental health.