Data and reporting

DCJ collects data for Family Preservation (FP) services. The data is used to support program, contract, and evaluation activities.

FP data is also used by DCJ for Commonwealth reporting on service delivery, across its portfolios.

infoShare

infoShare is a streamlined data collection platform that will be used by all FP providers. The use of infoShare will:

• Assist in capturing data quicker
• Increase the consistency of data collected
• Offer service providers a visualisation of data in the form of reports.

The following programs need to submit data using infoShare: 

• Family Preservation (formerly Brighter Futures and Youth Hope) 
• Intensive Family Preservation (IFP) 
• Resilient Families 
• Multisystemic Therapy for Child Abuse and Neglect  (MST- CAN®)
• Functional Family Therapy – Child Welfare (FFT-CW ®)
• Permanency Support Program - Family Preservation (PSP-FP) (excluding exiting providers who are no longer accepting new referrals).
• Intensive Family Based Services (IFBS)

FP providers are provided with access to the infoShare platform. Questions about access should be referred to your Organisation Administrator and then as needed, to infoShare@dcj.nsw.gov.au.

Please see the infoShare - Frequently Asked Questions (PDF, 274.8 KB)  for further information about infoShare and FP data collection and reporting.

infoShare roles and responsibilities - Users and Organisation Administrators

There are two main infoShare role types for FP providers - Users and Organisation Administrators.

Organisation Administrators play a vital role in:

• Establishing their organisation in infoShare
• Ensuring quality data submissions are delivered on time
• Supporting their users in infoShare
• Acting as the organisation’s key point of contact between their organisation’s infoShare users and DCJ.

See the infoShare Organisation Administrator - Roles and Responsibilities - Fact Sheet (PDF, 114.7 KB).

Data Collection and Reporting

FP data is collected on a quarterly basis and can be provided by one of the following methods: 

• Manually entered data, directly into infoShare
• Uploading a data file to infoShare.

Minimum Data Set

The minimum data set (MDS) is the mandatory set of data items that must be collected and shared by service providers with DCJ about clients and the services they deliver. These data items capture both identifying and demographic information of clients accessing program activities. infoShare includes the MDS in its collection mechanisms.

Family Preservation Annual Snapshot

The annual snapshot of Family Preservation and its service models in 2022-23 provides an overview of measures across their performance and demographic characteristics.

See the Family Preservation Annual Snapshot 2022-23 (PDF, 373.6 KB) (PDF, 373.6 KB).

Consultation on some data and evidence elements

During September 2024, we invited existing and interested Family Preservation service providers to provide feedback on some data and evidence elements that form part of the Family Preservation new program design. These elements werehave been developed through analysis of the evidence and various stakeholder consultations carried out from 2022 to 2024.

Using a survey, we sought feedback on the:

• draft overarching Family Preservation Program Logic,
• shortlisted assessment and outcomes tools, 
• indicative mandatory and discretionary service activities for the Families Together framework (non-ACCO respondents only) and Aboriginal Family Preservation framework (ACCO respondents only).

Draft overarching Family Preservation program logic

The program logic demonstrates how the overall Family Preservation Program is expected to impact the children, families and communities it is designed to help. It summarises key information about the program and explains how specific components and activities are linked to desired outcomes at client and program levels.

Based on feedback from the survey, Tthis draft program logic has been replaced with an updated version, based on feedback from the surveywas. The updated program logic and is included as an Appendix in the Family Preservation Program Specifications. (PDF, 1.7 MB)

For more information about  program logics, please see FACSIAR’s Developing a Program Logic: A step-by-step guide (PDF, 5.1 MB).

Shortlisted outcomes tools

DCJ is committed to building evidence on what approaches best help families achieve outcomes, and to use that evidence to inform continuous quality improvement. A robust evidence base requires providers and DCJ to capture high quality data about clients and services. Therefore, data capture processes and systems must be easy to use and offer value to service providers.

Outcomes tools are used to measure changes over time after a family has received a service response. They are typically used at the start (baseline) and end of service and help evaluate the effectiveness of the service.

A decision about the final suite of tools will consider the suitability for the target population/s, best match with primary outcomes, ease of use, and service providers’ views in the survey on the level of data capture, the shortlisted tools, tools that are considered important, and supports required for implementation.

Further co-design work on program outcomes and measurement tools will be undertaken with ACCOs delivering Aboriginal Family Preservation from April 2026.

Data Privacy

There are important privacy considerations for FP providers and staff in relation to the collection, storage, use, disclosure, and destruction of personal information, under the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (PPIP Act) and the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 (HRIP Act).

Further information for providers can be found for maintaining secure information and notifying us of information security incidents on the DCJ website.

infoShare resources

A range of fact sheets, guides and videos have been produced and are available to infoShare Organisation Administration Users within the application at InfoShare instruct.

Contacts

Please contact infoShare@dcj.nsw.gov.au if you have any questions related to data submission template and data fields.