Relationships Australia (RA) began in 1948 under the name of Marriage Guidance Council. They are an Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n not-for profit organisation

Non-profit organization

Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

  providing professional services to support relationships

Intimate relationship

An intimate relationship is a particularly close interpersonal relationship that involves physical or emotional intimacy. Physical intimacy is characterized by romantic or passionate love and attachment, or sexual activity. The term is also sometimes used euphemistically for a sexual...

 across Australia.

Initially providing counselling

Family therapy

Family therapy, also referred to as couple and family therapy, family systems therapy, and family counseling, is a branch of psychotherapy that works with families and couples in intimate relationships to nurture change and development. It tends to view change in terms of the systems of...

 services using volunteers, they now provide a range of professional relationship support services.

Relationships Australia is approved under the "Family Relationships Services Program", which is administered by the Australian

Government of Australia

The Commonwealth of Australia is a federal constitutional monarchy under a parliamentary democracy. The Commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901 as a result of an agreement among six self-governing British colonies, which became the six states...

 Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs

Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (Australia)

The Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs is an Australian Government department. Its main office is located in Southern Canberra in the suburb of Greenway. Its role is to develop social policies and support affected Australian society and the living standards...

 to provide services including: family therapy

Family therapy

Family therapy, also referred to as couple and family therapy, family systems therapy, and family counseling, is a branch of psychotherapy that works with families and couples in intimate relationships to nurture change and development. It tends to view change in terms of the systems of...

, mediation

Mediation

Mediation, as used in law, is a form of alternative dispute resolution , a way of resolving disputes between two or more parties. A third party, the mediator, assists the parties to negotiate their own settlement...

, skills training and children's contact services.

They also receive funding from Australian states and territories for services including: for people with a gambling problem, and their families, parent

Parent

A parent is a caretaker of the offspring in their own species. In humans, a parent is of a child . Children can have one or more parents, but they must have two biological parents. Biological parents consist of the male who sired the child and the female who gave birth to the child...

ing skills, and family violence prevention.