Territory FACES

FACES - A support telephone hotline

FACES is a telephone hotline that offers information about and referrals to support services throughout the whole of the NT. This service can be accessed by anyone in the community from parents and carers to professionals, who are seeking advice on resources and services that can help, support and empower families and children.

FACES stands for Families and Children Enquiry & Support. It is a free service that is available by calling 1800 999 900 between 8am-4.21pm Monday to Friday. It is also a free-call number.

Services of FACES

The FACES helpline provides an opportunity for early intervention by connecting families with tailored support services and resources to assist or resolve any difficulties or concerns occurring in their life and aims to prevent problems from escalating.

FACES connects to local services that can help with:

  • Parenting Support - building parents’ capacity to deal with the everyday challenges of parenting including managing difficult behaviours in children, school issues and supporting teenagers
  • Family Support - assisting families to achieve their goals including reducing conflict or increasing their capacity to enjoy family life
  • Home support - providing support to better manage running a home
  • Budgeting and managing money - focused advice and support to get finances back on track
  • Housing and health-care - emergency housing advice, tenancy support and information regarding health services
  • Accessing other community or government services - providing advice about what services may be available to support a family

Intended audience

FACES is for anyone living in the Northern Territory looking for information about family support services and referral pathways including:

  • Parents
  • Children and young people
  • Family members
  • Community members
  • Any professional working with families and/or children.

What happens when I call FACES

The FACES team is staffed by professional workers who will listen to your concerns and work with individuals and families to identify needs and prioritise the support required.

FACES works with families to make sure intervention strategies are:

  • Client-driven and goal orientated
  • People are engaged with respect and understanding
  • Individual and family strengths are enhanced
  • Creating stronger communities where children experience safe, healthy and happy childhoods.

As an example, a parent could call FACES to discuss their concerns regarding money. A discussion with the parent might identify that financial counselling would be beneficial. The parent will be offered an opportunity for a direct referral to a support service close to them or may prefer to receive some resources and/or phone numbers to contact.

Call to help other people

If you are worried about someone else - your adult children or grandkids, a family at school or a friend at work - you can help them get the support they need.

One of the best ways to help someone is by starting a conversation with them. FACES can support you to talk about your concerns and find a solution.

If you are working with a family and would like to identify what services are available, or how to access more information about a certain issue, FACES can assist you too.

Confidential information

The information provided to FACES is confidential unless it is about someone getting hurt or if a crime is going to be committed.

Under Northern Territory law, FACES workers are mandatory reporters and are therefore required to report child protection concerns to the Child Abuse Hotline, and domestic and family violence to NT Police.

Urgent matters

In an emergency call 000 and ask for police.

If it is not an emergency call police on 131 444 or contact your local police station.

You can also report suspected child abuse and neglect to:

Related information and support resources

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