Eating Disorders Families Australia

Eating Disorders Families Australia has been established by a group of Australian parents who have cared for and treated a young person with an eating disorder, to advocate for the needs and roles of other parents during this experience. Parents and families of children under 18 years are seen by the service system to be vital to treatment and recovery, but not necessarily equipped or supported to be a part of this process. Parents and families of adult children over 18 years have an even less clear mandate and yet have a vital role to play in their family member’s well being and recovery.

Eating Disorders Families Australia acknowledges that not all parents and families are prepared to access their own resources and support or capable of playing a central role in the treatment and recovery of their family member with an eating disorder. However, it is best practice for all parents and families to be given the option and support to maximise their role in the care team. Such collaborative approaches result in better long-term outcomes for our loved ones, more resilient families and less impact on our health system.

A little more about Eating Disorders Families Australia

We are proud to launch this website and hope you find our website and associated resources useful as we build the content over time. We would love to hear from any of you, carers or clinicians, on what you would like to see on this site.

EDFA emerged from a group of parents who have and are caring for young people with an eating disorder.  They shared a common experience of having a child desperately in need of treatment and care, while engaging with systems that were not clear on the role of parents and carers, how to support the parents and carers and in some cases, not particularly welcoming of parent and carer involvement in treatment.  The currency of provider practice with evidence based treatment was varied, with some providers being up to date and others, using practice proven to be low in effectiveness.