In late 1994 the National Council for the International Year of the Family produced a report for the Federal Government called Creating the Links: Families and Social Responsibility. The report contains some 20 priority recommendations for further action. This article discusses the recommendation relating to the establishment of Regional Family Support Councils. The Council proposes that two Regional Family Support Councils be established in each state/territory in an urban and rural area and the focus of the Councils be on support and prevention, rather than on crisis intervention. The author raises five possible points of concern about the IYF proposal as it stands. These are: (1) the overlap of functions between the proposed Councils and the already established Family Resource Centres; (2) the limited number per state and hence the minimal coverage which would be achieved; (3) the pilot status of the proposals; (4) the lack of links with economic planning and with the established regional development bodies, and the duplication of regional planning and monitoring bodies; and (5) the need to address cross-departmental funding gaps and overlaps in existing regional services to families.