Originally known as the Catholic Social Service Bureau, Archbishop Mannix established the organisation in 1935 with the employment of Constance Moffitt and Norma Parker; the first professionally qualified social workers in Australia.  It was reflection on the needs of the community, and a commitment to address them that led Archbishop Mannix to establish the organisation over seventy years ago. Over the past 70 years the organisation has consistently sought to be at the advance edge in the provision of community services. Since then the agency has worked closely with successive waves of migrant communities and has adapted to meet changing social needs around marriage and relationship education, family and relationship counselling, family support, employment, and drug and alcohol issues.

Connie Moffit and Norma Parker were Australian women who, upon graduating from the Catholic University of America in Washington, returned to assist with the establishment of the agency. The main function of ‘The Bureau’ was to administer admissions of children to the very over-crowded children’s homes in the Archdiocese. There were nine homes that housed a total of 1,500 children, many of whom were wards of the State. The Superiors of these homes had agreed to refer all admission requests to the Bureau.

It was planned to model the Bureau on the Family Counselling Agency that was operating very successfully in the United States. The goal of the Bureau was to prevent children from being institutionalised on the basis of poverty or disability. Removal of children from their families and home was not a solution to what was a social problem that with the right assistance and safety nets would allow families to stay together.

From these humble beginnings, the Bureau, which had been responsible for counselling birth mothers after adoption, broadened the service to include general counselling to meet the needs of those traumatised by WWII and the subsequent wave of refugees and migrants that resulted from displacement after the war. In 1956 the Bureau’s name was changed to ‘The Catholic Family Welfare Bureau’ to reflect its change of direction and commitment to supporting families.

In 1960, the Bureau was officially recognised by the Commonwealth Government as an authorised Marriage Counselling organisation, and in 1966 it was approved as an Adoption Agency under the State Adoption Act.

During the 1970's, the Bureau set up Regional Offices in Geelong (1972), Dandenong (1973) Footscray (1973), and Ringwood (1979). The Ringwood office has since moved to Mitcham. Also in the 1970's, the Bureau placed great emphasis on family therapy, involving the whole family, in order to help children to cope with their schooling.

During this time, the Bureau was active in helping with the establishment of a half-way house for young women leaving prison, and emergency housing for families in crisis, as well as telephone counselling for women confronted with an unwanted pregnancy. The Bureau was also involved in assisting refugees, particularly those from Vietnam.

The 1980's saw the introduction of the Big Brother/Big Sister programme which provided adults who befriended isolated and lonely children. In the late 1980's, the Bureau moved into the education area, providing pre-marriage education and family ministry courses. Family Ministry, with its emphasis on families ministering to each other in like-to-like ministry, focused on partnership between professionals and volunteers alike. It aimed to link families to services at a local level where further intervention was required.

The early 1990's saw the introduction of the ACCESS Program which provides Employee Assistance Programs whereby employers contract to provide the opportunity for employees to access free and confidential support services. During this time, Cabrini Centacare, a joint Cabrini Hospital/CFWB venture, commenced. This facility provides Marriage and Family Counselling to the community.

In early 1995, the decision was taken to write an Australian grief and loss programme, which is known as "Seasons". This programme enables people, particularly children, to work through the stages, which flow from a separation in the family, either through death, divorce or separation. The programme is open to all who might wish to utilise it. The main thrust of the programme is to help children and this is done in conjunction with the Catholic Education Office through the school network. It was introduced into the schools in 1996. The program also runs in parishes. This program replaced "Rainbows" as a Bureau project and has expanded to include loss and grief programs for adults, those with life-threatening illness, and young people experiencing homelessness.

In October 1995 the administrative services of the Bureau were consolidated, with the move of the Family Ministry team from Kew to 396 Albert Street, near St Patrick's Cathedral.

In June 1996 the Bureau branched out into a new service area working with the long-term unemployed. This work was undertaken in conjunction with a number of the Centacare Agencies and became known as the Centapact program. The program operated successfully for two years but did not receive funding beyond that time.

In December 1998 Archbishop George Pell announced that the Bureau’s name would be changed to ‘Centacare Catholic Family Services’. It was rationalised that in today’s language, the words ‘welfare’ and ‘bureau’ do not adequately describe the services and did not focus sufficiently on the nature of the organisation’s commitment to families. In adopting the name ‘Centacare’ we acknowledged our membership with the national inter-diocesan peak body of Catholic agencies under the same name.

1998 proved to be a very significant one for Centacare Catholic Family Services. Following a thorough review of the agency's activities a Strategic Positioning Report was developed as a basis for strategic planning for the next three years. This has become necessary in order to respond effectively to the changing approaches of Government in the manner in which programme funding is now distributed. Faced with the nature of short-term tendering and the proposition of there being fewer but bigger organisations providing services, Centacare Catholic Family Services would need to seek working partners and form alliances with them if we are to remain active.

The Bureau had a number of Clerical Directors including Frs. O’Rourke, Perkins and Brasier. In 1984, Mr John bushel was appointed as the first lay Director. Mr Kevin Larkins was appointed Chief Executive Officer in 2002, succeeding him. The current head of Centacare is Fr Joe Caddy, appointed in November 2005.

Centacare is currently funded by Commonwealth Department of Family and Community Services under its Family and Relationship Services Programme (FRSP) to run counselling, and mediation/conciliation services from its regional branches in Dandenong, Mitcham, Malvern, Footscray and Geelong and relationship education services in branches and other locations. Centacare is supported by the Federal Department of Workplace Relations to act as a provider of the Personal Support Programme in Geelong, Dandenong and Footscray with outposts in Cowes and Wonthaggi. This service provides case management to people with high barriers to employment. Centacare commenced management of a Job Placement Service in Geelong in 2003.

Centacare is also funded by the Department of Human Services to provide family support services in Footscray and Dandenong and an Adoption and Permanent Care Service in East Melbourne.

In order to position Centacare Catholic Family Services for the next stage of its development, a new organisational structure has been put in place over 2002/03. Mary of the Cross Drug and Alcohol Centre, established in 2001, became an integral part of Centacare Catholic Family Services in July 2003, adding this important service to the range of services offered by the agency. In 2003 Centacare also embarked on projects in community development and employment services.

In 2005 we established our Refugee and Humanitarian Entrants Services program to address the needs of new arrivals that due to displacement and trauma of pre-migration experiences have special needs in order to achieve successful settlement. This program is funded by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship. In 2007 the program name changed to Refugee and Settlement Program after receiving a funding boost from the government and a benefactor, which enabled Centacare to increase its capacity as a service provider of a full range of settlement services and support.