PREPARE-CC                Information and how to order. 
THE PRIVACY ACT     Do couples have the right to possess the report?

PREPARE-CC:  A New Inventory 
An inventory has been developed in the USA that is more relevant to working with cohabiting couples intending to marry.  This is currently being adapted for use in Australia in a form that parallels the format of the current V2000 reports.  Australian Bureau of Statistics information indicates that the proportion of Australian men and women cohabiting before marrying has increased almost threefold since 1977: 

1977 25% couples cohabited before marriage 
1987 42% couples cohabited before marriage 
1997 65% couples cohabited before marriage 
2001 72% couples cohabited before marriage

It is likely that some cohabiting couples will have issues to deal with in making the transition to marriage.  Perhaps they have some concerns about marriage (particularly those whose parents have separated or divorced).  Some of the cohabiting couples have possibly not communicated well with one another about their goals and expectations for marriage, or dealt well with issues associated with their experience of cohabitation.  Our research with Australian couples taking PREPARE before they marry has indicated that cohabiting couples tend to be older, more likely to have divorced or separated parents, and have lower individual and positive agreement scores on the Spiritual Beliefs category compared to non-cohabiting couples. 

These issues represent important areas of work for couples cohabiting before marriage.  The new inventory is not intended to encourage cohabitation, but is being made available in order to provide a more suitable resource for marriage preparation for cohabiting couples. The aim is to equip Prepare administrators as effectively as possible. 

The new inventory has been designed to be more suitable to couples already living together (with or without children), particularly those who are intending to marry. A new category called Cohabitation Issues has been added, replacing the Marriage Expectations category in Prepare.  This category is intended to assist couples explore the impact that living together has had upon their relationship and to provide a springboard for considering the further changes and effects that might emerge when they marry.  The other categories remain as they are in PREPARE, but 40 of the questions have been revised so that they have greater relevance to cohabiting couples intending to marry, in that they tap into issues that may have arisen during the experience of cohabitation. 

How to obtain PREPARE-CC 
We are now taking orders for PREPARE-CC.  The cost is $15 and this includes access to PREPARE-CC processing, 3 item booklets, 3 answer sheets and an eight-page mini-manual describing the new materials and providing an overview of relevant Australian and American research relevant to cohabiting couples intending marry.  To order by email click on the this link: 
 

Simply indicate that you want PREPARE-CC and be sure to provide your usercode and current mailing address.  We will invoice you when we post the materials to you. 

You are also welcome to telephone the National Office (02 9545 4566) or just put a note in your next set of answer sheets sent in for processing. 

At the time of writing this Newsletter, the materials were being printed but the scoring program was not complete and fully tested.  We will not send out the materials until we are fully on-line for the new program early in 2003, but we are inviting you to order now (but not to pay) so that we can compile orders and get the new materials to you without delay when we are fully operational early in 2003. 

Please make regular use of our WEB SITE 
The homepage (www.prepare-enrich.com.au) currently provides general contact details for the National Office and links to information for (1) couples interested in taking one of the inventories, (2) for those interested in training to use PREPARE and (3) for existing accredited Administrators.  It is the third link that will be of great use to Administrators.  Within the Administrators site we have a regular Hint of the Month feature (posted at the beginning of each month) with links to previous Monthly Hints (appearing regularly since July, 2002).  These hints highlight a practical tip or a brief summary of a relevant research finding that will be helpful to Administrators.  You can order supplies by email.   The web site also provides helpful links to other useful and relevant websites as well as a “frequently asked questions for Administrators” (FAQ) link.  The site is proving popular with over 10,000 hits and over 2,000 visits since July 2002. 

We suggest you bookmark the homepage and access the site regularly.

Of course, it is possible for a couple to become quite demanding at this point, although this is a rare event.  We have had reports of couples invoking the Privacy Act as providing them with the absolute right to possess the report.  This demand is not based on a sound understanding of the Privacy Act.  The issue concerns the release of test results and reports.  There are exceptions to unlimited access to such reports, and the reasons for these exceptions are covered by Principle 6 of the Privacy Act (NPP 6).  The Privacy Act and relevant resources may be read at www.privacy.gov.au. 

The right provided by the Act is to access, not to possess the original report or to possess a copy of the report.  Furthermore, NPP 6.1 (g) and NPP 6.1 (h) state that access cannot be provided if a law is broken by doing so (such as a breach of copyright that would occur if the detailed report is simply given over into a couple’s possession).  Access can also be denied if access may pose a serious risk to life or health. 

Reasonable access can be by inspection, explanation, discussion, a client taking notes, and by provision of a summary.  A typical feedback session certainly fulfils the first four of these requirements.  The provision of a summary may involve the completed sections of the exercises in the Building a Strong Marriages booklet, but it may also involve making a copy of the Item Summary (page 5 of the Report) for the couple to keep.  This will not break copyright and will not pose the same level of risk, as would be the case if the entire report were provided to the couple.  We encourage you to feel free to make a copy of that page and give to couples as part of the feedback process if you believe that this will be helpful to the couple. 

End of the old version – February2003 
We are still processing the old Version of PREPARE and ENRICH but we will cease processing it at the end of February 2003.  We are continuing to offer Update Training Days for the new version in as many locations as we can.  Please check the training dates by clicking here and plan to attend a Training Day soon.  If there is no Training Day in your area and you are willing to provide a venue please contact the PREPARE Office and we will try to arrange for a Trainer to come to you. 

No change to processing costs 
The standard cost of processing continues to be $38.50 (includes GST) but please call our office to obtain a price for discounts for multiples.  Please pay invoices promptly.  We are doing our best to maintain the present rates despite increased costs, so please help us to keep unnecessary costs to a minimum.  We are strongly committed to ensuring that the cost of taking PREPARE does not become prohibitive to couples. 

Please spread the news about PREPARE 
Please let potential PREPARE users know about Training Days and our website.  A list of PREPARE and ENRICH Training Days for the next six months is available by clicking on: 

Extending and maintaining your skills 
Knowledge and skills need to be maintained and there are two ways of helping this process.  The first is using the materials regularly and the second is becoming involved in some ongoing skills development work.  We are now offering some training opportunities for existing administrators to further develop their skills and knowledge.  Details of skills development programs being offered in the next six months are listed below: 
 

South Australia 
March 19th       Topic: Role Relationships. 
August 5th         Topic: Spiritual Beliefs. 
October 15th     Topic: Sex Expectations. 
All sessions are at Anglicare (26 Daphne Street, Prospect). 
9.30am to 11.30am. 
Contact number (08) 8342 4005 (Elizabeth or Janet).

Marriage Enrichment - Enrich: A time-saving resource? 
Several trainers have reported that conducting marriage enrichment, although seen as a desirable pastoral role by many clergy, is not one for which a great deal of time is available.  Enrich can actually save a great deal of time when conducting work with individual couples – it gets a couple talking to each other and efficiently identifies areas of strength and issues for growth .  It can also be used as a basis for groupwork - one way of doing this is outlined in the Version 2000 Counsellor's Manual (pp 95-99).  Feel free to be creative and to develop your own way of working with groups of couples using Enrich.  We encourage you to think about extending your training to include Enrich if you haven't already done so (see the Training Day schedule on the website) or call our office on 02 9545 4566 for details).  If you are already trained, are you using the material as much as you could, both to pastor couples effectively and to work as time-effectively as possible?  Enrich is an enormously valuable resource but is not being used to its full potential. 

Season's Greeting 
The staff of Prepare-Enrich would like to thank you all for your work with us in 2002 and to hope that you have a blessed Christmas-time and a great New Year.