Resources

The British Youth Council’s Youth Select Committee has published a report on body image and the impact it has on the wellbeing of children and young people. The Committee presents recommendations to government, highlighting the integral role that education plays in promoting positive body image. Other recommendations include the commissioning of research to address current gaps in the evidence base and the development of resources to support the challenges faced by young men, LGBT+ youth, ethnic minorities, and young people with disabilities.

A new VCOSS report measures the size and scale of the Victorian community sector and its contribution to Victoria’s economy and society. Data comes from the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission’s (ACNC) 2015 Annual Information Statement. The Victorian community sector is growing and is expected to employ many more people in coming years. This is due to population growth, an aging population and the implementation of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

This Australian National Research Organisation for Women's Safety report details the experiences of mothers and carers of young people with a disability that use violence in the home. This report is can provide insights into the responses by service providers and the experiences of young people with a disability.

The Royal Commission's research report examines the pathways of children with disability in child protection into the criminal justice system. It covers risk and protective factors, policy effectiveness, barriers to evidence-based practice, and the experiences of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse and Aboriginal children. The report is relevant for practitioners working with children with disability and highlights areas for improvement.

This report was developed in collaboration with Melbourne University and identifies gaps in published literature pertaining to 5 key focus areas; Aboriginal children and families, out of home care, high-risk young people, trauma-informed practice, children with disabilities and their families and family violence.

This report uses data from the first five waves of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) to examine the links between family, neighbourhood and school level disadvantage and children’s cognitive and social outcomes. It found that to experience any one of family, neighbourhood or school level disadvantage is detrimental to a child’s cognitive and socio-emotional outcomes. The LSAC data suggests that much of the association between disadvantage and child cognitive outcomes can be explained by the incidental influence of disadvantage on the home environment, especially on the amount of time and effort spent by parents on activities that stimulate children’s cognitive abilities.

This report from the Brotherhood of St Laurence, Australian Federation of Disability Organisations and Western Sydney University examines the development of the partial capacity to work classification and its impact on the lives of individuals and their households. The report finds that the partial capacity to work category is failing many people experiencing vulnerability, necessitating urgent reform, and contains eight recommendations for change.

This Summer Foundation and People with Disability Australia report provides insights into people with a disability using the NDIS. The report highlights the importance of communication, a timely and efficient system with more expertise among NDIA staff. This report is relevant for services with clients accessing NDIS.

A short guide prepared by co-designers for YFS2020 Sneha Challa and Tadc Williamson-Lee demonstrating inclusive language during presentations and public speaking

It is vital to recognise children and young people with disabilities as experts on their own situation, and as capable of contributing to the decision-making processes that affect their lives. This paper offers practical guidance to professionals who work with children with disabilities, including tips for working with children with specific impairments, and case study examples of effective consultation.

This report shares insights from the Brotherhood of St Laurence's trial to support young people with disabilities in mainstream employment pathways. The trial used a place-based approach and Advantaged Thinking, emphasising participants' aspirations and abilities. It highlights program challenges, positive outcomes, and areas for improvement, offering valuable lessons for practitioners.

The Joint Standing Committee on the National Disability Insurance Scheme has released its inquiry report on independent assessments. The Committee found that good policy processes were not followed in the proposal to introduce independent assessments, which should have been subject to extensive consultation, trials and pilots to address issues prior to implementation. The report makes six recommendations.

The Legislative Assembly Economy and Infrastructure Committee has released its report examining access to TAFE for learners with disability in Victoria. The inquiry found that increasing awareness of what is available and raising learners’ aspirations can encourage access to TAFE for people with disability. It also found that the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and the Victorian Government’s free TAFE scheme have seen increased numbers of people with disability enrolled in TAFE. The report makes 44 recommendations.

This Melbourne Institute working paper explores the factors underlying intergenerational disadvantage in Australia. The study looks at the extent to which children are more likely to receive social welfare payments if their parents received welfare payments. The paper finds that young people are 1.8 times more likely to receive social assistance if their parents have a history of receiving social assistance themselves. The intergenerational correlation is particularly strong in the case of disability payments’; highlighting that childhood disadvantage stemming from parental disability is linked to a broad spectrum of adult disadvantage.

ARACY has released this report outlining the results of a literature review on the impacts of COVID-19 on children with disability and their families in Australia, and findings from two policy roundtables. The review found that the pandemic exacerbated many of the problems already faced by families with disability, with children younger than school-age being the most negatively affected.

This Office of Public Advocate report highlights the system's failure to safeguard people with a disability against experiences of violence. This report offers policy recommendations and includes client voices.

This report from the Public Service Research Group at the University of New South Wales and Children and Young People with Disability Australia (CYDA) used survey data to investigate the COVID-19 vaccination experiences of children and young people with disability. The study found that 62 per cent of respondents were parents or carers who experienced difficulties and barriers in vaccinating their child or children with disability. The report concludes that support to make sure that children with disability can access an appropriate vaccination experience is crucial to prevent high levels of severe disease.

Researchers analysed data relating to 524,534 children born in Western Australia during 1990-2010 for the study, Maltreatment Risk among Children with Disabilities. The findings show that children with disabilities are at increased risk of child maltreatment. While children with disabilities make up 10.4% of the total WA population, they account for 1 in 4 maltreatment allegations and 1 in 3 substantiated allegations. This study contributes to the knowledge base about the range of issues faced by children in the child protection system and highlights the need for interagency collaboration to ensure children’s complex needs are met.

Access a range of facilitation tools, journey mapping tools, role playing tips and techniques, voting systems and more, to better manage co-design processes with multiple stakeholders. Created by Iriss and used in Pilotlight, these tools will be relevant to lots of different organisations and situations.

Simon Green and Haley Zilberberg (Youth Disability Advocacy Service) discuss their development of their Emerging Young Leaders Program for young people aged 14 to 20 who identified as having disability. With the NDIS changing how people with disability engage with society, accessible and inclusive practice is key to ensuring organisations can deliver safely and effectively. Feedback from participants, and their teachers and parents confirms that this program has created positive opportunities for people with disabilities to develop themselves.

This report from Social Ventures Australia investigates the experiences of young people with intellectual disability, focusing on those with more significant support needs. The study identified six themes: rich and diverse aspirations, a meaningful life of education, work and community participation, a secure future, a robust disability service system, healthy living, and community attitudes. The report identifies system gaps that are driving challenges for young people with intellectual disability and uses case studies to elevate their perspectives with the aim of driving systems change.

This Autism's CRC research report is an ongoing longitudinal study into the experience of students with Autism in Australian schools. This report provides insights into educational interventions, child characteristics and environmental factors impacting education participation and outcomes.

This Australia's National Research Organisation for Women report is one of three investigating the experiences of children and young people with disability exposed to domestic violence. This report provides insight into using administrative data sets to identify trends through quantitative and qualitative data analysis and will be helpful for service providers wanting to engage with data analysis.

Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS) has released this report aiming to create a clearer conceptualisation of adolescent violence in the home (AVITH) and young people with disability to inform effective service responses. The review identifies six critical gaps in the evidence base and the impacts of this.

People with a disability are considered one of the groups most vulnerable to abuse, neglect and exploitation. This Practitioner Resource discusses safeguarding strategies to prevent abuse and neglect of children with disabilities. It calls for comprehensive change on cultural, institutional and policy levels to ensure the rights to protection for children and young people with a disability are realised and sustained.

This report from the National Disability Insurance Agency describes the findings of a study on participant experiences, including major barriers and enablers to community participation. A mix-methods approach was used with participants, families and carers and frontline staff. Findings are detailed in the report.

The University of Melbourne has released this report investigating the current state of knowledge on the extent and nature of violence against women with disability in Australia, and on ‘what works’ to prevent violence from happening. The study found that the evidence base on ‘what works’ is small. Disability service settings, disability support workers and educational settings were identified by women with disability as the settings with the most promise for primary prevention action.

This ANROWS paper aims to help tertiary services respond more effectively to the needs of women with disabilities. Drawing upon the experiences of women with disabilities who have used domestic and family violence services, and a survey of service providers, the report sets out a number of recommendations. Recommendations include greater promotion of access, cross sector collaboration and inclusion of the views and experiences of women with a disability and experiencing family violence in service design.