Resources

Age of consent laws are important measures for protecting children and young people from sexual abuse and exploitation. This Child Family Community Australia resource sheet provides practitioners and researchers with information on age of consent legislation in Australia’s states and territories.

Anti-slavery Australia has released a report bringing together national data and case studies to provide a snapshot of online child exploitation in Australia. The report shows that new technologies and ease of access to the internet have resulted in the proliferation of child exploitation materials available online. The study emphasises the need for common language and streamlined national and international frameworks and cooperation to combat this challenge.

With the continually increasing collection of ‘big data’ across the globe, the protection of children’s’ rights is becoming increasingly complex and challenging. In this report, UNICEF calls for a greater appreciation of the links between children’s rights, ethics and data collection. Though the collection of big data presents many opportunities, the international community must address any concerns about how to protect and respect fundamental rights, particularly those of vulnerable children.

This report from the Early Intervention Foundation (EIF) sets out the evidence on virtual and digital delivery of interventions across a range of relevant domains, highlights the challenges and risks associated with remote delivery methods, and provides the findings from an EIF survey asking intervention developers and providers about their response to the Covid-19 crisis. It is intended to support the sector as it rapidly adapts to the constraints on delivery imposed by widespread social distancing and lockdown.

The purpose of this literature review is to better understand how children and young people engage with the digital world. It highlights best available research on key online trends, emerging issues and their implications for children and young people. This paper provides a background for researchers, practitioners, and policy makers conducting research, or developing programs, online courses and policies that take a systems approach to the issue.

These three reports (an independent analysis, Parliamentary secretary report and report on focus groups) have been released from the Victorian Government about the experience of remote and flexible learning in Term 2 for students, teachers and families during coronavirus (COVID-19). The reports were informed by more than 3600 submissions from teachers, parents, students and education experts as part of a community consultation process. The reports provide insight from government, independent and Catholic schools into the experiences of students, teachers and educators who had to quickly adapt in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

This literature review from CFECFW examines the existing research on telehealth and telepractice. It will be useful to anyone who is seeking to understand what effective telepractice looks like. It covers the definition of telehealth/telepractice, its prevalence and models, research findings on its impact and effectiveness, and its applicability to working with children.

The Australian digital inclusion index (ADII) has been created to measure the level of digital inclusion across the Australian population, and monitor this level over time. Among its key findings, the report highlights that Australians with low levels of income, education, and employment are all significantly less digitally included.

This quick review from CFECFW provides an overview of Telehealth as a well-established telepractice. It explores the potential of other telepractices being used currently in Victoria during COVID-19 and how well the telehealth model might be adapted to the social services or other community services.

The latest Australian Child Health Poll has found that two-thirds of primary school-aged children and one-third of pre-schoolers now own their own tablet or smartphone. The report describes the links between increasing screen time and childhood issues such as lack of physical activity, disrupted sleep patterns and family conflict. The report highlights the important roles that healthcare providers, schools and policymakers alike, can have in helping children navigate this complex technological age.

This online seminar from the Centre for Evaluation and Research Evidence (CERE) and DHHS looks at the impact of telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. This seminar features multiple presentations, covering the topics of performing rapid evaluations of telehealth, telehealth for Indigenous health and rural healthcare delivery and how to embed telehealth in the healthcare system.

Plan International have released findings from a survey of 1,002 young people aged 11-18 in the UK, exploring girls’ access to their rights in the digital space, and whether current rights frameworks adequately protect them. It finds that 48% of girls have experienced some form of harassment or abuse on social media and 73% have taken specific actions to avoid being criticised online. The report provides recommendations for improving the situation for young people experiencing online harassment.

This article, published in MDPI, explores the perspectives of young people in England aged 13 to 21 in relation to online harms and how they respond to harmful content. The study found many ways young people interact with the online world and what this means for resilience-building approaches.