Resources

In 2022, the Australian Human Rights Commission surveyed 4,559 children aged 9-17 and 2,796 parents and guardians across Australia to better understand the challenges that COVID-19 have posed to children’s wellbeing and mental health. Key findings are detailed in the report which also makes eight further recommendations.

This guide from The Advocate for Children and Young People (ACYP) has been designed and developed with young people and the support of many organisations across New South Wales. It is designed to help organisations establish youth councils and meaningfully engage children and young people in their work. The guide highlights why young people’s participation is important, how to engage and manage a group of young advisors, how to address ethical concerns, as well as a checklist and top tips for success.

This is the sixth annual report outlining how children and young people in the ACT are tracking against key indicators such as physical health and wellbeing and development in the early years. Notably, the number of children enrolled in a preschool program has increased by more than 35 per cent over three years, and the rate of young people charged with a criminal offence has almost halved since 2011.

This article, published in Pediatrics, investigates the impact of the First Assessment Single-Session Triage clinic, a waitlist intervention and demand management model of care for transgender young people and their families waiting to access specialist gender services. The study found that compared with a control group, transgender young people supported by this model experienced improvements in depression and quality of life.

The Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) has released this report outlining the results of a study into the service delivery pathways for young people transitioning from out-of-home care and the available opportunities to improve transition planning and housing outcomes. The study analysed linked administrative for all Victorian care leavers in 2013 and 2014 and found that smooth transitions are the exception, with most transitions resulting in housing instability, homelessness and other adverse outcomes. The report includes a range of policy development options.

The ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society has released this report drawing on insights from a workshop series with international experts about automated decision making in child and family services. The report provides an overview of work happening in this space to provide a foundation for future research in this emerging field.

This Australia's National Research Organisation for Women's Safety research report uses quantitative and qualitative survey data from young people who have used violence to gain insights into their use and experiences. This report offers recommendations for primary prevention strategies for services engaged with young people that use violence.

The Rees Centre has published a report that looks at nine projects funded through the Children’s Social Care Innovation Programme (UK), which directly targeted adolescents at the ‘edge of care’. The analysis makes suggestions for services that aim to reduce the number of young people entering care, and improve outcomes for those living in care. Common components of a successful program included multi-professional staff development, a focus on building positive relationships with families, and strong leadership and management on the ground.

This report from the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) examines the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) among young people in the youth justice system based on a South Australian sample. The study had many prevalent findings and provided suggestions on supporting these young people.

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.

Melbourne City Mission has released this report examining the policy and service gaps for young people experiencing family violence in Victoria. A key finding of the study is that young people’s ways of managing their safety are often misunderstood and seen as problematic instead of being recognised as protective. The report makes 20 recommendations.

This summary is designed for practitioners and policy-makers who want to know more about ANROWS research on the impacts of domestic and family violence (DFV) on children. It outlines the major issues found in ANROWS research relevant to children, the factors preventing effective service delivery and the policy and practice changes recommended by the researchers. It concludes with future research directions.

Children and Young People with Disability Australia (CYDA) has released this report seeking to understand the experiences of children and young people with disability and their families accessing the NDIS and their thoughts on proposed reforms relating to Independent Assessments. CYDA conducted a survey with 12 per cent of the 270 responses being from children and young people. The study found that less than half (45 per cent) of respondents were satisfied with the services and support received under the NDIS and overall, 80 per cent of respondents had a negative view of the proposed reforms.

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.

This snapshot report from the Commission for Children and Young People (CCYP) investigates children’s and young people’s experiences during Victoria’s fifth and sixth lockdowns in the second half of 2021. Themes include struggles with poor mental health, concerns about the future and educational impacts.

A new COVID-19 snapshot from the Commission for Children and Young People has been released outlining findings from their check in with young people about the impacts of COVID-19

This article, published by Lancet Public Health, reports the outcomes of a longitudinal study that used linked data to investigate the extent to which trends in child poverty relate to trends in out-of-home care entry in England. The study found many trends, which are detailed in the report.

The NSW Legislative Council has released a report on childhood overweight and obesity. It details the structural factors that help determine a child’s weight, and provides compelling recommendations related to urban planning, cost and accessibility of organised sport and food labelling.

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 article, published in Child & Family Social Work, explores how child protection practitioners in Australia understand children’s participation. The study found differing understandings among practitioners and suggested a number of systemic changes that are needed to support consistent and meaningful participation.

This discussion paper talks about the value of developing a coherent, manageable and principled practice framework for co-constructing the child’s personal life story archive. It also includes considerations around trauma, record-keeping, confidentiality,and information technology. Systems and collaborations are essential to translate this into practice.

In this activity young people are encouraged to fill in the page with words or pictures identifying different points of connection at various levels. This will open up conversations about a young person’s place in the world and encourage them to see themselves as one part of a connected network of support. If a young person doesn’t have strong connections in “Family”, they may be led to see that they do have connections elsewhere – perhaps via a connection to nature, culture, or a particular worker or friend.

Western Sydney University has released this report outlining young people’s insights and recommendations about online safety to inform the eSafety Commissioner’s messaging, resources and ongoing engagement with children and young people. The report was developed using youth-centred, participatory co-research and codesign methods. Key concerns raised by young people in the research included privacy issues, security issues and managing online interactions with others.

This chapter is part of a larger work on child maltreatment and takes a prevention-focused approach to child abuse and neglect by drawing on lessons from the public health sector. The authors argue that a public health approach can help refocus attention on the structural forces affecting families and improving safety and wellbeing outcomes for children.

WEstjustice has launched their 'Couch Surfing Limbo' report which explores the challenges faced by young couch surfers. Common challenges experienced by this group include exploitation, abuse, and the complexities of navigating a predominantly adult homelessness service system. The report also provides insight into the issues faced by couch providers – the informal carers that look after young couch surfers in their homes.

CREATE has produced a Position Paper on Transitioning from Care, calling for governments to listen to young people about their care experiences and their suggestions for improvement. It presents data from a range of sources that illustrate the experiences of young people transitioning from care, their life outcomes and the effectiveness of targeted services for these young people, such as the Go your Own Way project.

Watch Dr. Kim Sabo Flores, a youth participatory evaluation expert based in the US, talking about the need to create environments which ignite learning and development in young people.

This report from the Crime Statistics Agency examines the prevalence and outcomes of witnessing family violence for children aged 0-17 in Victoria. It found that over a five-year-period in Victoria, 109,356 family violence incidents occurred with at least one child witness present. Of those child witnesses, over two-thirds were aged 9 years or younger. In 2018-19, over a third of incidents took place in the lowest ranking socio-economic areas in Victoria.

This paper from the Australian Institute of Criminology examines the offending pathways of 8,465 young people aged 13-17 who had been proceeded against for at least one juvenile offence. The study followed these young people until age 23 and found that young people who had been proceeded against for at least one domestic and family violence (DFV) offence were much more likely than other offenders to become adult DFV offenders and that they reoffended more frequently.

This brief from the Centre for Excellence in Therapeutic Care discusses what is needed to create genuine participation for young people in residential care. It discusses why youth participation is important and beneficial for designing services, programs and policies in this setting. It also covers a number of different models for participation, and implications for practitioners and organisations in using these approaches.

Watch Dr. Kim Sabo Flores talking about her work, where she emphasises that best youth programs do not just build on youth’s strengths or assets. Instead they supply them with opportunities to explore entirely new ways of being in the world, to create new roles, new attitudes, and new actions. In this video, she also talks about creative activities to involve young people in evaluation.

This report from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) examines transitions from institutional settings, including out-of-home care, with the purpose of proposing policy directions to enhance housing supports. Findings are detailed in the report.

This evaluation report from the Brotherhood of St Laurence, examines The Brighter Futures Transformation Pilot (BFTP). This pilot was funded for two years from July 2018 to June 2020, and aimed to improve outcomes for young people with an experience of out-of-home care. The pilot responded to a need, identified through earlier work of the Area Partnership, for changing how the leaving care system worked with young people.

This Centre for Innovative Justice report presents evaluations and impacts from a Youth Law early intervention program for young people who use violence in the home. This report provides insights into the effectiveness and limitations of the program as well as an evaluation guide for service providers working in the AVITH space.

The Commissioner for Children and Young People Western Australia has released this report reviewing the current evidence on girls’ wellbeing to understand the reasons for the wellbeing gap between male and female young people. It was found that gender stereotypes, driven in part by increasing social media usage, affect self-esteem, low engagement in physical activity, reduced feelings of safety and independence, and decreased sense of belonging for girls. The report calls for urgent action to improve girls’ wellbeing outcomes.

Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS) has released this report examining the timing, placement and temporal ordering of adverse early developmental experiences in young people aged 10-17 years adjudicated for sexual offences. The case files of 400 young people adjudicated between 2004 and 2018 were reviewed and the 20 files with the highest prevalence of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) were selected for analysis. The study found that ACEs tended to co-occur, commence early in life and persist for many years for these young people, providing insights into opportunities for early interventions.

An alternative to starting with the question, “What subjects are you good at in school”, recognising that for many disconnected young people this can trigger feelings of inadequacy and frustration. Instead, the activity encourages young people to simply reflect on things they like, not necessarily things they are good at or activities with a strong careers focus or pathway. This helps the young person with the practitioner to open up stories and reflection about favourite things, activities, people, and draw out useful stories and experiences that demonstrate skill, character, connection and competency.

Mission Australia and the Black Dog Institute have collaborated to produce a report on youth mental health. The report presents findings from youth survey data collected between 2012- 2016, and comments on the psychological stress experienced by young people and their help-seeking behaviour. One significant finding included in the report was that one in four young people (aged 15-19) who responded to the survey met the criteria for having a probable serious mental illness (PSMI)and that PSMI has increased among young people over the past 5 years, particularly among females. The risk of mental health issues is greater in Indigenous groups than non-Indigenous groups. This report shows that more targeted investment is needed to address the concerning levels of mental health issues amongst young Australians.

Children in care often find it difficult to make and keep friends due to multiple home and family disruptions. This how-to guide by The Children's Society guides practitioners on how they can help children in care to build and maintain friendships - which can improve their wellbeing and reduce their isolation.

The Brotherhood of St Laurence has published an analysis of youth employment trends in Australia, which uncovers some concerning statistics. Youth underemployment is now the highest it has been since 1978 when the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) first started collecting the data, reaching 18 per cent in early 2017. The report shows that 650,000 young people in total were unemployed or underemployed in February 2017.

This presentation - part of a workshop delivered by Gray Poehnell - shows how we can help disadvantaged young people to craft a better life story through hope-filled engagement. This is an important method for engaging hard to reach young people, and can help them to think about their career options as a part of their broader life story.

This presentation - part of a workshop delivered by Gray Poehnell - shows how we can help disadvantaged young people to think about who they are, and who they feel connected to. This strengths-based approach is part of helping a young person form a hope-filled story about themselves, which allows them to think about what they might want to pursue as a career.

This presentation, part of a workshop delivered by Gray Poehnell, shows how we can help disadvantaged young people to build resilience through helping them feel visible and recognised - ensuring that they feel they 'matter'.

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 Monash University research article engages qualitative data from service practitioners to help identify factors that can lead out-of-home care leavers to become parents before age 21. Some key themes included feelings of loss and isolation and poor sex education with implications for service practitioners.

This video provides an overview of the online platform Hello Insight, which helps youth development programs evaluate and respond to what young people need through online surveys and real time data analysis. The overview is provided by the founder of the platform, Dr Kim Sabo Flores, who has a long history conducting and championing youth participatory evaluation practice.

Save the Children has written a short article on how to have open and honest discussions with children about what it means to be a refugee or an asylum seeker. It provides facts and figures, video clips and other resources that can be used to start the conversation about refugee and asylum seeker journeys.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) has released this report presenting data on the prevalence of income support receipt among young people transitioning from care. The study found that time in out-of-home care is associated with higher levels of income support receipt, with care leavers in young adulthood three times as likely as their peers who have not been in care to receive income support.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) has released this report presenting data on the prevalence of income support receipt among young people transitioning from care. The study found that time in out-of-home care is associated with higher levels of income support receipt, with care leavers in young adulthood three times as likely as their peers who have not been in care to receive income support.

In this report Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS) presents findings from a unique set of data collected over a 30-year period in Western Australia. Researchers looked at instances of engagement with mental health agencies for children under the age of 18 who had been exposed to family violence. Key findings are detailed in the report.