From journal articles to Quick Guides and webinars, you will find tools and information to support.
This article, published in the Australian Journal of Social Issues, draws on administrative data on school attendance collected in Tasmania in 2020 to show how the impacts of COVID-19 school shutdowns were unevenly experienced by those from a lower SES background. This study found many negative impacts, which are further discussed in the article.
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.
This final report collates evidence collected from a collaborative research project into support for carers produced by the Australian Institute of Family Studies and Murawin, an Aboriginal research and evaluation consultancy. The report covers the key challenges, supports available, barriers in accessing these supports, and the effects of COVID-19 on foster, kinship, and permanent carers. The research identifies priority actions to support carers which are detailed in the report.
This collaborative piece by Orygen and Mission Australia presents the findings of a 2021 survey of Australians aged 15 to 19 years. The study identifies aspects of their lives that were most negatively impacted by lockdowns and the groups who were most affected by COVID-19 and associated lockdowns. The study also makes recommendations for policy and practice.
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.
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.
This article from the Centre for Social Research and Methods illustrates the effect of applying a wellbeing participatory framework – focused on key areas that children indicate as having value to themselves – to an existing dataset on child wellbeing. Results showed some areas of concern for children and young people in Australia and details how policies should be changed as a result.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has released this paper examining how the wellbeing of children from disadvantaged backgrounds compares to their peers from more advantaged backgrounds, and relative to OECD countries. The study uses key comparative indicators to highlight how children from low SES backgrounds face poorer outcomes across many of the aspects of wellbeing. Outcomes are detailed in the report.
The Victorian Auditor-General’s Office (VAGO) has released its audit report on the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH) kinship care model. The audit examined whether DFFH is supporting timely, stable and quality kinship placements through the model. Results and 12 recommendations that were found are detailed in the report.
