Compared with other Western countries Australia stands out as having one of the most highly mobile populations. Despite this, there is very little recognition of this phenomenon and its social and educational effects. School personnel are particularly culpable in this regard, maintaining an image of schooling as a system focussed on relatively stable class groups. The available data, however, paint a very different picture, and one which compels the attention of not only educators but also a variety of individuals from the helping professions and welfare agencies. This article explores the nature of student mobility, its effects on children, and their adjustment to school.

This paper is based on the Keynote Address given by the author at the First National Home Visiting Conference in Canberra, 18-20 August, 1997. The paper explores a range of questions fundamental in relation to the future of home visiting programs in Australia What are home visiting programs? Who visits whom and to what end? What type of relationship develops and what happens during the visit? Where should such programs fit into agencies and service systems? And what about issues such as funding, ethics and evaluation? Last but not least, how can we learn from the home visiting programs of the past to meet the needs of the present and the future?

Camping as an effective tool for change in the lives of individuals and families is well established. However, models which provide a theoretical base for camping with families are rare. This paper provides one such model. Drawing upon many years of experience of camping with disadvantaged groups, the author develops three broad principles which underlie this family camping model. First is the importance of diversity in defining community, enhancing mutuality and encouraging volunteerism. Second is the unique opportunity which temporary community affords for empowerment – releasing the insidious grip of relational power, structural authority and learned helplessness which can stifle personal change, especially for disadvantaged families. The final key element is the natural world and its therapeutic potential to spawn images and experiences which provide the basis for individual and family change.

One of the main reasons why the current South Australian criminal justice system fails to provide an appropriate response to the issue of child sexual abuse is that the legislation proscribing this conduct does not reflect the dynamics of child molestation. As a result the penalties imposed by the Courts fail to recognise the seriousness of these crimes against children. The adoption of the legislative scheme of the Crimes (Child Sex Tourism) Amendment Act 1994 (Cth) would provide a framework for the reassessment of these crimes and hopefully lead to a more realistic response by the justice system.

In Victoria, and to some extent Australia, the last two decades have seen some clarification in the classification of the various forms of child maltreatment and abuse. Currently, the major recognised forms of child abuse are acknowledged as being:

• physical abuse or non-accidental physical injury;

• sexual abuse and exploitation;

• emotional/psychological abuse; and

• neglect.

According to at least one author, our lives are increasingly dominated by a ‘culture of fear’, in which possible adverse outcomes dominate our world views. Throughout the Western world, awareness of child sexual abuse has led to action by members of the public to draw attention to horrific crimes against children. This article reviews some of the media reports and seeks to explain why so many are concerned by those that prey on children.