Parents are instrumental in the healthy development of their children, and consequently future generations, and should therefore be supported in their parental role. Using a Grounded Theory framework, 24 parents of 0- to 10-year-olds were interviewed about their experiences and preparation for parenthood. Despite their overall satisfaction, many felt underprepared, unsure, alone and inadequate during their transition to parenthood. Most of them felt like they struggled unnecessarily during the first year of parenthood, commenting on changes that would help support new parents. This paper reports the preliminary findings of the study.

Universities play an integral role in training teachers in the areas of understanding and preparedness to deal with child abuse and neglect while at the same time advocating for the ‘rights of the child’. Unfortunately pre-service teachers are at risk of being ill-prepared to meet their mandated and teaching responsibilities if their course content is not approached strategically. While numerous studies have investigated teachers' understandings of child abuse and the barriers in detecting and reporting this abuse, this research investigates pre-service teachers' understandings of child abuse and their preparedness to deal with the signs, symptoms and disclosures of child abuse. This paper reports on findings concerning pre-service teachers ‘views of their professional role in child protection and their recommendations for content to be included in their undergraduate degrees in teacher education.

A version of this article was presented at the Fourth Australasian Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect, ‘Rights and Responsibilities: Wrongs and Remedies’, Brisbane, 11th - 15th July, 1993.

This paper outlines the possibilities and tensions that emerge in legal and social discourse when popular images and narratives of children as ‘at risk’ are juxtaposed with more revised constructions of the child as capable and autonomous. The paper explores this shift in representation of children against a background of extensive family law reform currently under way in Australia. It then reports insights from a pilot study which found that children ‘to and fro’ between accounts of hurt and powerlessness associated with divorce, and their desire to participate in the processes and decisions taking place around them. The paper posits that discourses of participation taken up in research, practice and policy need to acknowledge a dialectic relationship between agency and vulnerability if we are to respond to children in ways that include rather than marginalise. The paper concludes by highlighting some of the challenges that exist for researchers and practitioners seeking to be open to new ways of thinking about children’s lives – ways based on an ethic that refuses the kind of normalisation and neat analyses conventionally pursued through research endeavours.

The parent–child bond known as attachment plays a pivotal role in the development and wellbeing of all young children. While research indicates that there are challenges for children with a disability in developing a secure attachment, little is known about early childhood intervention (ECI) professionals’ knowledge of attachment, how they view its importance in their work, and how they translate this knowledge into practice. To address this gap in research, a questionnaire was developed and administered to ECI professionals at an Australian ECI organisation. Qualitative analysis of results (N = 49) revealed an overall understanding of the role of attachment in child development and indicated that ECI professionals perceive attachment as being very important in their role of enhancing children's learning and wellbeing. Importantly, it emerged that less than half the participants learnt about attachment in their undergraduate training, with most learning about it ‘on the job’ and just over half the respondents felt comfortable in addressing attachment concerns with families. Some families are thus left at risk of being inadequately supported to manage attachment problems. Participants identified a desire for further training. This exploratory study has implications for orientation, training, practice, and further research.

This article records briefly the history of the Family Inclusion Network as an organisation that promotes family inclusive child protection practice. Since its inception in Queensland in 2006, Family Inclusion Network organisations have been formed elsewhere and now exist in Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania, Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales. In 2010, developments at a national level saw the formation of the Family Inclusion Network Australia. Most organisations are incorporated and some have achieved charitable status. Each organisation endorses a common set of aims and objectives. There are, however, differences in terms of whether state or territory organisations accept government funding or not, are staffed by professionals or rely entirely on volunteer personnel, and have a capacity or otherwise to provide direct casework services to parents. Some state organisations focus on information and advice services, and legislative and policy reform efforts. All have telephone advice lines and a webpage presence. This article also focuses on a code of ethics for child protection practice and on the contribution parents can make to child protection services, and their rights to do so.

During the past two decades an explosion of interdisciplinary research, especially in developmental neuroscience, has transformed and deepened our understanding of how the seminal social emotional events of infancy indelibly impact, for better or worse, all later stages of human development. In this article I briefly summarise my contributions in regulation theory towards that effort. After describing a current paradigm shift in the developmental sciences, I present an overview of my ongoing studies on the interpersonal neurobiology of the mother–infant attachment relationship. I offer research which indicates that optimal attachment experiences facilitate the experience-dependent maturation of the early developing ‘emotional’ right brain and thereby a predisposition for emotional wellbeing in later stages of life. I conclude with thoughts about the application of regulation theory for early intervention and prevention programs, as well as some larger implications for family law, cultural and political systems, and human capital formation.

An earlier evaluation of the New Zealand child protection program ‘Keeping Ourselves Safe’ found, inter alia, that girls with learning problems were highly vulnerable to drugs, sexual abuse and violence (Briggs & Hawkins 1996a). This led to the present study, the aim of which was to focus specifically on children with learning disabilities, and to include data from boys as well as girls.

Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from one hundred and sixteen students aged 11–17 years (61 females and 55 males) who were interviewed in special education units. Their common characteristics were that they had all been assessed as being 3 years or more behind their chronological age group in their development and achievement, they needed individually planned curricula across the range of school subjects, and they had all previously attended mainstream schools throughout the North and South Islands of New Zealand.

The study confirmed the vulnerability of children with learning disabilities to the risks of drugs, violence, psychological bullying, pornography and sexual abuse. Significant levels of violence in both schools and the home were found. The study also showed the need for special attention for the protection of boys.

It is possible that children with learning disabilities were targeted because they were seen as safer targets in terms of an expectation that they would be less aware of the difference between right and wrong and less likely than other children to make a report about any abusive behaviour. If this speculative hypothesis is correct, it means that children with learning disabilities require even more vigilant forms of protection than other children.

Between 2004 and 2006, the State Government of South Australia funded a foster carer recruitment service to increase the number of foster carers within the State. Based on a combination of public advertising, community consultation, and a step-by-step process of assessment, the service was successful in attracting considerable public interest in foster care. However, only limited success was achieved in recruiting new foster carers. To investigate this, a retrospective survey of 347 people who made contact with the recruitment service was conducted. The survey examined several factors that might have acted as barriers to becoming a foster carer, including: perceptions of the quality of the service, the nature of the assessment process, concerns about foster care, and personal characteristics and circumstances. The results showed that concerns about the nature of foster care (e.g. nature of the children, their families and fear of being falsely accused of abuse) discouraged around 30% of respondents, but that the majority declined to continue because of inopportune personal circumstances or a fear of failure. The findings highlight the importance of providing greater community information regarding foster care prior to large-scale campaigns, as well as undertaking more specifically targeted recruitment strategies.

In Australia, many researchers and policy makers believe that statutory child protection systems are overburdened and ineffective. The way forward, they suggest, is a public health model of child protection. A public health approach comprises four steps: (1) collecting surveillance data; (2) establishing causes and correlations; (3) developing and evaluating interventions; and (4) disseminating information about the effectiveness of intervention activities to the public health community. However, in Australia there are no reliable surveillance data. There is no information about ‘person’. Information is not collected about the characteristics of children (e.g., ethnicity) and parents (e.g., mental illness) reported to child protection services. Data are not comparable across place. This is because the states and territories have their own child protection legislation, definitions and data recording methods. Data are not comparable over time. This is because many jurisdictions have introduced new data recording systems over recent years. This paper concludes that it is essential to develop an effective child protection surveillance data system. This will ensure that services are located in areas and targeted towards populations in greatest need. It will enable large-scale evaluation of the effectiveness of prevention and intervention activities.

There is a paucity of published information about conceptions of Aboriginal child rearing and development among urban dwelling Nyoongar/Aboriginal people in Australia. We detail the unique findings from an Aboriginal early child development research project with a specific focus on the Nyoongar/Aboriginal community of Perth, Western Australia. This research significantly expands the understanding of a shared system of beliefs and values among Nyoongar people that differ in important ways from those of the broader Australian (Western) society. Consistent with the findings of research with other Aboriginal groups in Australia, and internationally, our work challenges assumptions underpinning a range of early childhood development policies and highlights the implications of cultural biases and misunderstandings among non-Aboriginal professionals in child and family services, education and other settings.

Over the past decade imprisonment rates in Australia have substantially increased. As imprisonment rates rise, so too do the number of families affected by the imprisonment of a parent. Yet the needs of parents in prison and their families have received little attention in social policies and service delivery practices. As the specific issues faced by parents in prison and their families cross many areas of government and community services responsibility, they all too easily slip from policy agendas. This paper outlines the challenges to, and potential for, restorative practices with families affected by the imprisonment of a parent. It draws on recent research undertaken by the authors into the family support needs of parents in prison and their families.

Hoarding is associated with problems engaging in social activities, lower social support, increased isolation and poses substantial challenges to family functioning. The aim of this investigation was to explore the relationship between hoarding severity and family and social functioning variables in 60 treatment-seeking adults with hoarding disorder (HD). Participants completed a battery of self-report measures during a baseline assessment completed prior to treatment. Forty-seven percent of participants reported they live alone. Forty-eight percent of participants reported that family and friends never visit them in their home, and 33% indicated they never had visitors to their home, not even service workers or repair people. Twelve percent of participants indicated they never visit with family or friends outside of their home; however, 55% of participants endorsed phoning family or friends more than 9 times each month. Increased clutter and hoarding severity was associated with a lower frequency of family and friends visiting in the home. Family competence and conflict were both positively associated with hoarding severity. Our results shed light on family and social impairment in HD and their relationship with symptom severity; however, additional research should examine social dysfunction among non-treatment-seeking individuals who may be more impaired or isolated.

This paper reports on research investigating the educational status and needs of school-aged children in foster care placements. Using clinical data mining, data were collected about school experiences, attendance, educational achievements and needs, health needs and supports provided. The study found children faced enormous barriers to satisfactory participation and attainment at school. Improving educational outcomes depends upon successful linkages between the child protection, education and health care systems.

The ‘future’ orientation of the out-of-home care research literature which has focused on outcomes of care has risked ignoring children's experiences of care in their ‘present(s)’. In this paper we describe a project, the design of which reflects an alternative to the traditional way of looking at childhood, of which this ‘future’ (adult constructed) orientation is part. We discuss the use of qualitative research methods to identify children's needs in care. The project has attempted to involve children as co-constructors of knowledge around their needs through participatory research methods. These methods have required us to recognise that children and their needs exist within a context of relational structures; to address the power imbalances between adult researchers and child participants; and to be flexible in responding to the consequences of a participative process. Challenges which have surfaced in the implementation of this research and our responses to them are described.

The STARTTerS Early Childhood Programme at the NSW Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors (STARTTS) has been developed in response to the complex refugee experiences of very young children, their families and communities. This biopsychosocial and systemic model is informed by neuroscience, attachment theory and current knowledge of the nature and impact of refugee-specific trauma on very young children and their families. It addresses the complex interactions between, social, cultural and political factors within the trauma and recovery environments, as they influence the clients’ presentations and the choice of interventions with families in cultural transition (FICT).

This paper provides a background to the STARTTerS programme, and reports on the results of a Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) project with the Karen and Mandaean refugee communities. It explores perceptions and cultural views of signs and symptoms related to early childhood trauma. It also explores help seeking preferences in relation to the recovery, settlement and health needs of families with young children. This research has led to ongoing collaborative and consultative processes with those communities, resulting in the development of services and referral systems, which will build a comprehensive and culturally appropriate early childhood programme.

This article is about parent blaming. It draws on the authors’ experience in health care agencies and the children’s court. Parent blaming involves practitioners attributing to parents an ‘excess’ level of responsibility expressed as ‘blame’ in regard to child care and protection or child treatment issues in the context of health. In the course of this process, structural factors such as low income, poor housing, unemployment, social isolation and prejudice that affect a parent’s capacity to protect and care for a child are frequently ignored.

Parent blaming is not a new phenomenon although currently it seems to be in vogue among practitioners in these fields. When blame is conveyed to parents, it creates anger and resentment and guarantees a non-cooperative response from them. This response is then all too readily used as evidence to support the view that parents are indeed to blame for their child’s lack of safety or medical condition. In practice, a blaming approach is futile. Suggestions are made about how this phenomenon can be avoided and how more positive approaches can be adopted to providing services to children and their families.

This paper describes and reflects on a Western Australian initiative in which a university Department of Social Work and Social Policy developed a partnership with a major hank’s staff charity and the West Australian Association of Young People in Care (WAAYPIC) to develop a preparatory Life Skills Workshop and a Peer Mentoring programme for young people about to leave State care. The programme was designed and provided by WAA YPIC members.

The paper reflects on partnership processes in securing funding and implementing two pilot projects for care graduates. There is a review of predominantly United Kingdom and Australian research literature on the experiences and life-chances of young people leaving the care of the ‘government as parent’. Notions of social justice and ‘good enough parenting’ are challenged. While their peers living with birth parents are leaving home in their mid-20s, able to rely on emotional and financial support from their families, the average age of leaving care is 17 years and the quality and continuity of emotional and financial support is problematic.

The author describes and reflects on local initiatives in leaving care policies and programmes and goes on to reflect on the growing arguments for a national system of service standards and necessary funding to achieve these standards. Recent UK initiatives are reviewed in the context of the 2005 FACE TO FACE Workshop on leaving care needs and policies in Australian States and Territories.

Australia is experiencing major difficulties attracting and retaining foster carers. This crisis in recruitment has focused attention on whether fostering can continue to rely on voluntary carers. This paper examines data from a 2003/4 survey of foster carers in New South Wales commissioned by the Department of Community Services. The research explores carers’ perceptions of the nature of the fostering role and examines these in relation to three dimensions of professionalisation: training, support and payment. The findings indicate that the majority of carers believe fostering should be regarded as a professional or semi-professional role. Among these carers, there was a higher level of support for the three dimensions of professionalisation compared to carers who regard their role as voluntary. Differences in perceptions were not attributable to other socio-demographic characteristics, aside from education levels. This paper also addresses the policy implications of these findings for the future recruitment and retention of carers.