Internationally, there is a growing trend for children and young people to participate in decisions affecting their lives (Bellamy 2002; Hart 1997). The active participation of children and young people is clearly articulated in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989). However, despite the international movement towards children's participation, there are precious few opportunities for Australian children and young people to contribute to policy and research debate in a sustainable manner. A review of the literature demonstrates that there are few ongoing research or policy advisory groups made up of children and young people, and those that are operational are generally auspiced by Children's Commissioners (e.g. New South Wales) and policy offices addressing the issues of children and young people.

In Western Australia, when children and young people are consulted, the dialogues tend to be short-term and issue-specific in nature. This paper will briefly discuss a number of techniques employed to engage Western Australian children and young people in dialogues about important issues affecting their lives. Using these examples, the barriers that challenge efficacious children's and young people's participation are discussed; finally, some suggested ways forward are delineated.

Children and young people in out-of-home care experience significant challenges in the adjustment process. All family members are affected by the transition of a child or young person into the family and so carers require a unique set of skills and strategies to respond appropriately. This paper is the second in a series of four papers examining responses to a range of challenging behaviours seen in children and young people placed in out-of-home care contexts. The first paper explored strategies that carers could employ to deal with oppositional behaviours identified in the child or young person. This paper considers offensive behaviours that may be evidenced in children and young people, and practical approaches which carers can utilise to respond proactively to such behaviours.

Over the past three years, there has been a significant change in the focus of hospital social work intervention with pregnant women–from supportive counselling relating to motherhood, to systems advocacy within the child protection context.

Hospital social workers in this field have frequently been faced with the inevitable conflicting interests of supporting parents and protecting infants. However, the recent changes have thrown up various ethical questions, and issues of integrity and advocacy, in what is a complex area of practice.

This paper seeks to examine some of the current practice issues for social workers in this area. By examining the current context and literature, several practice themes will be considered and explored. In examining this issue at both the micro level of current hospital social work practice and the macro level of legislative and systemic issues, several best practice suggestions are considered within the context of the author's current workplace.

Although the undesirable child outcomes arising from the chronic over-representation of First Nations children and young people in child welfare care have been broadly acknowledged in Canada, research on this critical issue is just emerging. This paper summarizes the North American literature on ethnic over-representation and structural risks to inform future research directions in First Nations child welfare. Comparisons to the situation of Aboriginal children in Australia are also discussed.

Children and young people placed in out-of-home care are often extremely vulnerable and can require intensive support. Their carers are often faced with significant challenges in effectively responding to their individual needs. This paper is the first in a series of four aimed at supporting carers to make effective responses to challenging behaviours displayed by children and young people in out-of-home care. This paper considers factors that influence an individual child or young person's behaviour as a means of encouraging proactive responses by carers that will address individual need. The series of papers is informed by Edelbrock's (1985) work identifying four clusters of challenging behaviours, with each paper examining one of these clusters. This first paper has a focus on oppositional behaviours. Ensuing papers will examine offensive behaviours, aggressive behaviours and delinquent behaviours respectively.

The present study provided rural adolescent males who might otherwise not seek professional psychological help with an innovative program, based on physical activity, which would link them into a wider sporting community. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the program in bringing about improvements in various areas of participants' mental health.

Participants were ten males ranging in age from 15 to 18 years residing in and around the Ballarat area. They were recruited in consultation with the coordinator of the YouthTracks @ TAFE program at the University of Ballarat and were identified as being at-risk of developing mental health problems. Results suggested that participation in the program contributed to statistically significant improvements in some aspects of the participants' mental health. Furthermore, participants reported an enjoyment of mountainboarding and described the difference the program has made to their lives. Findings of this study provide preliminary support for the mental health and social gains potentially obtained when rural youth are engaged in an innovative and enjoyable physical activity program.

Communities have long been seen as of central importance to individuals and families, and as critical lever for change. In recent years, the emphasis on community as an organizing principle to address a range of social problems and developmental needs of children and families has been increasing. This paper explores the question of why community is important for children and families, what communities can provide for their well-being, and how they might be strengthened. It outlines some of the reasons behind the interest in community as a locus for policy and practice, explores the idea of ‘community capacity’ and how to build it, and distills the principal strategies used by contemporary efforts to build capacity in disadvantaged communities. Finally, it examines both the promise and the limitations of a community capacity framework as an orientation toward social change and as an approach for addressing the needs of disadvantaged children and families.