https://childrenaustralia.org.au Children Australia: Advancing Child, Youth & Family Services is an open-access journal publishing evidence, research and commentary by practitioners, researchers and policymakers and the children, young people and families they support. en-gb Tue, 14 Jul 26 15:47:12 +0000 Papir Journal Platform editor@childrenaustralia.org.au (Melissa Storey) webmaster@commonline.com.au (Webmaster) https://childrenaustralia.org.au/images/children_australia_og_branding.jpg https://childrenaustralia.org.au https://childrenaustralia.org.au/journal/article/3070 https://childrenaustralia.org.au/journal/article/3070 Reunification therapy within the Australian Family Law system Thu, 02 Jul 26 00:00:00 +0000 https://childrenaustralia.org.au/journal/article/3079 https://childrenaustralia.org.au/journal/article/3079 Child and Family Hubs are a promising model of integrated service delivery, offering families access to education (including Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC)), health and social services, and parenting guidance. They provide a place where families build relationships and connect with professionals who know them and their story, and can support them to get what they need, when they need it. Evidence shows hubs improve: school readiness and academic outcomes; service access; early identification of developmental needs; child health outcomes; and family engagement and wellbeing. This article provides an overview of the current hubs landscape in Australia, the evidence for integrated service delivery and current policy opportunities for expansion and systematisation. While hub models exist across Australia, scaling them beyond special projects into government systems remains a challenge. Systemic implementation requires reform at all levels, including governance, regulation, funding, planning and practice. This process takes resources, skills, political will and intentionality, but ultimately delivers better outcomes for children and for taxpayers through avoiding long-term costs and better use of existing investments in the service system. Current momentum to embed hubs within early childhood systems is building and this article outlines an ambitious 5-year agenda on how it could be taken forward. It includes case studies such as the Our Place model in Victoria and identifies policy opportunities for expansion. Key recommendations include establishing a national taskforce, aligning funding and governance across jurisdictions, supporting ACCO-led models, and introducing long-term funding and shared data frameworks to sustain integrated, place-based care. Together these developments could see a strong foundation for systemisation of hubs within our early childhood systems to improve outcomes for children experiencing disadvantage. Thu, 02 Jul 26 00:00:00 +0000 https://childrenaustralia.org.au/journal/article/3102 https://childrenaustralia.org.au/journal/article/3102 The social and political commitment to preventing child sexual abuse is reflected in an improvement in societal responses over the past 50 years, credited to public policy, social awareness and protective action by parents and caregivers within and beyond the home. However, despite evidence of progress, the prevalence of child sexual abuse remains relatively stable, indicating there is a persistent inability to prevent individuals from sexually abusing children. The responsibility for preventing child sexual abuse is predominantly located within policing, criminal justice and child protection systems and, to a far lesser extent, medical and education systems. To supplement these efforts, there has been an impetus toward expanding the awareness and knowledge of the population to encourage more active participation in prevention. The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and public health prevention strategies have contributed to an improved community awareness and knowledge. Nonetheless, a persistent 'ick factor' surrounds the issue of childhood sexual abuse as an ongoing social taboo. If the population were willing to acknowledge or discuss child sexual abuse, they would be more likely to take personal responsibility for it and actively respond. This is consequential because individuals who sexually abuse children do so due to social ignorance, silence and disbelief. Therefore, those who are resistant to acknowledging or discussing child sexual abuse are unwittingly complicit in it. This article shares the findings of a qualitative, feminist poststructural inquiry that centred the lived experience of fourteen adults who had experienced child sexual abuse in different community and familial contexts in Australia, attending to the intersecting social, cultural and structural conditions that shaped those experiences. Of particular interest were the actions and responses of members of the participants' support network when they were children. Importantly, this research found that there were opportunities for family, community members and professionals to identify when an individual was sexually abusing them, to intervene, stop the harm and protect the child, yet they did not do so. A qualitative, poststructural feminist research methodology enabled the critical analysis of the participants' accounts. This revealed how abuse is sustained through gendered discourses, institutional silences and power relations. The subtle operation of power through language, norms and systems was revealed to open space for ethical, empowering responses that support agency, voice and transformation. The focus on allyship reflected the author's practice experience and the difficulties of safeguarding children from child sexual abuse in the constraints of neoliberal procedures and processes in statutory child protection systems. To supplement the progress that has been made due to developments in policy and practice, this study proposes that individuals in the community need to take more responsibility for the prevention of, and responses to, child sexual abuse, which is conceptualised through the idea of being an ally. Thu, 02 Jul 26 00:00:00 +0000 https://childrenaustralia.org.au/journal/article/3116 https://childrenaustralia.org.au/journal/article/3116 OPEN Symposium 2025: What makes for effective collaborative practice? Thu, 02 Jul 26 00:00:00 +0000 https://childrenaustralia.org.au/journal/article/3099 https://childrenaustralia.org.au/journal/article/3099 Place-based partnerships in the child and family services sector: A case of emergence Thu, 02 Jul 26 00:00:00 +0000 https://childrenaustralia.org.au/journal/article/3121 https://childrenaustralia.org.au/journal/article/3121 Reimagining residential care: Using developmental evaluation to refine Gamadji Balit, an Aboriginal model of residential care Thu, 02 Jul 26 00:00:00 +0000 https://childrenaustralia.org.au/journal/article/3097 https://childrenaustralia.org.au/journal/article/3097 Adolescent Building Connections (ABC): Positive connections building thriving futures Thu, 02 Jul 26 00:00:00 +0000 https://childrenaustralia.org.au/journal/article/3119 https://childrenaustralia.org.au/journal/article/3119 Young Voices. Big Impact. Disrupting the trajectory of homelessness: The role of early intervention and prevention with children and families Thu, 02 Jul 26 00:00:00 +0000 https://childrenaustralia.org.au/journal/article/3117 https://childrenaustralia.org.au/journal/article/3117 The Worried About Sex and Pornography Project: The role of a national online early intervention service (What’s ok? Australia) in responding to the growing prevalence of harmful sexual behaviour by young people Thu, 02 Jul 26 00:00:00 +0000 https://childrenaustralia.org.au/journal/article/3118 https://childrenaustralia.org.au/journal/article/3118 'I Am Me': Early childhood violence prevention through body safety and gender equality education Thu, 02 Jul 26 00:00:00 +0000 https://childrenaustralia.org.au/journal/article/3094 https://childrenaustralia.org.au/journal/article/3094 Partnership approaches that put children and families at the centre: Addressing adultism and empowering young parents Thu, 02 Jul 26 00:00:00 +0000 https://childrenaustralia.org.au/journal/article/3098 https://childrenaustralia.org.au/journal/article/3098 Steps to Confident Parenting: An integrated service-research model Thu, 02 Jul 26 00:00:00 +0000 https://childrenaustralia.org.au/journal/article/3120 https://childrenaustralia.org.au/journal/article/3120 Reins for change: A collaborative model integrating equine-assisted learning, mentoring, cultural support and employment pathways to empower justice-involved young people to re-imagine their lives Thu, 02 Jul 26 00:00:00 +0000 https://childrenaustralia.org.au/journal/article/3104 https://childrenaustralia.org.au/journal/article/3104 Responding to trauma and disability in practice: Seeing the whole child – and their family Thu, 02 Jul 26 00:00:00 +0000 https://childrenaustralia.org.au/journal/article/3075 https://childrenaustralia.org.au/journal/article/3075 People who grew up alongside a sibling with disability are a significant yet under-researched population in Australia. These siblings often minimise or suppress their own needs to maintain family stability, a dynamic that may carry enduring consequences for attachment and mental health. This study explored the lived experiences of eight Australian typically developing (TD) adults who grew up alongside a sibling with neurodevelopmental disability (ND), using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) within a critical realist (CR) framework. That is, we explored how people make sense of their lived experiences, while also recognising that these experiences are shaped by deeper social and structural forces. This paper uncovered themes relating to Family Dynamics and Relational Impact and adoption of the needless child role by TD siblings. We discuss mechanisms related to external support that appear to moderate this effect. This paper explains this dynamic through the lens of attachment theory. We argue that the current findings support a family-systems approach to disability services, in which siblings are recognised as stakeholders and in need of targeted support. Tue, 30 Jun 26 00:00:00 +0000 https://childrenaustralia.org.au/journal/article/3078 https://childrenaustralia.org.au/journal/article/3078 Hunger and food insecurity in childhood have significant lasting impacts on physical and mental health, as well as cognitive and emotional development. Closely related to multidimensional poverty, food insecurity also prevents children from making the most of opportunities such as access to Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) and undermines their relationships both with peers and within families. Despite being a wealthy and net-food-exporting country, an estimated 42% of Australian households with children experience food insecurity, facing reduced quality, quantity and variety of food, running out of food or being forced to skip meals. The current cost-of-living crisis is further exacerbating food insecurity among Australia's families. ECEC settings offer a powerful intervention point: by school entry, 90% of Australian children will attend an ECEC service of some kind, presenting a critical opportunity to support children during a time of rapid brain development. However, a fragmented system means access to adequate nutrition is dependent upon postcode, with many services offering limited food or none at all. In addition, the national quality and regulatory framework largely frames food in terms of health and safety rather than a core component of quality. This policy framing exacerbates inequities by missing critical opportunities to require and monitor the quality, adequacy and management of food provision. In the absence of system-level supports, critical opportunities to support children's development, wellbeing and relationships through food continue to be missed. More broadly, there has been longstanding inaction on hunger and food insecurity by Australian governments - particularly as they impact young children. Australia has no existing national food security strategy, no overarching suite of law and policy to regulate the risks associated with food insecurity, no comprehensive data collection process and no clear responsibility or accountability at any level of government to facilitate equitable access to adequate food. There is also an unsustainable over-reliance on food relief services, which may alleviate immediate hunger but are unable to resolve food insecurity in the long term. How then, can research evidence, lived experience and cross-sector expertise be brought together to inform national policy that ensures every Australian child can access the food they need to thrive? Arising from the National Early Years Policy Summit held in Brisbane, Australia in August 2025, this policy commentary draws on current research, policy settings and practice insights on food provision and nutrition and food insecurity in the early years. It identifies key system gaps and outlines policy reforms, including the opportunities presented by the Albanese Government's commitments to a National Food Security Strategy and a universal quality early learning system. Mon, 29 Jun 26 00:00:00 +0000 https://childrenaustralia.org.au/journal/article/3085 https://childrenaustralia.org.au/journal/article/3085 Implementing Albo’s vision: Universal Early Childhood Education and Care in Australia Sat, 09 May 26 00:00:00 +0000 https://childrenaustralia.org.au/journal/article/3123 https://childrenaustralia.org.au/journal/article/3123 Correction to: Exploration phase: Improving transition planning in residential out-of-home care Sat, 09 May 26 00:00:00 +0000 https://childrenaustralia.org.au/journal/article/3087 https://childrenaustralia.org.au/journal/article/3087 Australia is striving for ambitious early childhood reform, both nationally and within local communities. Despite the scale of change, we are not consistently using the best available information and data to guide critical decisions about children's health, wellbeing and development. The problem lies not only in data gaps, but in how we use and apply the data that do exist. There is broad agreement that ensuring data play a central role in driving more equitable outcomes for our youngest Australians is critical to effective change. Despite vast amounts of data across health, education and social services, their impact remains limited. Fragmented systems, inconsistent definitions, disconnected technologies and non-evidence-informed indicators leave local early years partnerships, services and governments without the information needed to drive improvement at speed and scale. At the same time, critical gaps persist. Timely, actionable data to demonstrate what is driving outcomes, and feedback data to support continuous improvement, are often missing. This paper proposes an early years data logic - a structured approach that signposts what data are needed, for what purpose and how data can be used. Anchored in principles of equity, precision, access, evidence and utility, and supported by good data governance, the logic aims to provide a roadmap that ensures the right data are in the right hands at the right time for the right purpose. It makes clear why data are collected and how data can be used to drive change. By making purpose explicit, a data logic can guide decision makers at all levels. It clarifies how the system is functioning, highlights which children and families most need support and identifies the gaps that require targeted action to achieve change. It also positions data as a resource for learning, enabling decision makers and frontline practitioners to generate insights, test approaches and adapt through cycles of continuous improvement. There are current challenges, including over-reliance on population-level outcome (lag) measures, inconsistency in definitions and measures used to track progress, and limited workforce capability and inaccessible information systems. However, this paper outlines practical recommendations to mitigate these challenges. These include roles for government, funders, data stewards, local early years partnerships (such as place-based initiatives and integrated service hubs) and services in embedding the logic in practice. Examples from promising initiatives illustrate how better use of data can improve equitable access, service quality and participation. These positive examples sit alongside our practical recommendations to highlight how improvements are possible. Ultimately, this data logic offers a roadmap for shifting from systems that may be data rich but insight poor to a connected ecosystem capable of delivering on the promise of equity. By embedding a shared logic across early years systems, Australia can ensure that every child is visible, every service is accountable and every decision is informed - enabling change at speed and scale. Tue, 05 May 26 00:00:00 +0000 https://childrenaustralia.org.au/journal/article/3071 https://childrenaustralia.org.au/journal/article/3071 Children and young people living in residential care are vulnerable to child sexual exploitation (CSE). Practitioners working with these young people require professional education and training to equip them with the knowledge and attributes to deal with this risk. These practitioners also have unique insights into the capacity of child protection and connected systems to protect these young people. However, research indicates major gaps about multiple important domains of professional practice and systemic responses to CSE. In particular, little evidence exists about: first, the professional training provided to practitioners who work with children in residential care who are at risk of CSE; second, practitioners' perceptions of the utility of this training; and third, practitioners' views about systemic barriers and facilitators to sound responses to CSE. This article reports on a qualitative study with (n = 8) practitioners working in residential care in the Australian state of Queensland. Research aims were to explore practitioners' views about: (1) their training, and its influence on their knowledge of key dimensions of CSE, and on their professional practice; and (2) impediments and facilitators to effective multi-agency collaboration to protect children and young people from CSE. Participants' responses yielded three clear thematic findings: (1) CSE training is effective and vital to enhanced practice in multiple ways; (2) diverse systemic problems in the residential care context impede effective multi-agency responses to CSE; and (3) key contextual factors are fundamental facilitators of effective multi-agency responses. Findings have implications for future practitioner training and systems reform. Wed, 25 Mar 26 00:00:00 +0000