Pulling the threads together - consultations, conversations and contemplations on child poverty in Australia

Current debate on policy surrounding child poverty in Australia fails to include the perspective of children themselves. If our policies and services are to be successful in supporting children we need to understand what poverty is for them. Invariably in research and policy is this area, children’s experience is obscured; subsumed within the overarching perspective of other social groups experiencing similar circumstances. Because of limited research in this area we cannot be sure whether our current understandings of what it means to be poor are meaningful for children. Without this we cannot be sure that our policies and services meet their needs. Children need a voice in the debate and we need to obtain a clear picture from them so that their views can be included when developing policy, services, and monitoring frameworks in this area

School connection for seriously sick kids: who are they, how do we know what works, and whose job is it?

Investigates the challenges facing kids who miss school due to significant injury or illness, and aims to improve outcomes for an estimated 60,000 seriously ill Australian students. Executive summary This series of three reports is intended as a starting point in a national conversation. The reports were developed as part of a program of work undertaken by the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth and Missing School Inc. The program has sought to examine current evidence, policies and approaches for supporting the education of students who experience non-negligible school absences because of significant illness or injury. Students who miss school because of significant illness or injury face a variety of challenges in their education and may experience a range of adverse short-term and long-term consequences. Academic achievement may be affected, school relationships can be disrupted, motivation and engagement diminished, and isolation from the school community and peer group can have a profound effect on the student\u27s social and emotional wellbeing. The aim of this research is to understand the situation in which these students find themselves and whether it is adequately addressed. Each report addresses a separate question around how – and whether – these students are supported in their education

The Common Approach to Assessment, Referral and Support (CAARS): Working together to prevent child abuse and neglect - final report

The findings demonstrate CAARS has been a useful tool for practitioners from a range of professions and sectors. For many practitioners and organisations it has provided opportunities for new ways of building relationships with families and has helped develop a more holistic understanding of the family’s strengths and needs. The Common Approach has encouraged practitioners to identify issues they would not usually identify within their daily practice, leading to more comprehensive referrals, more integrated support, and often the earlier identification of problems and difficulties. This formative evaluation has identified that the key strengths of CAARS are that it: provides a visual representation of the key domains of wellbeing that is strengths based, engaging and accessible for clients; can be used flexibly by practitioners with different levels of expertise and across a the range of sectors and professions that work with children, youth and families; encourages a strengths-based approach that normalises and strengthens pathways to support, recognising every family needs extra help at some stage throughout their lives; supports practitioners to address all domains of wellbeing, even if they are outside of their area of expertise; and facilitates client-led conversations that enable the family or young person to take the lead in identifying what they think their strengths, needs and priorities for action are

Evaluating the Sharing Stories youth theatre program: An interactive theatre and drama-based strategy for sexual health promotion among multicultural youth

Issue addressed: Rates of sexually transmissible infections among young people are high, and there is a need for innovative, youth-focused sexual health promotion programs. This study evaluated the effectiveness of the Sharing Stories youth theatre program, which uses interactive theatre and drama-based strategies to engage and educate multicultural youth on sexual health issues. The effectiveness of using drama-based evaluation methods is also discussed. Methods: The youth theatre program participants were 18 multicultural youth from South East Asian, African and Middle Eastern backgrounds aged between 14 and 21 years. Four sexual health drama scenarios and a sexual health questionnaire were used to measure changes in knowledge and attitudes. Results: Participants reported being confident talking to and supporting their friends with regards to safe sex messages, improved their sexual health knowledge and demonstrated a positive shift in their attitudes towards sexual health. Drama-based evaluation methods were effective in engaging multicultural youth and worked well across the cultures and age groups. Conclusions: Theatre and drama-based sexual health promotion strategies are an effective method for up-skilling young people from multicultural backgrounds to be peer educators and good communicators of sexual health information. Drama-based evaluation methods are engaging for young people and an effective way of collecting data from culturally diverse youth. So what?: This study recommends incorporating interactive and arts-based strategies into sexual health promotion programs for multicultural youth. It also provides guidance for health promotion practitioners evaluating an arts-based health promotion program using arts-based data collection methods

Youth volunteering in Australia: An evidence review

Provides evidence and potential policy options to inform federal, state and territory government efforts to increase youth volunteering. Summary The National Youth Affairs Research Scheme commissioned the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth (ARACY) and researchers Associate Professor Lucas Walsh and Rosalyn Black to conduct research on youth volunteering in Australia. This report is a survey of the evidence on the extent and impact of young people’s volunteering and social participation in Australia. It also provides an analysis of effective interventions and strategies for strengthening volunteering among young people aged 12 to 25. The purpose and audience of this paper is to provide evidence and potential policy options to inform federal, state and territory government efforts to increase youth volunteering. It seeks to identify (where available) evidence of the economic and social contribution of young people as a result of their participation in volunteering. It investigates the barriers to and enablers for young people to participate in volunteering. It seeks to highlight particular aspects of volunteering that could be made attractive to young people who are considering volunteering, as well as aspects of volunteering that could be enhanced so as to improve the volunteering experience for young people. Finally, it explores how governments could better facilitate and encourage young people to volunteer, including through promotion of volunteering opportunities

Sustained home visiting for vulnerable families and children: a literature review of effective programs

Parenting young children has become a more complex and stressful business, especially for those families in our community with the least resources (Grose, 2006; Hayes et al, 2010; Poole, 2004; Richardson & Prior, 2005; Trask, 2010). A widening gap exists between families that function well and those that are vulnerable. The paradox of service delivery for children and families is that vulnerable families – that is, those families with the greatest needs – are also the least likely to be able to access those services (Ghate & Hazel, 2002; Fram, 2003). A range of barriers exist for vulnerable and at risk families in making use of services (Carbone et al, 2004). One of the key barriers to vulnerable families accessing services is that many find it difficult to relate to the formal service system and are easily alienated by practices others find acceptable. Research regarding parents’ experiences of support services suggests that parents want services where they are simultaneously cared for and enabled in their role as parents, and to receive services characterised by empathy, competence, functionality, respect, flexibility and honesty (Attide-Stirling et al, 2001; Winkworth et al, 2009). Vulnerable parents fear a loss of autonomy in their interactions with support services and want services that are non-judgemental and that provide continuity of care (Ghate & Hazel, 2002; von Bultzingslowen, 2006). In addition to the barriers faced by vulnerable and marginalised families in accessing services, the system does not work in an integrated or coherent fashion to ensure that all children and families needing support receive it. Furthermore, the vast majority of services for children and families in Australia do not have an outreach function, that is, a means of engaging these vulnerable and at risk families who are in need of support but use services inconsistently or not at all. In short, the service system was not designed to meet the needs of vulnerable families within the context of a rapidly changing social and economic climate. Therefore, many families requiring support are not receiving it. A research collaboration between the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth (ARACY), the Centre for Health Equity Research and Evaluation (CHETRE) and the Centre for Community Child Health (CCCH

Australian public library alliance achievements 2010-2015

Overview: The ALIA Australian Public Library Alliance (APLA) is the peak body for public libraries in Australia. Our committee comprises the chair of every state-based public library association, a senior representative from the ACT, Northern Territory and Tasmanian library services, and expert members. We represent 94% of all the 1500 public libraries across Australia through membership subscription. APLA (or, as it was previously known, the ALIA Public Libraries Advisory Committee) was formed following a highly successful ALIA Public Libraries Summit in July 2009. At the summit, libraries leaders called for, ‘Australia’s public libraries, united behind common goals and ambitions, sharing best practice, contributing to strong communities, valued by people and government, continuing to provide universal free access to information, knowledge and ideas, and confirming the importance of their role for future generations.’ A national alliance, supported by every state and territory, and Public Libraries Australia, was the primary outcome of the summit and was ratified by the signing of a Memorandum of Collaboration in July 2010

Psychological Adjustment and Caregive Attributes in Children Referred to Contact House

Child abuse and neglect (CAN) encompasses a heterogenous group of adverse practices with devastating personal, social, educational, health, legal and welfare consequences. The term child abuse and neglect covers four types maltreatment: physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect, with many children experiencing a combination of these types. Australian child protection notifications have more than doubled in the 5-year period to 2004. Of most concern is that, of all the Australian States and Territories, Queensland has the highest rate of substantiated cases with 14.1 per 1,000 children (AIHW, 2006). Childhood abuse and neglect can have profound short- and long-term effects. Children with a history of abuse and neglect have been shown to experience insecure attachment, developmental delays, diminished social skills, violent behaviour and learning problems. Previous studies have also found that abused and neglected children frequently experience a higher incidence of a diverse range of adverse mental health outcomes including helplessness and sadness, lowered self-esteem and post traumatic stress disorder. However, relatively few studies have examined the psychological adjustment of children in more immediate terms especially within an Australian context. Furthermore, adults experiencing CAN during childhood frequently exhibit diverse psychopathologies. The variability in adverse consequences suggests the existence of mediating and moderating factors influencing the level of distress experienced by children. While associations have been made between factors surrounding the type of abuse, the child’s age and gender and negative outcomes, little is known about the role of the child’s non-offending caregiver and the relationship between caregiver attributes and the level of distress experienced by the child. A primary aim of this study was to investigate caregiver attributes and the psychological adjustment of children referred to a non-government treatment centre. This specific aims were: (i) to describe the psychological adjustment of children who have experienced abuse and/or neglect (ii) to compare the psychological functioning of children presenting for treatment with a community sample of children (iii) to describe the level of psychosocial functioning of the caregivers in the clinical group across a range of psychosocial and parenting practice variables and (iv) to explore the relationship between demographic variables, factors relating to the abuse and neglect, and caregiver variables, which may predict, mediate, or moderate the child’s psychological adjustment. In addition the study aimed to establish a database for future research into treatment outcomes. Through the inclusion of a comparison community sample, this study provided evidence to complement existing research and develop a more complete picture of families living with and without CAN. The findings also offer preliminary evidence regarding the effectiveness of treatment and underscore the need for ongoing evaluation of service outcomes to optimise the quality of life for children and families affected by CAN

Welfare reform, surveillance and new paternalism

This paper discusses the situation of welfare claimants, often constructed as faulty citizens and flawed welfare subjects. Many are on the receiving end of complex, multi-layered forms of surveillance aimed at securing socially responsible and compliant behaviours. In Australia, as in other Western countries, neoliberal economic regimes with their harsh and often repressive treatment of welfare recipients operate in tandem with a burgeoning and costly arsenal of CCTV and other surveillance and governance assemblages. The Australian Government’s Centrelink BasicsCard is but one example of welfare surveillance, whereby a percentage of a welfare claimant’s allowances must be spent on ‘approved’ items. The BasicsCard which has perhaps slipped under the radar of public discussion and is expanding nationally, raises significant questions about whether it is possible to encourage people to take responsibility for themselves if they no longer have real control over the most important aspects of their lives. Resistance and critical feedback, particularly from Indigenous people, points to a loss of dignity around the imposition of income management, operational complexity and denial of individual agency in using the BasicsCard, alongside the contradiction of apparently becoming ‘self-reliant’ through being income managed by the welfare state. This paper highlights the lack of solid evidence for the implementation/imposition of the BasicsCard and points to the importance of developing critically based research to inform the enactment of evidence based policy, also acting as a touchstone for governmental accountability. In highlighting issues around the BasicsCard this paper makes a contribution to the largely under discussed area of income management and the growth of welfare surveillance in Australia