Management of Maternal and Child Health Services in Victoria Australia : Education or Health Portfolio

In Victoria, Maternal and Child Health (MCH) service is currently located within the State Government’s Department of Education and EarlyChildhood Development (DEECD) portfolio. This department is accountable for the planning and provision of early childhood services in partnership with local government. The MCH service has experienced many changes in State Government departmental portfolios over the years.It was therefore considered relevant to explore the knowledge, attitudes and beliefs held by the MCH workforce in regards to the portfolio that they considered should manage the MCH service.A qualitative exploratory descriptive approach was used to explore the Knowledge, attitudes and beliefs of the Victorian MCH nurses regarding the positioning portfolio for the service. The involved interviewing 12 key stakeholders and 36 MCH nurses until data saturation was reached. Presented are the findings that indicated that the majority of the participants believed that the service did not belong well currently in either Victorian Government Education or Health portfolio. The strength of this opinion, however, highlights the need for some collaborative discussion with all concerned parties in order to appropriately position the MCH service in order to achieve optimum outcomes for children in Victoria

The Non-government Report on the Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in Australia, Contribution by SCALES authors

This non-government report to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child responds to the Australian Government’s Combined Second and Third Reports and makes recommendations to further Australia’s compliance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. This report was prepared by the National Children’s and Youth Law Centre and Defence for Children International (Australia) following consultations with a wide range of people working with children and young people in Australia across many sectors as well as some participation and input from children and young people themselves

Positive pathways for Victoria’s vulnerable young people

  The Victorian Government recognises that some young people require particular support and intervention to do well in life. This is ideally provided early in life and early in the occurrence of a problem. However, the current service system is complex and difficult for young people and families to navigate. By promoting and facilitating a more collaborative approach to services, there is the opportunity for government and service providers to work together more effectively to provide the necessary holistic supports that will enable more vulnerable young people to have positive life outcomes. For the purposes of this framework, vulnerable young people are described as: young people who, through a combination of their stage of life, individual, family and community circumstances and barriers to participation, are at risk of not realising their potential to achieve positive life outcomes. Positive pathways for Victoria’s vulnerable young people: A policy framework to support vulnerable youth (the framework) is the result of widespread consultation and feedback from the Vulnerable Youth Framework discussion paper. The framework sets out the Victorian Government’s commitment to better support vulnerable young people and their families, moving towards improved integration of services, stronger localised approaches and earlier and more effective responses for these young people and their families. The framework is structured around five focus areas to guide existing and future development in youth services across Victoria at a statewide and local level. These focus areas address both the needs of young people and the systems that deliver services. They have been validated through numerous public forums and written submissions. The actions and targeted investments within the framework seek to ensure that vulnerable young Victorians are supported to achieve the same outcomes that are sought for all young Victorians – that they have a strong sense of belonging, are motivated to create and share in opportunities and are valued for their contributions and influence in their communities

Supporting children, young people and their families affected by homelessness

The Supporting children, young people and their families affected by homelessness guidelines have been developed primarily for all primary and secondary schools across Victoria to improve the wellbeing, educational experiences and outcomes of children and young people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. The Department is working in partnership with other government departments and community service organisations to strengthen educational support for children, young people and their families who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. The Supporting children, young people and their families affected by homelessness guidelines have been developed primarily for all primary and secondary schools across Victoria to improve the wellbeing, educational experiences and outcomes of children and young people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.  Specifically, the guidelines assist schools to: understand more about homelessness, how and why it occurs and the impact it has on the lives of children, young people and their families identify actions that schools can take to improve outcomes for children and young people affected by homelessness, and the principles that underpin these actions learn about what others are doing to improve wellbeing, educational experiences and outcomes for children and young people affected by homelessness, especially where these activities involve good practices identify key contacts and resources that will enable schools to more effectively identify, engage and support children, young people and their families who are affected by homelessness. It is expected that principals, teachers, student wellbeing coordinators, school nurses, chaplains and a range of other staff based in schools will benefit from reading these Guidelines. The guidelines may also prove useful for homelessness assistance services, other community service organisations, other education providers including Adult Community Education (ACE) providers and TAFE colleges, early childhood education and care providers and Centrelink staff

Dropping off the edge 2015: persistent communal disadvantage in Australia

This report shows that complex and entrenched disadvantage is experienced by a small but persistent number of locations in each state and territory across Australia. Foreword In 2007, Jesuit Social Services and Catholic Social Services Australia commissioned ground-breaking research into place-based disadvantage across the nation. The resulting report, Dropping off the edge, built on previous work that Jesuit Social Services had engaged Professor Tony Vinson to undertake on its behalf and quickly became a critical resource for governments, service providers and communities attempting to address the challenge of entrenched and often complex geographical disadvantage. That report received over 284 scholarly citations and supported the establishment of the Australian Social Inclusion Board – a body charged with identifying long-term strategies to end poverty in Australia. Since the publication of Dropping off the edge, our organisations have received many requests to update the findings and produce a new report tracking the wellbeing of communities in Australia over the intervening time. Sadly, the current report drives home the enormous challenge that lies in front of our policy makers and service providers, as many communities identified as disadvantaged in 2007 once again head the list in each state and territory. As a society we cannot, and should not, turn away from the challenge of persistent and entrenched locational disadvantage, no matter how difficult it may be to solve the problem. We call on government, community and business to come together to work alongside these communities to ensure long term sustainable change. We hold hope that the young people and future generations in these communities will have a better outlook and life opportunities than is currently available to them. It is our belief that every Australian should have access to the opportunities in life that will enable them to flourish – to complete their education, to get a job, to access safe and affordable housing, to raise their children in safe communities and to see the next generation thrive. Jesuit Social Services and Catholic Social Services Australia are indebted to the dedication and perseverance of Professor Tony Vinson in leading this important research and analysis over the past 15 years. Julie Edwards Chief Executive Officer Jesuit Social Services Marcelle Mogg Chief Executive Officer Catholic Social Services Australi

Improving the early life outcomes of Indigenous children: implementing early childhood development at the local level

One of Australia’s greatest challenges is the elimination of the gap between the developmental outcomes of Indigenous and non-Indigenous children in the early years of life. This paper reviews existing research and presents strategies to improve early childhood development among Indigenous Australians. Aims of this paper The aims of this paper are to: outline what we know about the size of the gap in early childhood development (ECD) between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, and the social determinants of ECD establish why localised ECD is an effective means to close the gap in the early childhood years describe the conditions under which localised ECD is more likely to be successful and how to put them into practice describe 3 broad strategies to promote physical, social-emotional and language-cognitive domains of development and reduce developmental risk. To review and synthesise the broad and diverse knowledge relevant to localised ECD, several sources were consulted including peer-reviewed scientific literature, policy documents and reports from governments, international agencies and civil society groups

An exploratory trial implementing a community-based child oral health promotion intervention for Australian families from refugee and migrant backgrounds: a protocol paper for Teeth Tales

Introduction: Inequalities are evident in early childhood caries rates with the socially disadvantaged experiencing greater burden of disease. This study builds on formative qualitative research, conducted in the Moreland/Hume local government areas of Melbourne, Victoria 2006–2009, in response to community concerns for oral health of children from refugee and migrant backgrounds. Development of the community-based intervention described here extends the partnership approach to cogeneration of contemporary evidence with continued and meaningful involvement of investigators, community, cultural and government partners. This trial aims to establish a model for child oral health promotion for culturally diverse communities in Australia.<p></p> Methods and analysis: This is an exploratory trial implementing a community-based child oral health promotion intervention for Australian families from refugee and migrant backgrounds. Families from an Iraqi, Lebanese or Pakistani background with children aged 1–4 years, residing in metropolitan Melbourne, were invited to participate in the trial by peer educators from their respective communities using snowball and purposive sampling techniques. Target sample size was 600. Moreland, a culturally diverse, inner-urban metropolitan area of Melbourne, was chosen as the intervention site. The intervention comprised peer educator led community oral health education sessions and reorienting of dental health and family services through cultural Competency Organisational Review (CORe).<p></p> Ethics and dissemination: Ethics approval for this trial was granted by the University of Melbourne Human Research Ethics Committee and the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development Research Committee. Study progress and output will be disseminated via periodic newsletters, peer-reviewed research papers, reports, community seminars and at National and International conferences.<p></p&gt

Review of the evidence base in relation to early childhood approaches to support children in highly disadvantaged communities for the Children’s Ground Project

The Children’s Ground project aims to develop a place-based approach to support children and their families in highly disadvantaged communities. The project approach is informed by research and evidence, recognising the multiple and multi-level influences on children’s development and the need to support the role of communities in improving outcomes for children. The review of the evidence base, undertaken by the Centre for Community Child Health in collaboration with the Royal Children’s Hospital Education Institute, begins by outlining the changing social and environmental conditions and the influence of these changes on vulnerable children and families. The report then discusses actions undertaken to address these challenges and the reasons why these actions have failed. Next, key factors enabling optimal outcomes for children and contemporary Australian and international evidence-based interventions and approaches that support vulnerable children are examined. The review concludes by summarising the research on the financial and social costs of doing nothing to intervene and improve outcomes for children. In summary, the review endorses the development of a place-based approach with a number of key strategies that simultaneously address families’ immediate needs for support (the foreground factors) and the broader conditions under which families are raising young children (the background factors). The approach needs to promote wrap around, integrated services that are responsive to and driven by the community. Focus must also be given to how services are delivered rather than what is delivered. In order to implement the approach, it is critical that a robust governance structure or entity capable of coordinating and supporting the many stakeholders and services involved is established and a long-term financial and policy commitment is made. Key messages encapsulating broad themes from the literature, supported by concluding statements, have been developed to enable clear communication to a variety of audiences.&nbsp