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From 30 March 2012, this clearinghouse will be amalgamated into Child Family Community Australia (CFCA Information Exchange). For more information see the CFCA Information Exchange FAQ

What's new in the field

This page aims to keep you up-to-date with "what's new" at the Communities and Families Clearinghouse Australia and in the fields of planning and delivery of services to children and families in disadvantaged Australian communities in the last three months.

• Report - Family Violence and Commonwealth Laws: Improving Legal Frameworks
  9 February 2012
  Protecting the safety of Australians experiencing family violence is the driving force behind this report released yesterday on the treatment of family violence in laws relating to child support and family assistance; immigration; employment; social security; and superannuation in Australia.
• Discussion - Boys and body image
  9 February 2012
  Boys aren’t immune to body image pressures – and never have been – writes Associate Professor of Psychology Lina Ricciardelli.
• Conference - 2012 National Foster & Kinship Care Conference
  9 February 2012
  19 - 20 October 2012, Melbourne, VIC
  The Conference aims to focus on the overall theme of strengthening care, focusing on the best outcomes and strengthening understanding, strengthening placement, strengthening relationships and partnerships, strengthening outcomes, strengthening culture and identity, and strengthening independence.
• Resource - Fact Sheets from Kids Health at Westmead
  9 February 2012
  These fact sheets for parents include topics ranging from allergies, bedwetting, emotional problems and healthy eating.
• Online Resource - Connecting Up Directory of Australian Nonprofits
  2 February 2012
  Connecting Up is a nonprofit organisation that works to strengthen the nonprofit and community sector in Australia by providing a variety of information, products, resources and programs. Connecting Up also helps to develop relationships with business, community and government sectors for capacity development.
• Resource - Professionals Protecting Children, Nurturing and Protecting Children: A Public Health Approach
  2 February 2012
  The Australian Centre for Child Protection is excited to announce the timely re-launch of the Professionals Protecting Children, Nurturing and Protecting Children: A Public Health Approach manual and accompanying DVD. The resources have been designed to support nursing and midwifery students and practitioners to develop the values, knowledge and skills necessary to prevent child abuse and neglect and enhance the ability of families to nurture their children.
• Conference - Australian Conference on Traumatic Stress - Trauma and Disaster: Complexity, Diversity & Recovery
  2 February 2012
  6 - 8 September 2012, Perth, WA
  The conference is a collaboration between the Australasian Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ASTSS) and the Australian Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health (ACPMH). The conference will be of interest to a broad range of people interested in trauma, including practitioners, researchers, consumers, service developers and policy makers.
• Discussion - Looking for early signs of autism in the infant brain
  2 February 2012
  New research shows autism could be identified in infants as young as six months, using a marker of brain activity in response to shifts in others' gaze. This raises the possibility of earlier diagnosis and better management of the condition in the child’s early years.
• Discussion - Time to go back to the drawing board on mental health reform
  2 February 2012
  As the Commonwealth Government’s community consultation period for mental health reform comes to an end this week, health bureaucrats will begin finalising Australia’s Ten year roadmap for national mental health reform to “guide future action and investment”.
• Discussion - Fat Free TV: one step towards tackling childhood obesity
  2 February 2012
  Tackling junk food advertising is one part of a wider approach to fighting childhood obesity. It’s all about setting healthy habits for life early on - prevention, as they say, is better than cure.
• Discussion - What’s the link between caring grandmas and breast cancer?
  2 February 2012
  A recent study shows that mutations in the “breast cancer genes” BRCA1 and BRCA2 - which increase the risks of breast and ovarian cancers among others - also increase fertility.
• Resource - Building Trust tip sheet
  2 February 2012
  Helping Children in Care Build Trusting Relationships, produced by the Foster Care and Adoption Resource Center of Wisconsin, provides foster and adoptive parents with tips and strategies for helping their children build strong, trusting relationships.
• Online Resource - Teen Drinking Law
  2 February 2012
  In early 2012, the Victorian Government will be running community information forums and two webinars about young people and alcohol for parents and adults in the state. Podcasts are also currently available online.
• Forum - The Training and Support Unit for Aboriginal Mothers, Babies and Children Biennial Forum 2012: 'Strengthening Connections'
  2 February 2012
  7 - 8 March 2012, Sydney, NSW
  This forum will provide an opportunity for staff working in Aboriginal Maternal Infant Health Services (AMIHS), Building Strong Foundation for Aboriginal Children, Families and Communities (BSF) programs, and those working in close partnership with these services, to 'Strengthen Connections' and professional networks across NSW.
• Research Seminar - Housing and Social Wellbeing
  2 February 2012
  15 March 2012, Melbourne, VIC
  This AHURI Housing Research Seminar will present the findings from two new AHURI research projects - Other countries' policy initiatives to meet the housing needs of asset-poor older persons: implications for Australia by Professor Gavin Wood, AHURI RMIT Research Centre and Housing, public policy and social inclusion by Professor Kath Hulse, Swinburne-Monash Research Centre.
• Resource - Restoring the love you once had: tips for couples
  2 February 2012
  From time to time relationships can be hard work. The California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists has released some simple tips to help build new skills and create a more satisfying relationship.
• Research - The economic cost of child maltreatment: $1.24 billion (US)
  2 February 2012
  The total lifetime estimated financial costs associated with just one year of confirmed cases of child maltreatment (physical abuse, sexual abuse, psychological abuse and neglect) is approximately $1.24 billion, according to a report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, published in Child Abuse and Neglect, The International Journal.
• Discussion - Preventing child abuse: a big problem with little evidence
  2 February 2012
  There is a dearth of evidence-based interventions designed to prevent child maltreatment, or to support traumatized children who have been maltreated. So why is the evidence base so limited? Sheree Toth and Jody Manly, researchers at the Mt Hope Family Center at the University of Rochester, USA, set out to explore some of the hurdles and offer an example of where these barriers have been overcome.
• Resource - Reducing alcohol-related harm
  2 February 2012
  This project, orchestrated by the Commissioner for Children and Young People (WA), contains research reports, policy briefs and facts about young people and alcohol, and aims to highlight the need for improved policies, services and laws to protect children from alcohol-related harm.
• Resource - Fast Facts 5 from ADFVC: The Health Impacts of Family and Domestic Violence
  2 February 2012
  Many studies have documented serious health outcomes of domestic and family violence for victims. In its review of the literature, VicHealth (2004, p. 10) identified intimate partner violence as the leading contributor to death, disability and illness in women aged fifteen to forty-four, constituting a greater risk than other factors such as high blood pressure, smoking and obesity.
• Conference - The Mental Health Services Conference: Recovering Citizenship
  2 February 2012
  21 – 24 August 2012, Cairns Qld
  This conference will focus on the citizenship of people in mental health institutions, and ask ‘what does the community need to do to support citizenship and not exclude people from economic, social, political and cultural life?’ Keynote speakers include Mick Gooda, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner; Roberto Mezzina, Consultant Psychiatrist, Trieste Mental Health Dept; and Rufus May, Clinical Psychologist, Bradford District Care Trust's assertive outreach team and Honorary Research Fellow, University of Bradford. 
• Report - Report on Government Services 2012
  31 January 2012
  This report was released on 31 January 2012. It has been produced by the Steering Committee for the Review of Government Service Provision (SCRGSP). The report will help inform improvements to the effectiveness and efficiency of government services in Australia.
• Resource - Family Law in Australia fact sheets
  31 January 2012
  These recently-updated fact sheets from Victoria Legal Aid explain aspects of family law in Australia to culturally and linguistically diverse communities. Fact sheets in Vietnamese, Chinese and Arabic are available.
• Research - Unhappy childhoods afflict one in 10 youngsters, finds Children's Society
  31 January 2012
  A survey of 30,000 children aged eight to 16 pinpoints family relationships and 'materialistic traps' behind low well-being.
• Research - Toxic stress and child development
  31 January 2012
  New research reveals that high stress levels in childhood can have lifelong repercussions.
• Seminar - Parental alienation, contact problems and the Family Justice System
  31 January 2012
  20 February 2012, Melbourne VIC
  Although in high conflict separations some children maintain good relationships with both parents, many children become resistant to contact with one parent. Professor Nick Bala from Queen's University, Canada, will discuss this tendency with reference to the Family Justice System.
• Discussion - Child protection policy: guided by the head or the heart?
  31 January 2012
  Ineffective, unresponsive, frustrated and frustrating - the picture painted of the UK child protection system by Michael Little, director of the Social Research Unit, and his colleagues, is a dismal one. A different approach, they say, is in order.
• Report - Indigenous Child Placement Principle Audit Report 2010/11
  31 January 2012
  Overall, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people in out-of-home care in Queensland were found to be experiencing positive outcomes relevant to their contact with family and community and their opportunity to participate in cultural activities and events, this report demonstrates.
• Report - The advantages and disadvantages of home ownership for low-moderate income households
  30 January 2012
  This project investigated whether, and to what extent, the advantages and disadvantages of home ownership are experienced differentially by households with different levels of income, in particular by low-moderate income households compared to households in the middle-upper income ranges.
• Resource - Good Practice Guides from The Centre for Multicultural Youth
  30 January 2012
  CMY’s Sector Development and Policy team has produced a series of five Good Practice Guides. These publications are designed to provide organisations and workers with tips and strategies on a number of topics, including: Culturally-competetent intake and assessment; Culturally-competent youth work; Working with interpreters; Youth work in the family context; and Youth work with young people from migrant and refugee backgrounds.
• Research - Therapy online: anxiety treatment for a digital generation
  30 January 2012
  For young people with anxiety disorders, cognitive behavioral therapy can offer real improvement. An online CBT trial is offering substantial benefits and surprising results.
• Report - Child deaths: fatal assault and neglect (PDF 532KB)
  30 January 2012
  This short paper focuses on the issue of fatal assault and neglect in children and young people in Queensland. Categories of fatal assault and neglect are discussed, as well as directions for future research.
• Research - Indigenous teens happy despite obstacles, landmark study shows
  27 January 2012
  The first study of the happiness levels of Indigenous teenagers has revealed they are as happy as non-Indigenous Australian adults despite their higher levels of poverty and disadvantage.
• Media release - Tackling Problem Gambling in Australia
  27 January 2012
  The Gillard Government this week announced its plan to tackle problem gambling, helping the five million Australians affected by problem gambling in this country.
• Research - The science of getting along
  25 January 2012
  Research shows that our first years of life shape our ability to play well with others, writres Richard Sennett.
• Discussion - Parenting program extends its reach
  25 January 2012
  The popular Incredible Years (IY) parenting program has started to tackle co-morbidity in children with depression and disruptive behaviours.
• Research - The (un)importance of cultural barriers
  25 January 2012
  In many countries, children from culturally diverse backgrounds are at a greater risk for developing behaviour problems. But their parents are often less likely than other families to access support via parenting programs. Do these families’ cultural values prevent them from engaging with these programs? No, says a recent study from Australia.
• Training - NRGize Workshop
  25 January 2012
  27 - 29 March 2012, Brisbane, Qld
  This three-day workshop will provide professionals working in the child, family and community sectors with the knowledge and tools they need to run a successful youth mentoring program.
• Media Release - Helping Students with Disabilities
  24 January 2012
  Students with disabilities will get more support to help them finish school and find a job under a new National Partnership signed by Prime Minister Julia Gillard and NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell today.
• Research - Is stress the missing link when discussing poor children and educational disadvantage?
  23 January 2012
  New research has shown that high stress levels, as well as poverty and poor parenting practices, influence young children’s brain development in ways that may damage their ability to regulate their own behavior and to plan and carry out tasks.
• Report - The many facets of shame in intimate partner sexual violence
  23 January 2012
  This research summary aims to consider shame in its many guises in the context of intimate partner sexual violence, and summarises the available research on the role and impact of shame in this context.
• Report - AIHW Child Protection Australia 2010-2011
  20 January 2012
  This report shows a 13% fall in the number of children subject to notifications of possible child abuse or neglect compared with the previous year. In 2010–11, there were 237,273 notifications of potential child abuse or neglect involving 163,767 children. Of these notifications, over half were investigated and just over a third were substantiated.
• Discussion - Relationship Help
  20 January 2012
  Professor of Psychology Dr Howard J Markman discusses contemporary relationships and some effective support measures for couples in this piece from The Huffington Post.
• Research - Adolescents with same-sex parents report as high a quality of life as their peers
  20 January 2012
  Psychologist Loes van Gelderen and his colleagues at the University of Amsterdam show that, within their sample, there are no significant differences in the self-reported quality of life between adolescents raised from birth by lesbian-identifying mothers and their peers.
• Interview - New child-staff ratios for childcare operators
  20 January 2012
  In this interview, CEO of Early Childhood Australia Pam Cahir responds to concerns that the recent introduction of the new ratio of one staff member for every four children under the age of two is likely to result in higher prices, and make it increasingly difficult for services to find more and better qualified staff.
• Report - The role of informal community resources in supporting independent housing for young people recovering from mental illness: a guide for housing policy makers and practitioners
  19 January 2012
  This report analyses housing policy interventions that help young people in recovery from mental illness.
• Report - Preventing or reducing socio-emotional problems in adolescents
  19 January 2012
  For some young people, serious internalizing problems, such as depressive or anxious moods, negative self-perceptions and emotional distress, compromise healthy development. This report synthesised findings from 37 intervention programs designed to prevent or treat internalizing problems in adolescents.
• Training - The Nurtured Heart Approach and ‘Transforming the “difficult” child’
  19 January 2012
  2 February 2012, Eumemmerring, VIC
  Timothy O’Leary is an Advanced Trainer in the Nurtured Heart Approach developed by Howard Glasser, and hosts this one-day forum for teachers, psychologists, social workers and caseworkers that places trauma and child development theories within a neurological context.
• Discussion - How can we foster more equitable and climate resilient communities?
  18 January 2012
  Dr Gary Haq from the University of York, UK, discusses ways in which communities can positively respond to climate change in this blog entry from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
• Research - French care leavers overcoming the odds
  18 January 2012
  A long-term follow-up study of adults raised in a particular type of foster care known as SOS children’s villages reveals some interesting trends in typical pathways for young people after leaving care in France.
• Interview - Working with sibling sexual abuse (Gatehouse Centre)
  18 January 2012
  Cindy Tarczon, a Research Officer at ACSSA, interviews Helen Kambouridis, a Senior Psychologist at the Royal Children's Hopsital, Gatehouse Centre. The interview covers the changes to the treatment of young adolescent people who sexually perpetrate against their siblings, and the impacts and challenges that their families face.
• Conference - Australian Institute of Family Studies Conference
  17 January 2012
  25 - 27 July 2012, Melbourne, VIC
  Registrations are now open for the 12th Australian Institute of Family Studies Conference. The AIFS Conference is the premier event for discussing cutting-edge research findings, policy priorities and topical issues important to family wellbeing in Australia.
• Resource - Bringing Back the Dads: Changing Practices in Child Welfare Systems (US) (PDF 1.37MB)
  17 January 2012
  This issue of Protecting Children offers a compilation of articles providing a broad range of perspectives on the issues facing non-resident fathers and the child welfare system in the United States.
• Training - 2012 Training Calendar from the Domestic Violence Resource Centre Victoria
  17 January 2012
  The training opportunities provided by DVRCV aim to improve services to women and their children who experience family violence.  The training is suitable for a range of workers including those in family violence services and practitioners who work with women and children affected by family violence.
• Research - Preventing intimate partner violence: a two-way street
  17 January 2012
  New research shows how intimate partner violence can be prevented, but indicates that interventions need to happen early, and programs need to acknowledge that intimate partner violence (IPV) is not a one-way street. Effective programs will also target both sexes.
• Research - A new approach to treating children’s behaviour problems
  17 January 2012
  Stephen Scott, director of the UK National Academy for Parenting Practitioners, and his Australian colleague, Mark Dadds from the University of New South Wales, assert that work with families dealing with children’s behaviour problems calls for a theory-driven, eclectic approach.
• Research - Online relationship intervention for young people
  17 January 2012
  ePREP is an online relationship intervention for young people, designed by Scott Braithwaite and Frank Fincham at Florida State University. Initial clinical trials have shown that it can improve young people’s relationships and decrease their anxiety.
• Research - Trends and Issues Papers from The Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian (Qld)
  16 January 2012
  The first paper in this series focuses on understanding suicidal intent: how it is communicated and to whom, what it can mean for young people at risk of suicide, and that any threat of suicide needs to be taken seriously. The second paper focuses on the issue of fatal assault and neglect in children and young people in Queensland and discusses categories of fatal assault and neglect and directions for future research.
• Report - How learning English facilitates integration for adult migrants: the Jarrah Language Centre experience
  16 January 2012
  Using interviews with adult migrants over a period of two years, the authors look at how undertaking an English as a second language (ESL) class helps to facilitate integration into Australian society.
• Conference - ACOSS National Conference 2012
  16 January 2012
  29 - 30 March 2012, Sydney, NSW
  Registrations are now open for the ACOSS Annual Conference, a premier national event for policy-makers, researchers and those engaged in social services or advocacy. The conference theme for 2012 is ‘Sharing the wealth of the lucky country'.
• Conference - Child and Youth Mental Health Matters
  16 January 2012
  6 - 8 May 2012, Vancouver, CANADA
  This conference will bring together an interdisciplinary group of professionals working in the field of mental health with young people and parents and other stakeholders to share knowledge and experiences related to child and youth mental health.
• Training - 2012 Training Calendar from Caraniche
  16 January 2012
  Caraniche offers a diverse range of training opportunities for frontline workers and clinicians, as well as supervisors, team leaders and managers that are relevant for those working in the child, family or community sectors.
• Training - Introductory Infant Mental Health Training with Infants at High Risk
  16 January 2012
  27 February – 28 May 2012, Melbourne, VIC
  This training will provide those working in child protection, mental health, paediatrics, early parenting centres, maternal health, private practice and family support agencies with further understanding of the health of infants, particularly those that are at risk or otherwise vulnerable through adverse family circumstances and or maltreatment.
• Discussion - Balancing hope and fear for babies born at 24 weeks gestation
  16 January 2012
  Janet Green, Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery and Health at the University of Technology in Sydney, discusses the issue of resuscitating babies of extreme prematurity.
• Resource - Pregnancy, Birth & Baby Helpline and Website
  16 January 2012
  This website and Helpline (1800 882 436) offer free, 24-hour, seven day a week, telephone support service providing general information about pregnancy, birthing, post-natal care and parenting in the first 12 months. Since it commenced on 1 July 2010, the helpline has advised approximately 40,000 callers.
• Video - Prescription for Play
  16 January 2012
  Dr. Ken Ginsburg, paediatrician at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Dr. Marilyn Benoit, Chief Clinical Officer at Devereux Behavioural Health, discuss the importance of play in children’s development.
• Report - Engaging dad's in health services
  16 January 2012
  There is a strong link between being and becoming a father, and being healthy. Fathers' engagement with health services poses a specific challenge to health care professionals. Evidence suggests that when fathers are engaged and involved with their families, the health outcomes of their children are improved as are those of the men and the mothers as well.
• Resource - Socialising online
  13 January 2012
  The Federal Government has launched an Easy Guide to Socialising Online to help tackle the issue of cyberbullying and help young people to stay safe online.
• Effective approaches to supporting vulnerable families and preventing child abuse and neglect
  12 January 2012
  Presentations from this R.E. Ross Trust Seminar are now available online.
• Reviewing the evidence on the effectiveness of early childhood intervention
  10 January 2012
  This report examines current evidence for the effectiveness of early intervention for children with developmental delay.
• Resource - Growing Up Our Way
  21 December 2011
  Produced by the SNAICC Resource Service, the publication contains valuable information on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child rearing practices. It will be of benefit to anyone who is interested in learning more about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child rearing practices and customs.
• Policy Brief - Place-based approaches to supporting children and families
  21 December 2011
  Families are often faced with a range of different, complex health and psychosocial problems. Place-based approaches aim to address these complex problems by focusing on the social and physical environment of a community and on better integrated and more accessible service systems, rather than focusing principally on the problems faced by individuals.
• Forum - Sisters in the South East
  21 December 2011
  9 February 2012, Melbourne, VIC
  This is a forum for young women from migrant backgrounds aged 16-25 who live in Melbourne’s South Eastern suburbs. It will traverse a range of topics including: how young women settle in Australia, how their experience differs from young men, what difficulties they experience and what they have learned.
• Conference - Young Minds
  21 December 2011
  21 - 22 June 2012, Sydney, NSW
  A summit of over fifty leading thinkers from Australia and around the world, Young Minds will address the vital issues facing young people. Enjoy a potent mix of cutting edge research, philosophical, scientific and social perspectives and inspiring personal stories.
• Report - Australia’s mothers and babies
  21 December 2011
  Australia’s mothers and babies 2009 is the nineteenth annual report on pregnancy and childbirth in Australia. The average maternal age in 2009 was 30.0 years compared with 29.0 years in 2000. Approximately 41.6% of women were having their first baby and the average age for first time mothers was 27.9 in 2009, which was 0.3 years younger than for 2008.
• New Website - My Language
  21 December 2011
  This newly updated website aims to provide a hub where public libraries and CALD communities can actively share information resources and programs to support culturally and linguistically diverse communities.
• Research - Through school to work
  21 December 2011
  Many young people in Australia remain unable to move smoothly through school to work and independence and are subsequently vulnerable to social exclusion. This research project from the Brotherhood of St Laurence aims to build a strong case for improved models of support for disadvantaged young people and to advocate policy reform for an inclusive education and training system.
• Report - Violence against women in Australia: Research summary
  21 December 2011
  This publication presents a synopsis of the latest published research examining violence against women in Australia and its prevention.
• Report - 2010 Australian national infant feeding survey: indicator results
  21 December 2011
  The 2010 Australian National Infant Feeding Survey is the first specialised national survey of infant feeding practices in Australia.
• Seminar - Professor Martin Seligman presents Flourishing: the new pathway to happiness and wellbeing
  19 December 2011
  17 February 2012, Perth, WA
  In this seminar Professor Seligman will present the work from his latest book, Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Wellbeing.
• Report - Teens, kindness and cruelty on social network sites (PDF 1.2 MB)
  19 December 2011
  This report presents research findings on the ways American teenagers navigate the new world of digital citizenship – for better or worse.
• Report - Industry self-regulation of food and beverage advertising to children (PDF 602 KB)
  19 December 2011
  In September 2009, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (the ACMA) announced its decision to monitor industry self-regulation of food and beverage advertising to children on free-to-air commercial television. This report presents its findings.
• Report - Young carers: social policy impacts of the caring responsibilities of children and young adults (PDF 2.7 MB).
  19 December 2011
  In 2003, there were 348, 600 young people aged up to 24 years providing care in Australia. The research in this report fills a critical gap in Australia, by contributing a theoretically-informed and policy-focused quantitative and qualitative study on these young carers.
• Speech - Sharing Prosperity (PDF 98 KB)
  19 December 2011
  In this speech Jennifer Westacott, Chief Executive of the Business Council of Australia, explored what shared prosperity means, the critical ingredients for achieving it and why it is an essential goal for all Australians. 
• Report - Cyber-bullying and online grooming: helping to protect against the risks (PDF 2.1 MB)
  19 December 2011
  Although the issue of children’s exposure to internet risks has been addressed in great depth by many organisations (also during the generation of this report), the authors of this report have performed this risk assessment in order to point out emerging risks and issue non-technical recommendations for their mitigation.
• Report - Adoptions Australia 2010-11
  19 December 2011
  This report contains comprehensive information relating to adoptions in Australia, including characteristics of adopted children, adoptive families and birth mothers. During 2010-11 there were 384 finalised adoptions across Australia-the lowest annual number on record. Of these adoptions: 56% were intercountry, 12% were local and 32% were 'known' child adoptions; 62% of adopted children were under 5 years of age; the majority of intercountry adoptees came from Asia (80%).
• Article - Protecting Children: Evolving Systems
  19 December 2011
  Australia is at a unique point in the development or "evolution" of statutory and support systems for protecting our children and young people from abuse and neglect, writes Daryl Higgins.
• Report - Child maltreatment: variation in trends and policies in six developed countries
  9 December 2011
  This report explores trends in six developed countries in three types of indicators of child maltreatment for children younger than 11 years, since the inception of modern child protection systems in the 1970s. Despite several policy initiatives for child protection, the findings recorded no consistent evidence for a decrease in all types of indicators of child maltreatment.
• CAFCA Practice Sheet - Demonstrating community-wide outcomes: Exploring the issues for child and family services
  9 December 2011
  This Practice Sheet summarises issues in evaluating community-wide impacts, in a way that reflects the realities of working in a community-based agency environment. It examines different methods of data collection, including surveying a representative community sample, interviews and focus groups with key informants, and using secondary source data, and discusses measurement of community-wide outcomes, such as being a child-friendly community, community empowerment, and social capital.
• Resource - Infants & overnight care - post separation & divorce: new guidelines – AAIMHI
  9 December 2011
  The Australian Association for Infant Mental Health (AAIMHI) has released new guidelines, ‘Infants and overnight care - post separation and divorce’.
• Report – Children’s Television Standards
  9 December 2011
  The ACMA has released a report into the operation of two key food industry initiatives developed in response to community concerns about junk food advertising to children.
• Report - Early Childhood Development Workforce
  9 December 2011
  The second phase of the Education and Training Workforce study is examining the workforce of the Early Childhood Development (ECD) sector.
• Resource – Videos from the Early Years Learning Framework
  9 December 2011
  These videos from the Early Years Learning Framework offer valuable information, advice and practical tips for practitioners and parents.
• News – Changes to Baby Bonus
  9 December 2011
  From 1 September 2012, the amount paid for customers who claim and are eligible for Baby Bonus will be $5,000. The amount of Baby Bonus you can receive will remain at $5,000 until 30 June 2015.
• Conference - The 2012 Early Childhood Education Conference, Together we grow: delivering quality
  9 December 2011
  1 – 2 June 2012, Melbourne, VIC
  The conference promises to inspire, engage and bring together the early childhood sector that collectively provides quality early childhood education for children, with a special emphasis on the National Quality Framework.
• Conference - 2012 Drugs in Pregnancy and the Newborn Conference
  9 December 2011
  22 March 2012, Sydney, NSW
  The conference is convened by the Substance use in Pregnancy Special Interest Group of the Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand (PSANZ).
• Grants - AYAC Youth Led Inclusion Project Grants 2012
  9 December 2011
  In December 2011, AYAC invites youth led organisations to apply for one of six one-off grants of up to $2500 to youth led organisations for projects, events, activities and programs.
• NCPC Resource Sheet - Alcohol misuse and child maltreatment
  9 December 2011
  It has been estimated that roughly 13% of Australian children live in a home with at least one adult who misuses alcohol. This Resource Sheet discusses the guidelines on alcohol consumption, the effects of alcohol on parenting behaviour, and the relationship between alcohol abuse and child maltreatment.
• Discussion – Failure makes perfect?
  9 December 2011
  Failure is, of course, an inevitable fact of life. In every sphere – personal, professional, business, academic – there will be failure. What is not inevitable, however, is how that failure will be treated. Does it become an opportunity to learn, or something to hide, like an embarrassing family secret?
• Report - Government-funded specialist homelessness services: SAAP National Data Collection annual report 2010-11: Australia
  9 December 2011
  This report presents the 2010-11 data on the use of government-funded specialist homelessness services. It is the final annual report to be sourced from the Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP) National Data Collection (NDC).
• Discussion - Shared parenting: what’s really important when dads move out
  9 December 2011
  When fathers no longer live at home, policy makers focus on child support and residential arrangements as the best ways to help children and parents cope after separation. Nina Lucas and Jan Nicholson reflect on this process.
• Forum – Child Inclusive Practice Forum 2012
  9 December 2011
  15 – 16 March 2012, Sydney, NSW
  With the theme of CIP and Beyond, this practitioner-led Forum will explore new and emerging practices as well as focus on the linkages between research, theory and practice.
• Resource – Professional Training Programs from Relationships Australia
  9 December 2011
  Relationships Australia provides training for professionals and human services workers to develop specialist counselling, mediation and management skills in the area of relationships. Training is provided from basic to advanced professional competency levels.
• Training - Emotionally Focused Therapy for Couples Workshops (PDF 124KB)
  9 December 2011
  16 – 19 March 2012, Melbourne, VIC
  Workshop participants will learn the theoretical underpinnings of EFT; assess and formulate couple distress within an attachment theory framework; work through the nine steps of EFT; elicit and work with emotion as it occurs in the sessions; practise the interventions that create change in EFT by reprocessing affect, and facilitate new relational experiences that foster a secure bond in an experiential way.
• Report - Sexting and young people: Experts’ views
  9 December 2011
  Young people’s ‘sexting’ – defined by the Macquarie Dictionary Online (2010) as the sending and receiving of sexually explicit images via mobile phones – has become a focus of much media reporting; however, research regarding the phenomenon is in its infancy. This paper reports on the first phase of a study to understand this activity more comprehensively.
• Online Resource – Encyclopedia of Early Childhood Development
  9 December 2011
  This Encyclopedia, published on the Internet, is available free of charge. It covers 47 topics related to the psychosocial development of the child, from conception to the age of five, and presents the most up-to-date scientific knowledge.
• Conference - The Corporate Takeover of Childhood: Who's paying the price? The 3rd Australian Conference on Children and the Media
  9 December 2011
  9 March 2012, Melbourne, VIC
  Our society has many ways of convincing children that their happiness, and their very identity, depend on what they buy and what they own. The evidence shows that consumerism doesn't make children happier or healthier.
• Media Release - Exploring the future of children and family policy
  9 December 2011
  The inaugural meeting of the Gillard Government’s new Children and Family Roundtable was held in Melbourne last week, to begin discussions on current and future opportunities for Australian children and their families.
• Discussion - What's Behind A Temper Tantrum? Scientists Deconstruct The Screams
  9 December 2011
  Children's temper tantrums are widely seen as many things: the cause of profound helplessness among parents; a source of dread for airline passengers stuck next to a young family; a nightmare for teachers. But until recently, they had not been considered a legitimate subject for science.
• Report - Community engagement, partnerships and research into policy and practice: a literature review (PDF 185KB)
  9 December 2011
  This literature review looks at community engagement and academic research with a particular emphasis on public health issues.
• Discussion - Social networking and learning
  9 December 2011
  Social networking enabled interaction is helping to diversify students' networks, opening up new possibilities for learning, discusses Gerry White.
• Report - Shared care in mental illness: a rapid review to inform implementation (PDF 757KB)
  9 December 2011
  The authors of this report present a review of the evidence on shared care models of ambulatory mental health services. It was found that shared care models resulted in improved social function, self management skills, service acceptability, reduced hospitalisation, greater access to specialist care and better engagement with and acceptability of mental health services in some clinical settings.
• Video – Gay Marriage: As important as race?
  9 December 2011
  Raimond Gaita gives The Herbert & Valmae Freilich Foundation Annual Lecture in Bigotry and Intolerance on this issue at The Australian National University.
• Report - Safe at home, safe at work? National Domestic Violence and the Workplace Survey 2011
  9 December 2011
  This report records the result of the first national survey into the impact of domestic violence in the workplace and provides comments from respondents and discussion of the key issues.
• Discussion – Do parenting programs work for dads?
  9 December 2011
  What’s surprising, given the demonstrated benefits to children of fathers’ involvement, is that no real effort is made to include fathers in parenting programs, writes Richard Fletcher from the University of Newcastle.
• Research Project – An invitation to contribute to the TALKING TO DADS ABOUT BONDING (ATTACHMENT) PROJECT
  5 December 2011
  This project is a joint initiative of the Australian Fatherhood Research Network and the Family Action Centre, University of Newcastle It asks: How exactly do practitioners explain attachment to fathers? How do they start the conversation? What examples seem to work? How are differences between mother-infant and father-infant attachment framed? The experiences and views of practitioners will be compiled to produce a resource for those working with fathers and their families. To contribute or find out more, follow the link above.
• Report – Effective practices for service delivery coordination in Indigenous communities
  5 December 2011
  Existing partnerships between Indigenous communities, governments and service providers are providing lessons on how best to coordinate service delivery, according to a resource sheet released today on the Closing the Gap Clearinghouse website.
• Report – Early Childhood Development Workforce
  5 December 2011
  The second phase of the Education and Training Workforce study is examining the workforce of the Early Childhood Development (ECD) sector. This research report was released on 1 December 2011.
• Workshops and Training – Play Therapy
  5 December 2011
  May 30 - June 3 2012, Perth, WA
  Play Therapy Australia is offering the very popular workshop, The Heart and Practice of Child Centered Play Therapy and the new Play Therapy 10 Day Intensive Course: Heartful Practice in Working Therapeutically with Children, in Perth Western Australia in 2012.
• Online Resouce – Sexual, reproductive and mental health eLearning (SCIE UK)
  5 December 2011
  This eLearning resource has been developed for mental health care professionals: an easy-to-use guide to key aspects of sexual and reproductive health in the context of mental illness, with clear sign-posting for those who want to take this subject further.
• Resource (UK) – SCIE Guide 30: Think child, think parent, think family: a guide to parental mental health and child welfare
  5 December 2011
  Parents with mental health problems and their children are a group with complex needs. Not all parents and children will need the support of health and social care services, but those that do can find it difficult to get support that is acceptable, accessible and effective for the whole family. This revised guide identifies what needs to change and makes recommendations to improve service planning and delivery, and ultimately to improve outcomes for families in the UK.
• Report – Domestic Violence in Australia: an overview of the issues 2011 (PDF 954KB)
  2 December 2011
  This background note is a guide to research and resources on domestic violence in Australia. It is intended as an update to previous Parliamentary Library publications on this topic. It includes an overview of research on the prevalence of domestic violence, attitudes and risk factors, at risk groups and communities and the costs of domestic violence to communities and to the economy.
• Research – Mission Australia’s National Survey of Young Australians 2011
  2 December 2011
  Mission Australia has conducted its National Survey of Young Australians - the largest of its type in Australia – every year since 2002. Over three months each year it asks Australians aged 11 to 24 what they value, where they turn for advice and support, what issues concern them, how they are involved with their community and their feelings about their future.
• News – New funding to promote better relationships in Alice Springs
  2 December 2011
  Women in Alice Springs will benefit from around $125,000 as part of the Government's National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children 2010-2022.
• Research (NZ) – Eating together at mealtimes: The role of family meals in the health and wellbeing of young people in New Zealand
  2 December 2011
  This report aims to summarise the literature on health and wellbeing indicators associated with the sharing of family meals, and to determine if these associations can be observed in a nationally representative population of New Zealand secondary school students.
• News – Civil Partnerships Bill 2011
  2 December 2011
  Same-sex couples in Queensland now have the right to enter into legally recognised civil unions. The Civil Partnerships Bill was passed in state parliament at 11.10pm on November 30, with 47 MPs voting yes and 40 no.
• Report – Give Kids a Chance: Seeing a Better Future with Mentoring
  2 December 2011
  This report looks at teenage development and focuses on the role that adults play as mentors. As part of the research for this report, researchers spoke to both mentors and mentees on the importance of mentoring in their lives and how overwhelmingly brighter the future looks for a young person who can say that they have someone who is their mentor.
• Report – Foundations for a Stronger, Fairer Australia (PDF 1.4MB)
  2 December 2011
  The Australian Government has released a landmark report outlining key achievements in breaking down barriers standing between disadvantaged Australians and meaningful participation in the community and workforce.
• News – Passage of Family Law Legislation Amendment (Family Violence & Other Measures) Bill 2011
  2 December 2011
  The Senate has passed the Family Law Legislation Amendment (Family Violence and Other Measures) Bill 2011, meaning reforms to better protect children from family violence and child abuse are one step closer.
• Online Resource – Best for kids Website
  2 December 2011
  Legal Aid NSW has released Best for Kids – a new multimedia website featuring four short videos with a wealth of information for separating families.
• Resource – Family Relationship Services Australia (FRSA) 2011 National Conference Presentations
  2 December 2011
  Presentations from the Family Relationship Services Australia (FRSA) 2011 National Conference, 'Workforce and Innovation: Building Future Capacity', held 8-10 November in Queensland, are now available on FRSA’s website.
• Resource – New kit for young people leaving care in South Australia
  2 December 2011
  The SA Department for Communities and Social Inclusion (DCSI) has recently launched a kit designed to help young people who are moving out into the community after leaving care.
• Campaign – All Babies Count (UK)
  2 December 2011
  The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children has launched its 'All babies count' campaign to highlight the vulnerability of babies and to call for better and earlier support for new parents.
• Lecture – Moving from a compliance to a learning culture in child protection in England
  2 December 2011
  December 5 2011, Melbourne, VIC
  The ‘Munro Review’ provides a set of the most wide ranging, game–changing recommendations to ever come out of a review of the child protection system in the UK. The implications are relevant not only for the UK, but also in Australia, where all our interventions in protecting children continue to struggle to stem the tide of abuse.
• Online Resource – Find and Connect Australia
  2 December 2011
  Find and Connect is a resource for Forgotten Australians and Former Child Migrants. Forgotten Australians and Former Child Migrants can use this site to locate information about a Home where they lived as a child, and information is provided to assist individuals to locate and access records relating to their childhood.
• Online Resource – Relaxation Audio from Young Carers
  2 December 2011
  The demands of a caring role, along with all the other demands and challenges of life, can sometimes result in a young carer becoming stressed and burnt out. To combat the stresses of life, plug in your headphones and listen through the Relaxation Sequences on the Young Carers NSW’s website.
• Webinar – Television and young children: Quality, choice and the role of parents
  2 December 2011
  8 December 2011, Melbourne, VIC
  Margaret Chandler, lead author of ARACY’s new report ‘Television and young children – Quality, choice and the role of parents: what the experts and parents say’ presents the views of Australian and international experts, and the findings of consultations with Australian parents.
• Report – How young people are faring 2011 (PDF 1.8MB)
  1 December 2011
  This year’s edition of How Young People are Faring alerts us to some short-term and long-term trends occurring in the youth labour market. The report, prepared by Lyn Robinson, Mike Long and Stephen Lamb from the Centre for Research on Education Systems at the University of Melbourne, provides insight into how successfully young people are moving into the labour market.
• Report – Parental contributions to education (PDF 1.6MB)
  1 December 2011
  The third report by Australian Catholic University’s (ACU) Public Policy Institute (PPI) and commissioned by the Independent Schools Council of Australia, examines parental contributions to education and shows that the parental investment in non-government schools has positive effects on the quality and equity of Australian schooling and provides considerable savings to the public purse.
• Report – Australia's Welfare 2011
  1 December 2011
  Australia's welfare 2011 in brief presents selected highlights from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare's 10th biennial report on welfare services in Australia.
• Report – Social Justice Report 2011
  1 December 2011
  The theme of the Social Justice report for 2011 relates directly to the Social Justice Commissioner’s priorities concerning the relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples within their communities and giving full effect to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (the Declaration).
• Report – Experiences of restrictive practices: A view from people with disabilities and family carers
  1 December 2011
  This is one of two final reports being submitted to the Office of the Senior Practitioner (OSP). The companion report contains the views of people with intellectual disabilities about restrictive practices and is written in easy words and pictures. The current report combines the views of people with intellectual disabilities and those of family carers.
• CAFCA Resource Sheet – Promoting Positive Education and Care Transitions For Children
  10 November 2011
  This Resource Sheet is a review of research regarding children’s transition from home, to early childhood education and care services and then to school, with a specific focus upon both children and parents’ experiences of those transitions.
• Policy Monograph – Do Not Damage or Disturb: On Child Protection Failures and the Pressure on Out-of-Home Care in Australia
  10 November 2011
  This monograph shows that the rising size, cost, and complexity of the out-of-home care system in Australia is directly linked to child protection failures.
• New book – Inspired Children: How the leading minds of today raise their kids
  10 November 2011
  Contributors to this book are some of the world leaders in areas of genetics, neuroscience, personal development and psychology. Each expert author discusses the latest research on child development from preconception right through to teen years in an easy-to-read form, and shares how they have used the findings to support their child's development.
• New website – Children with Disability Australia (CDA)
  10 November 2011
  Children with Disability Australia (CDA)’s website has been redesigned with a fresh new look and has been updated with information about the organisation as well as providing essential links and information relevant to children and young people with disability in Australia.
• Report – Responding to domestic and family violence
  10 November 2011
  This report from the Audit Office of New South Wales assessed how well government and funded non-government organisations work together to respond to domestic and family violence.
• Briefing Paper – Trends in young people’s wellbeing and the effects of the school-to-work transition
  10 November 2011
  This briefing paper explores the link between wellbeing and the stages of transition of participants from the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) from 1995 to 2006.
• Forum – Maintaining Healthy Relationships Forum
  10 November 2011
  29 November 2011, Castle Hill, NSW
  This forum will provide professional information to empower individuals to make informed decisions for themselves and their families, with a focus on children and young people.
• Forum – Improving Responses to Muslim Women Experiencing Domestic Violence (PDF 750KB)
  10 November 2011
  30 November 2011, Mt Pritchard, NSW
  A practical and interactive forum targeting service providers in the south west Sydney region to gain a better understanding of the experiences of Muslim women affected by domestic violence.
• Grants and Funding – National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children: Respectful Relationships Round Three
  10 November 2011
  Respectful Relationships Round Three is now open to community groups, not-for-profit organisations and local governments to deliver Respectful Relationships education projects to young people aged 8-24 years. Applications close December 9.
• New Book – Mothering Matters: The Sources of Love, and How Our Culture Harms Infants, Women and Society
  10 November 2011
  This books outlines Dr Peter Cook’s view that the mothering of infants in their earliest years is deeply different from fathering. It also describes the conditions that best help a mother and baby achieve their potentials for good physical and emotional health throughout life, and how fathers can support and share in the joy of these experiences. 
• Video – Paul Zak: Trust, Morality and Oxytocin
  10 November 2011
  What drives our desire to behave morally? Neuroeconomist Paul Zak shows why he believes oxytocin is responsible for trust, empathy and other feelings that help build a stable society.
• Report – Addressing Aboriginal Disadvantage: the need to do things differently (PDF 1.5MB)
  10 November 2011
  This report details the NSW Ombudsman’s audit of the implementation of the NSW Interagency Plan to Tackle Child Sexual Assault in Aboriginal Communities 2006 – 2011.
• Video – Innovative Indigenous Policy
  10 November 2011
  Professor Ian Anderson, one of Australia’s leading Indigenous health experts and foundation Chair in Indigenous Health at the University of Melbourne, recently dropped by Eidos Institute to comment on some of the country's most pervasive issues of Indigenous inequality and disadvantage.
• Jobs – National Manager, Research, Mission Australia
  10 November 2011
  Mission Australia is looking for a new National Manager, Research. Applications close November 17.
• Seminar – Investment decisions to improve outcomes for children, young people and families
  10 November 2011
  25 November 2011, Canberra, ACT
  Under the leadership of Dr Steve Aos, the Washington State Institute for Public Policy has developed a four-step approach to the analysis of how public funds should best be invested for maximum benefit. A software application has also been developed to enable policymakers and service providers make better sense, and use, of the information generated. This seminar will present the Institute’s findings.
• Report – Risks and Safety for Australian Children on the Internet (PDF 1.3MB)
  10 November 2011
  This report presents the initial findings from an Australian survey of 9-16 year olds and provides a unique insight into the balance of opportunities and risks experienced by Australian children on the internet.
• Lecture – UK workforce participation, welfare reform & social inclusion policies: their relevance for Australian policy makers
  10 November 2011
  29 November 2011, Canberra, ACT
  In this lecture Professor Dan Finn will address the topic of welfare to work in tough economic times, drawing on wider developments from OECD countries and key UK developments in radical reform of disability benefits, the introduction of a single ‘Universal Credit’ working age benefit, and the commissioning of large scale ‘prime contractors’ to deliver employment assistance – a different approach to outsourcing compared with that used in Australia.
• Report – Reducing Child Abuse Potential
  10 November 2011
  New Australian research suggests that one program - Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) - is successful at both reducing risk factors associated with child maltreatment as well as reducing notifications of abuse to child protection services.
• Report – A Matter of Replication
  10 November 2011
  Replication studies help with efforts to demonstrate the efficacy and then effectiveness of interventions, and inform efforts to disseminate such interventions widely.
• Discussion – Marriage helps reduce crime
  10 November 2011
  Marriage and other adult family relationships can actually help reduce crime, writes Dr Walter Forrest from Monash University.
• Discussion – Eugenics and the practice of transgendering children
  10 November 2011
  The practice of eugenics is returning to contemporary Australia in the treatment of transgendered children, writes Professor Sheila Jeffreys.
• Report – Assisted reproductive technology in Australia and New Zealand 2009
  10 November 2011
  This report analyses the use of assisted reproductive technology in Australia and New Zealand from data collected in 2009.
• Book and Resources – My Princess Boy
  10 November 2011
  My Princess Boy is a non-fiction picture book about acceptance. It tells the tale of a 4-year-old boy who happily expresses himself by enjoying "traditional girl" things like jewelry, sparkles or anything pink.
• Video – Confronting Homophobia in Our Schools: Preparing pre-service and beginning teachers to build safer schools in Victoria
  10 November 2011
  This presentation was recorded at The University of Melbourne on 26 October 2010.
• Report – Speaking out about reducing alcohol-related harm on children and young people (PDF 2.3MB)
  10 November 2011
  The interviews and online survey used in this report canvassed young people’s views on a broad range of topics. These included knowledge of standard drinks and the national alcohol guidelines, the main influences on their decisions about drinking alcohol, their concerns about harms that arise from alcohol consumption and their views and ideas on strategies to reduce these harms.
• Online Resource – Websites for Dads from the BBC
  10 November 2011
  Here is a collection of excellent websites that offer practical advice and information for dads.
• Report – A picture of NSW children: Early childhood education and care
  9 November 2011
  The latest section of the NSW Commission for Children and Young People's data book, A Picture of NSW Children, is titled 'Early childhood education and care'. This release highlights the experiences of parents in finding care for their children in NSW.
• Conference – Honoring the Child, Honoring Equity 11: Inspiring change(s): insights, challenges, hopes and actions
  9 November 2011
  18-19 November 2011, Melbourne, VIC
  The conference’s themes include: Education for All – where does equity fit in education and who is ‘All’? Creating change – deconstructing and reconstructing theory and practice for equity, Exploring multiple childhoods for equity, Examining silence and privilege for equity and Equity in an increasingly contested environment.
• Training and Professional Development – Public Training Programs from Caraniche
  9 November 2011
  Caraniche are offering a variety of training programs for team leaders, supervisors, managers, supporting clinicians and frontline staff.
• Training and Professional Development – Family Partnership Facilitator Training Program (PDF 66KB)
  9 November 2011
  15, 16, 17, 20, 21 & 22 February, 2012, Sydney, NSW
  The Centre for Community Child Health, The Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne in partnership with Connect Child and Family Services Inc, NSW will be facilitating a Family Partnership Facilitator Training Program in Western Sydney in February 2012.
• Online Resource – Pregnancy Websites from the BBC
  9 November 2011
  If you are pregnant, or thinking about having a baby, there are numerous websites on the internet that offer practical advice on a whole range of topics.
• Report – The Global Gender Gap Report 2011 (PDF 2.4MB)
  3 November 2011
  This global study measures the gender gap in political, economic, educational and health areas, and provides country rankings that allow for effective comparisons across regions and income groups, and over time.
• Report – Why parents help their children lie to Facebook about age: Unintended consequences of the ‘Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act’
  3 November 2011
  In accordance with federal laws regarding the electronic collection of children's data, Facebook has a minimum age policy of 13 years. Research, however, has found that many parents assist their children in undermining these policies. This report investigates this trend and its consequences.
• Report – Housing, public policy and social inclusion
  3 November 2011
  This project explored ways in which housing processes can affect social disadvantage and social inclusion.
• Legal Workshops (NSW) – Free workshops and information sessions are available for schools, community workers and the public
  3 November 2011
  
• Report – On Her Way: Primary prevention of violence against immigrant and refugee women in Australia 2011
  3 November 2011
  This report from the Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health outlines strategies and services for primary prevention of violence against immigrant and refugee women in Australia.
• Update – National Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education and Care
  3 November 2011
  On 1 January 2012, the National Quality Framework will be established and will apply to most long day care, family day care, preschool (or kindergarten) and outside schools hours care services.
• Report – Seen and Heard: putting children on the homelessness agenda
  3 November 2011
  Last year in Australia 84,000 children tried to get help from a homeless service - equivalent to one in 60 Australian children - but more than half of them were turned away, this snapshot report on child homelessness has revealed.
• Podcast – How many parents can a child have?
  3 November 2011
  Professor Samantha Brennan argues it's time to rethink ‘the whole parents thing’ in the wake of a rapidly changing society.
• Conference – Social Participation: Knowledge, Policy and Practice
  3 November 2011
  28 November 2011, Melbourne, VIC
  The conference will be a large, diverse, interdisciplinary, national and international event. In addition to outstanding keynote speakers and presenters from various health care and related professions, it will provide a space in which health care consumers, those who may have experienced curtailed capacities for social participation and others can tell their stories in their own voices.
• Symposium – 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence Symposium (PDF 918KB)
  3 November 2011
  28 November 2011, Fairfield, NSW
  This symposium has been organized by the Fairfield Immigrant & Refugee Women’s Network, and will include a keynote address from the Hon. Pru Goward MP, Minister for Women.
• Forum – Intergenerational Family Conflict & Multicultural Young People (PDF 676KB)
  3 November 2011
  22 November 2011, Parramatta, NSW
  This forum will provide an opportunity to explore current research in the field, hear about existing programs and services for dealing with family conflict, network with other services and consult with the community sector.
• New Book – Boys and the ‘f’ word
  3 November 2011
  Boys and the ‘f’ word comes jam-packed with ideas and strategies to help you increase both your awareness and your effectiveness in being with boys.
• Report – Measures maketh the parent
  2 November 2011
  While the quality of parenting needs to be measured, there is a lack of universally accepted standards. Marjorie Smith of the University of London has reviewed three standardized questionnaire-type measures to give a sense of the variation.
• Video – Understanding Depression and Anxiety
  2 November 2011
  This video from Headspace describes depression and anxiety and provides resources for young people experiencing mental health difficulties.
• Report – State of the world population 2011: people and possibilities in a world of 7 billion (PDF 5.4MB)
  2 November 2011
  The milestone of 7 billion—projected to be reached on 31 October 2011—will be marked by achievements, setbacks and paradoxes.
• Conference: National Council of Single Mothers and their Children Incorporated National Conference
  2 November 2011
  18 November 2011, Melbourne, VIC
  The conference will include sessions that focus upon income management, family law, forced adoptions, child support and advocacy in 2011.
• Report – Working together against violence (PDF 1.2MB)
  2 November 2011
  The Working Together Against Violence project used workplaces as a setting for the primary prevention of violence against women. The project aimed to strengthen the organisational capacity of a male-dominated workplace to promote gender equality and non-violent norms.
• Call for Expressions of Interest – The Lowitja Institute
  2 November 2011
  The Lowitja Institute is calling for expressions of interest from researchers seeking support in the development of a research grant application on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander maternal and child health.
• Video – Kids react to bullying
  2 November 2011
  Kids React have released an interesting YouTube video in which children talk about bullying after watching some real bullying footage.
• Discussion – The mystery of stay-at-home dads
  2 November 2011
  Dr Richard Fletcher ruminates on stay-at-home dads.
• Resource – Tip sheet for children in foster care (US)
  2 November 2011
  The US National Association of Social Workers has released an adoption and foster care tip sheet written for children that focuses on questions children and youth in foster care might have.
• New Book – Care Less Lives
  2 November 2011
  Care Less Lives tells the story of the rights movement of young people in care in England. It relates how, from 1973, young people came together to talk about their care, support each other and campaign to improve their lives in care.
• Discussion – Seven billion reasons to open our hearts and homes to adoption
  2 November 2011
  Our wellbeing, like never before, demands we embrace our common humanity, accept our diversity and unite as one family, writes Jane Daly.
• Report – Baby Makes 3 (PDF 2.3MB)
  2 November 2011
  Baby Makes 3 is a primary prevention program that seeks to prevent violence against women before it occurs, by promoting equal and respectful relationships between men and women during the transition to parenthood.
• Report – Anti-bullying failures: the gap between knowledge and practice
  2 November 2011
  Anti-bullying initiatives have come a long way from the days of “sticks and stone may break my bones but words will never hurt me.” Nevertheless, a significant gap still exists between what is known to effectively address bullying and what is delivered in schools.
• Discussion – Seven billion reasons to be a feminist
  2 November 2011
  Professor of Evolutionary Ecology Rob Brooks argues that empowering women is the key to moving forward in our 7-billion strong world.
• News (UK) – Shortfall in adoptive families for siblings worsens
  2 November 2011
  Adoption agencies are struggling to find permanent homes for siblings in care because prospective parents are reluctant to take on brother and sister groups, new research has found.
• Call for Papers – 12th Australian Institute of Family Studies Conference in 2012
  31 October 2011
  The conference addresses research findings, policy priorities and topical issues important to family wellbeing in Australia, inclduing: social and economic impacts, family transitions and ageing, children, young people and their families, neglect, violence and abuse, family law, family relationships and cultural diversity.
• News – Proposed government amendments to family law legislation now available
  31 October 2011
  The Government has issued its proposed amendments and a supplementary Explanatory Memorandum in response to the Senate Committee Report on the Bill. Debate on the Bill is yet to be resumed in the Senate. The Bill continues to be listed in the Senate’s Notice Paper under Government Business for 31 October.
• Issues Paper – Typologies of Intimate Partner Violence
  31 October 2011
  This new Issues Paper from The Australian Domestic Violence Clearinghouse examines the growing body of research on typologies of intimate partner violence, their potential for informing about perpetrators and abuse, and differences between key theorists.
• Report (NZ) – Green Paper for Vulnerable Children
  31 October 2011
  The New Zealand Government has launched a discussion paper to give people and communities a say on how New Zealand can better protect abused, neglected and disadvantaged children.
• Issues Paper (NZ) – Supporting Young People’s Relationships
  31 October 2011
  Parents and caregivers have far more influence than they might think on how young people develop and conduct their relationships.
• Forum – The Melbourne I Dream Forum
  31 October 2011
  16 November 2011, Melbourne , VIC
  The Melbourne I Dream Forum is aimed principally at local and state government urban and social planners, designers, architects, engineers and councillors. A 10-person expert panel will each present their ideas about a sustainable city using 10 slides in five minutes.
• Report – Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander Child Safety (PDF 582KB)
  31 October 2011
  This paper presents an overview of the safety and security of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.
• AFRC Briefing Papers – Interagency Collaboration
  31 October 2011
  These two papers focus attention on the ways interagency collaborations benefit children and families.
• Research Briefing (UK) – Reablement: a key role for occupational therapists
  31 October 2011
  This SCIE UK briefing summarises research and practice evidence about reablement and explains the contribution that occupational therapists make to reablement services.
• Report – Attitudes to homelessness in Australia (PDF 242KB)
  31 October 2011
  Using data collected through the 2007 Australian Survey of Social Attitudes on homelessness, this study investigated attitudes of the Australian community regarding the perceived causes of homelessness and responsibility for addressing it.
• Audio – NSW Family and Community Services: From managing disadvantage to breaking it
  31 October 2011
  Pru Goward, New South Wales' Minister for Community Services and Women, speaks about managing and ending disadvantage.
• Program – How Big Are Your Dreams?
  31 October 2011
  How Big Are Your Dreams? is an innovative program for young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people designed to promote long-term connections to education; to strengthen the participants’ self-confidence and cultural knowledge; and to impart new skills and capacities which will allow the participants to do whatsoever they dream of doing.
• Report – Housing Costs Through the Roof: Australia’s Housing Stress (PDF 2.3MB)
  31 October 2011
  Australians for Affordable Housing commissioned the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling (NATSEM) to update rates of housing stress across the country. The subsequent report shows how housing stress plays out in each state.
• Statistics – Migrant Statistics October 2011, from the ABS
  31 October 2011
  
• Program – Partners in Depression
  31 October 2011
  Partners in Depression is an education and support group program for people who love, live with or support someone experiencing depression. The program is delivered by two trained facilitators in community settings around Australia.
• Report – Further Disadvantage: the effect of stigma in discouraging use of concession cards (PDF 164KB)
  31 October 2011
  Concession cards provide access to a range of welfare benefits additional to income support payments. While concession cards constitute an important means of accessing support, their efficacy is dependent upon cardholders using their cards.
• Position Statement – Addressing the needs of siblings of children with disability or chronic illness
  31 October 2011
  The RANZCP is seeking support and endorsement of its recently published position statement. This page provides you with information about the aims of the statement, how it was developed, how it will be used, and why you are being asked to endorse it.
• Report – School funding, choice and equity (PDF 1MB)
  31 October 2011
  This report suggests that the current level of inconsistency and divisiveness in the funding systems for government and non-government schools indicate a clear need for reforming school funding in Australia.
• New Book – Building Integrated Connections for Children, their Families and Communities
  27 October 2011
  This book offers a snapshot of some of the most promising programs and research being undertaken in Australia with vulnerable children and families.
• Report – Toward a Nationally Consistent Approach to Working With Children Checks
  27 October 2011
  This report outlines the ways governments have taken action to ensure that a range of protective mechanisms are in place to reduce the risk of harm to children by predatory individuals.
• Online Resource – For Carers
  27 October 2011
  Out-of-home carers across the nation will have better access to information about government and non-government support and services through this new online resource.
• Online Resource – Online support group for partners of women diagnosed with breast cancer
  27 October 2011
  In seeking to support partners, the Breast Cancer Network Australia is encouraging them to join this new online group and connect with others facing similar challenges.
• New Website – The Aged-Care Rights Service
  27 October 2011
  The Aged-care Rights Service Inc (TARS) is a community legal centre that provides non-legal advocacy for the residents of Commonwealth funded hostels and nursing homes and recipients of in-home aged care in NSW.
• Lecture & Webinar – Parenting with a disability (PDF 68KB)
  27 October 2011
  4 November 2011, Westmead, NSW
  The Redbank House Lecture Series is a forum for presentations by experts in child and adolescent mental health and family therapy, held at Westmead Hospital on the first Friday of every month, 1:30pm-2:30pm.
• Conference – Multiculturalism: perspectives from Australia, Canada and China
  27 October 2011
  21 -22 November 2011, Sydney, NSW
  Seeking to both celebrate innovation in this field and to offer ideas for the future, this conference is bringing together scholars from leading research-oriented education and social work faculties to discuss policy, issues and opportunities for collaboration.
• Report – Are we there yet? Making the successful transition to adulthood
  27 October 2011
  This research synthesis highlights what helps young people make this transition a success and what might work against them.
• News – Evaluation finds recruitment approach nearly doubles likelihood of adoption from foster care
  27 October 2011
  
• Research Project (UK) – Enduring Love?
  27 October 2011
  The Enduring Love? research project focuses on the meanings and everyday experiences of long-term relationships in contemporary Britain.
• Video – Commissioning for Personalisation (SCIE UK)
  27 October 2011
  This film highlights initiatives funded by the Dorset County Council Innovation Fund, which provides start-up money for small independent providers to develop a range of self-sustaining services that local people with personal budgets might utilise.
• Statistics – 2010: A Record Year For Births
  27 October 2011
  It's been another record year for Australian births, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
• Online Resource – Child safety and first aid videos from the Raising Children Network
  25 October 2011
  These practical videos demonstrate child CPR, child restraint fitting, first aid, and ways to help a choking child as well as preventing acidents.
• Conference – ‘Growing Awareness’ 2nd Tasmanian Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Prevention Conference
  25 October 2011
  28 - 29 November 2011, Hobart, Tasmania
  The Drug Education Network Inc, together with the Tasmanian Early Years Foundtation and the Menzies Research Institute are hosting a conference on the importance of understanding Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder across the lifespan and its prevention.
• Research (US) – Expanding resources for children III: Research-based best practices in adoption by gays and lesbians
  25 October 2011
  Both research and experience indicate that non-heterosexual parents are bringing up their children with sensitivity and competence comparable to that of their straight counterparts and, as a result, their sons and daughters are adjusting just as well. Nevertheless, societal stigmas relating to adoption by lesbians and gay men remain, as do institutional barriers.
• Research – Young Australians and social inclusion (PDF 238KB)
  25 October 2011
  This paper examines the relationships between parental and family characteristics, including a history of dependence on income support, on a diverse set of indicators of social inclusion among young Australians.
• Research (US) – More than just stimulating minds
  25 October 2011
  Evidence-based programs that attempt to reduce achievement gaps between disadvantaged children and their better-off counterparts in the early years are effective, but their impact is, at best, modest. The director of Harvard’s Center on the Developing Child argues that new interventions should shift their focus – from just stimulating the minds of these children to also protecting their brains.
• Audio – 2011 Utzon Lecture Series: Peter Singer: Building Values
  25 October 2011
  In this lecture Professor Peter Singer discusses the way in which our decisions about the kind of built environment we choose to create, and to live in, should take into account the interests of others – whether present or future, human or nonhuman.
• Report – Juvenile justice in Australia 2009-10
  25 October 2011
  This report presents information on young people under juvenile justice supervision, both in detention and under community-based supervision, and the characteristics of their supervision.
• Research – Which event matters: exploring the relationship between life events, socioeconomic status and psychological distress in mothers of infants (PDF 324KB)
  25 October 2011
  This study explores the relationship between stressful events and psychological distress in mothers of infants.
• Report – Social and health costs of tobacco smoking in Australia: level, trend and determinants
  25 October 2011
  Findings reveal that tobacco smoking is the largest single cause of death and a key risk factor for some deadly diseases in Australia.
• Report – Indicators of community strength in Victoria: framework and evidence
  25 October 2011
  This report provides the underpinning framework and evidence for the Department of Planning and Community Development's community development work and Indicators of Community Strength.
• It's Children's Week!
  24 October 2011
  Check out the range of activities and events scheduled in your community and get involved!
• Resource – eHeadspace
  24 October 2011
  A new era in mental health support for young Australians begins today with the expansion of a groundbreaking e- counselling service to provide 24-hour online and telephone support to 12-25 years olds.
• Video – The Internet and Society from RSA Animate
  24 October 2011
  Author and journalist Evgeny Morozov presents an alternative take on ‘cyber-utopianism’ – the seductive idea that the internet plays a largely empancipatory role in global politics.
• Webinar – Positioning research, policy and practice on transitions to school
  24 October 2011
  3 November 2011
  In this webinar Professors Sue Dockett and Bob Perry from Charles Sturt University will discuss the development, implementation and recommendations of the Transition to School Position Statement.
• Grants – Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education
  24 October 2011
  Grants of up to $20,000 will be awarded to community organisations to strengthen their capacity to respond to alcohol-related harms at a local level. Applications close 30 November 2011.
• Conference – C&K Early Childhood Conference: Children’s Right to Childhood
  24 October 2011
  26 - 27 May 2012, Brisbane, Qld
  The conference will include four strands: Children’s rights to play; Children’s rights to inclusive environments; Children’s rights to quality programs; and Children’s rights to childhood and to be a child. Call for papers will close on Monday 7 November 2011.
• Report – The economic advantages of cultural diversity in Australia (CRC NSW) (PDF 1.3MB)
  24 October 2011
  This paper represents a broad literature review of diverse research that, collectively, illustrates that migration (and the cultural diversity that subsequently develops over time) has boosted the economic performance of Australia.
• Resource – Prevention Pack from the Child Abuse Prevention Service (CAPS)
  24 October 2011
  As part of its new campaign CAPS has released a free digital ‘Prevention Pack’ that includes a range of resources for parents, carers and children and aims to assist families in developing vital protective factors and a better understanding of how they can keep children safe.
• Media Release – Caring role brings some families closer together (ABS)
  24 October 2011
  In 2009, 36% of primary carers reported that their caring role had brought them closer together with the person to whom they provided the most care, according to a new report released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
• Report (US) – How people learn about their community
  24 October 2011
  How do people get news and information about the community where they live? This report offers a deep and comprehensive understanding of the ecosystem of community information.
• Report – ACOSS Poverty Report
  24 October 2011
  ACOSS has released a report showing that despite the current economic conditions, poverty remains a real and widespread problem in Australia.
• Report – Multicultural Sociability, Imperfect Forums and Online Participation
  20 October 2011
  This article explores the conditions for multicultural sociability facilitated by online current affairs forums hosted by Australia’s multicultural public service broadcaster, SBS.
• Report – No home at the end of the road? (PDF 3MB)
  20 October 2011
  This report, commissioned by the Salvation Army, examines the significant housing stress currently affecting single older women in Australia.
• Report – Caring in the Community, Australia 2009
  20 October 2011
  This publication from the Australian Bureau of Statistics presents information about carers who provide vital assistance in their families and communities.
• Research Brief – Family Finding: does implementation differ when serving different child welfare populations? (PDF 459KB)
  20 October 2011
  The family finding model provides child welfare professionals with techniques for identifying and engaging family members and other adults who care about a child placed in foster care.
• Report – Inequality, disadvantage and education outcomes
  20 October 2011
  Students in the lowest socio-economic status (SES) government schools in Australia are, on average, three to five years behind the learning of students in the highest SES government and private schools, Trevor Cobbold writes.
• Report – Disability support services 2009-10: report on services provided under the National Disability Agreement
  20 October 2011
  This report presents 2009-10 information collected on people who used disability support services provided under the National Disability Agreement, and the agencies and outlets that provided services.
• Report – Mental Health Services – in brief 2011
  20 October 2011
  Mental health services - in brief 2011 provides an overview on the characteristics and activity of Australia's mental health services, the availability of mental health resources, and the changes that have occurred in these over time.
• Video – Why is overcoming Indigenous disadvantage so hard?
  20 October 2011
  In this presentation, prize-winning novelist, Professor of Law and 2009 NAIDOC Person of the Year Larissa Behrendt addresses the lack of progress on Indigenous issues in Australia.
• Blog Entry – A look at “Communities that Care” and evidence-based programs
  19 October 2011
  “Those of us seeking to develop, evaluate, and disseminate evidence-based programs to improve lives for children feel like this is a golden era,” writes Kristin Anderson Moore from Child Trends.
• It's Carers' Week!
  19 October 2011
  Carers’ Week is Australia's annual celebration of family carers and each year thousands of Australians take the time to recognise the wonderful contribution that carers make — this year you should be one of them!
• Report – Indiginous disadvantage: can strengthening cultural attachment help to Close the Gap?
  19 October 2011
  This paper examines whether strengthening cultural attachment can help reduce Indigenous disadvantage in Australia.
• Report – Preventing Multiple Risky Behaviours Among Adolescents: Seven Strategies (PDF 139KB)
  11 October 2011
  Taking risks is fairly common in adolescence. Risky behaviors can be associated with serious, long-term, and – in some cases – life-threatening consequences. This is especially the case when adolescents engage in more than one harmful behavior. This Research Brief brings together findings from developmental science and from rigorous program evaluations to identify seven actionable, feasible strategies and relevant programs that have been found to affect two or more risky behaviors.
• Conference - 8th Australian and New Zealand Adolescent Health Conference
  11 October 2011
  9-11 November 2011, Sydney, NSW
  The wide-ranging themes chosen for this conference will enable a full and contemporary exploration of the issues and challenges facing young people and the creative solutions being sought to tackle them.
• Report – Child and working-age poverty from 2010 to 2020 (UK)
  11 October 2011
  What levels of poverty might there be for children and working-age adults by 2020? This study forecasts relative and absolute income poverty among children and working-age adults for each year between 2010/11 and 2015/16, and for 2020/21. It also examines the impact of the coalition Government's reforms on poverty and implications for policy and poverty measurement.
• Video – Disability: the new frontier of justice
  11 October 2011
  Melbourne writer Anne Manne stresses the importance of a more thoughtful, generous approach to the care and support we provide to the differently-abled.
• Resource – Childrens’ Week Website
  11 October 2011
  Children's Week is an annual event celebrated in Australia during the fourth week in October. A diverse range of events and activities are organised at National, State and Local levels. These focus the attention of the wider community on children, their needs and achievements. Find out more and get involved!
• Audio - Upwardly mobile: How the cell phone is changing life in India (Unimelb)
  11 October 2011
  Media historian Professor Robin Jeffrey explains how the cell or mobile phone has hugely advanced India‘s economic development and is changing the very fabric of its society.
• News – Adoption review to focus on black children in care (UK)
  11 October 2011
  The UK government will launch a major review of social work practices to ensure that black children are not left to languish in the care system because the emphasis is put on reasons why couples cannot adopt rather than why they can, following the PM's call to tackle the issue.
• Report - Early maternal employment and child development in five OECD countries
  11 October 2011
  This report investigates the effects of maternal employment on child development. It compares data from countries with different types of work-family policy - Australia, Canada, Denmark, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
• Conference – Homelessness Research Conference
  11 October 2011
  19-20 April 2012, Melbourne, VIC
  The Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) and RMIT University are pleased to announce the inaugural Homelessness Research Conference to be held in Melbourne on Thursday 19 and Friday 20 April 2012
• Conference – Helen Mayo House Annual Conference: Mothers and Infants at High Risk
  11 October 2011
  21-22 November 2011, Adelaide, SA
  Professionals working with parents and infants are increasingly recognising how depression and anxiety can be identified in families, and have a growing awareness of the effects of mental health problems. Australian experts Professor Anne Buist and Louise Newman, our two keynote speakers, have been at the forefront of research into perinatal mental health issues and how to move towards better outcomes for both the mothers and the infants in these families.
• News - Plan to include a same-sex parent category on Australian passport application forms
  10 October 2011
  The Government is considering the option of "parent 1" and "parent 2", in addition to mother and father, on Australian passport application forms.
• News – Building Better Bridges
  10 October 2011
  A special issue of Child Development shows how the new and growing domain of translational research builds bridges between science and policy.
• Research – Why don’t smart teens have sex?
  10 October 2011
  A new study reveals that the relationship between intelligence, academic performance and early sexual activity "runs in families" - for both cultural and genetic reasons.
• Video – Dan Meyer: Math class needs a makeover (USA)
  10 October 2011
  Today's math curriculum is teaching students to expect - and excel at - paint-by-numbers classwork, robbing kids of a skill more important than solving problems: formulating them.
• Video – Professor Renata Salecl ruminates on Choice, from RSA Animate
  6 October 2011
  Professor Renata Salecl explores the paralysing anxiety and dissatisfaction surrounding limitless choice in this video from RSA Animate. Does the freedom to be the architects of our own lives actually hinder rather than help us? Does our preoccupation with choosing and consuming actually obstruct social change? Find out!
• New Law Awareness Campaign – Teen Drinking Law (VIC)
  6 October 2011
  Yesterday the Victorian Government launched an information and education campaign to raise awareness of a new law regarding the supply of alcohol to minors. From 1 November 2011 it will be against Victorian law to serve alcohol in a private home to anyone under 18, unless their parent or guardian has given permission.
• Report - The influence of parents, places and poverty on educational attitudes and aspirations (JRF UK)
  6 October 2011
  What is the relationship between young people's aspirations and how they are formed? Based on longitudinal research in three locations in the UK, this study investigates aspirations and empirical evidence.
• News - Late-age pregnancy 'selfish' according to Perth obstetric physician
  6 October 2011
  Women who delay getting pregnant until after their late 30s are unfairly burdening their offspring with geriatric parents, a leading obstetric physician has said.
• Competition – Human Rights Photo Competition 2011
  6 October 2011
  Commission President Catherine Branson QC is calling on photographers to “crank up their imagination and grab their camera! We're looking for great photos about the broad theme of education – maybe it will be you and your classmates, or maybe an exciting event your school or local library held or anything about education – from Kindergarten to life-long learning," she said.
• Video – Working with people with autism: the professionals (SCIE UK)
  6 October 2011
  In this short film a social worker supporting a young man with autism with his transition to adult services and a care worker in a day setting discuss effective support for people with autism.
• Blog Entry – Risk and Caring Relationships (JRF UK)
  6 October 2011
  Due to the complexity of this area, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has started exploring the connected themes of rights, responsibilities, risk and regulation in the lives of adults who use care and support. The point of the exploration is to find answers to the fundamental question: what needs to change to enable us to have good lives? Ilona Haslewood explains.
• Commentary - Bringing media classification into the digital era
  6 October 2011
  Media classification in Australia is being dragged into the digital world and proposals unveiled last week will transform the system, helping the public to judge what content they - and their children - should engage with, writes Terry Flew.
• Seminar – Meeting the service needs of Muslim Families
  5 October 2011
  11th October 2011, Sydney, NSW
  Evidence suggests that culturally and linguistically diverse communities face greater barriers in accessing services than other community members. This is equally true for people identifying with Islam in Australia. Providing appropriate services is therefore important to avoid social exclusion and marginalisation. This seminar will present findings from consultations with Muslim families living in two NSW communities, which were conducted in 2009-10.
• Video – Lecture, Navigating the Maze: Understanding Mood Disorders in Adolescents and Young People (UNSW)
  5 October 2011
  Professor Gordon Parker facilitates this presentation/discussion on mood disorders in young people at the University of New South Wales.
• News - End of gay adoption ban spurs start of 100 new families in South Florida (USA)
  5 October 2011
  For 33 years, Florida barred gays and lesbians from adopting. That changed in October 2010 when Florida's Third District Court of Appeal in Miami ruled the law was unenforceable and the State declined to challenge it. Since then, family law attorneys estimate more than 100 men and women in South Florida's gay and lesbian community have pending adoption cases. "The phones have been ringing off the hook,'' said family law attorney Elizabeth Schwartz, of Miami. "It's been 33 years of pent up desire."
• Seminar – The R.E. Ross Trust Seminar: Effective approaches to supporting vulnerable families and preventing child abuse and neglect (PDF 287KB)
  5 October 2011
  16th November 2011, Melbourne, VIC
  This seminar will bring together speakers from Australia and from Canada to discuss effective approaches to supporting vulnerable families and preventing child abuse and neglect. This seminar is designed for local government, policy makers, researchers, and early childhood and community services staff, and will discuss policy, practice and research about communities making a local impact to improve the outcomes for children.
• Discussion - The Second Sex: A 21st Century Dialogue with Translators
  5 October 2011
  15th November 2011, Sydney, NSW
  The Second Sex, originally published in 1949 by Simone de Beauvoir, has been newly translated by Constance Borde & Sheila Malovany Chevalier. The work is a seminal text of twentieth century feminism, and is as important now as it was fifty years ago. The translators are offering a free seminar in Sydney that will explore Simone de Beauvoir’s construction of non-violent relationships. Prior to the seminar will be an opportunity to meet and speak with the translators.
• Resource – Fast Facts from the Australian Domestic & Family Violence Clearinghouse
  5 October 2011
  In 2011 the Australian Domestic & Family Violence Clearinghouse introduced a new product - fast facts. The Clearinghouse produces four of these a year. An easily accessible set of facts and statistics on specific topics for quick reference.
• Resource - National plan to reduce violence against women and their children: Easy Read Version (FaHCSIA) (PDF 2.1MB)
  5 October 2011
  
• Website – Age Positive
  5 October 2011
  This website and campaign will gather and publicise positive stories about older people, using them to remind the public of the varied and important ways older people contribute to Australian society.
• Report - Fathering in Australia among couple families with young children: research highlights
  5 October 2011
  There remains much to be learned about the ways in which Australian fathers contribute to families and feel about themselves as fathers, write Jennifer Baxter and Diana Smart from The Australian Institute of Family Studies.
• Training – Advanced Perinatal Interpersonal Therapy Conference
  4 October 2011
  8 - 9 December 2011, Freshwater, NSW
  The Advanced Conference in Perinatal Interpersonal Psychotherapy is the 2nd in a series of training modules in Perinatal Interpersonal Therapy. The conference is for health care professionals of minimum 2 years experience, with a special interest in, or specialising in the Perinatal area. This course will look at advanced applied psychotherapy in the areas of anxiety, depression, role transition and loss and grief as they apply to clinicians working with women, men, babies and families.
• Video - John Elder Robison: On Being Different (ABC)
  4 October 2011
  John Elder Robison comes from a family of poets and writers, but is an unlikely writer himself. Now he has two books under his belt: one a bestseller about his struggle with Asperger's Syndrome, the other further claiming his spot on the Autism spectrum. His is truly an "extra"-ordinary life.
• Report - Facilitating children's transition to school from families with complex support needs
  4 October 2011
  This report reinforces the importance of the transition to school for children from families with complex support needs. For all children and families, but particularly for those with complex support needs, the transition to school is a time of both opportunity and vulnerability.
• Video – Safeguarding adults in care homes (SCIE UK)
  4 October 2011
  This short film from the UK looks at aspects of good safeguarding practice in a care home for older people that specialises in dementia. Staff work in a person-centred way, spending time with residents and getting to know them well so that they can recognise any changes in behaviour that could suggest abuse.
• Resource - Get connected to eLearning: for social care providers (SCIE UK)
  4 October 2011
  This introduction to eLearning is written specifically for small to medium sized organisations and businesses in the care sector. It is a useful resource for those who are new to eLearning, as well as those who have some experience already.
• Resource – Better Health Channel iPhone & iPad App
  4 October 2011
  This free iPhone and iPad app allows you to conveniently locate health services wherever you are in Victoria, learn more about medical conditions and treatments on the go, and get first aid essentials and important health advice anywhere, anytime.
• Audio - Australia’s social inclusion heritage: past, present, future
  4 October 2011
  Tanya Plibersek outlines Australian egalitarian values and how they have been and continue to be translated into government, economic and social policy.
• Training - Intervention Mapping: How to design and implement sustainable interventions to improve health and wellbeing (PDF 102KB)
  4 October 2011
  21 - 23 November 2011, Melbourne, VIC
  The Parenting Research Centre and Monash University's International Public Health Unit (IPHU) are pleased to be co-hosting this practical, theory-driven approach to interventions. This training is relevant for the promotion of health and wellbeing across a variety of sectors and settings, including communities, health care and schools. The workshop provides an excellent overview of current theory and practice in the design and evaluation of interventions. The principles and methods are applicable to anyone wanting to design and implement robust and sustainable interventions.
• Conference – The Early Years Conference 2012, The Development of Children’s Mental Health: How do we become who we are?
  4 October 2011
  2 - 4 February 2012, Vancouver, CANADA
  This conference will stimulate dialogue, reflection, a deeper understanding of a child’s total development as rooted in their earliest relationships, and may revolutionise practitioners’ approaches and practices with young children, their families, and their communities. This conference will be of interest to anyone interested in learning and sharing about issues and experiences regarding early years.