10th Australian Institute of
Family Studies
Conference Proceedings
9-11 July 2008 • Melbourne
Families Through LifeCopies of presentations/papers may be made for the purposes of personal, non-commercial use or for research and study in educational institutions, provided the presentation/paper is used in full, with proper attribution to the author(s). Copyright remains with the author(s) or government agency.
Presentations and papers will continue to be added as they are received: Update list
Presentations are only made available to download where the presenter has given permission to do so. Poster presentations have an abstract only.
Abstracts by author I-Z (with presentations and papers where available)
Abstracts A-H | I | J | K | L | M | N | P | Q | R | S | T | V | W | Y | Z
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Why Not One-offs? Evaluation of a Whole-School Approach to the Prevention of Sexual Assault^ Author affiliation
The CASA House Sexual Assault Prevention Program for Secondary Schools utilises a whole-of-school community approach to the prevention of sexual assault. The aims of the Prevention Program are to reduce the incidence of sexual assault in school communities and enhance the capacity of secondary schools to respond to sexual assault. In this paper I examine the findings of medium-term and longitudinal evaluation and present evidence to contribute to the field of violence prevention. Evaluation was conducted 6 months, one and two years following student programs. Tested evaluation tools were implemented in several schools to indicate program effects on students’ knowledge, comfort with communicative behaviours and attitudes. These tools included written surveys, focus groups and semistructured interviews. The results indicated that the program’s positive impact on students’ knowledge and awareness of sexual assault issues and their ability to articulate and discuss them was, for the most part, sustained. Overall the results suggest that program impacts are maintained best in an environment where others in their school community are exposed to the same program messages and processes. The prevention program has a positive impact on young people’s knowledge, awareness and ability to engage in critical discussion about gender, violence, consent and other issues related to sexual assault. Young people’s sexual decision-making is heavily influenced by social and gender-based pressures, which directly affect their ability to engage in respectful sexual behaviour. Evaluations suggest that the program’s impact is best sustained in the context of school-wide programs to promote respect and equality.
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A ‘Soft Entry’ Approach to Enhancing Child, Family and Community Life: Towards Evidence for Change^ Author affiliation
‘Soft entry’ is a term that can be broadly understood as signalling universal, non-stigmatising modes of accessing activities and services. Whilst a literature search will yield little, the term has become especially applicable to the Communities for Children (CfC) program, which provides support to 0-5 year old children, their families and communities. Anecodotal feedback from one site indicates that what makes soft entry approaches so popular with parents is “meeting other parents, realising you are normal”, “hearing how other people deal with things that you struggle with”, “having people ring you up and invite you to do other things with them”, “knowing someone else who struggled with the same things as you and found a way of dealing with it”. Parents say it mattered to them that –they do not have to register for attendance, do not have to sit in a circle and introduce themselves, are not assessed and do not have to have problems in order to be there. The question must be asked however, whether such community building processes lead to change in families, are as attractive to families facing serious challenges and can provide a contribution to the evidence base. This paper presents evaluation material about a number of soft entry approaches in one CfC site to examine the approach, look at underpinning theory, consider the kinds of families served by the approach, and to address questions of evidence.
Poster presentation (Abstract only)
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Is Anybody Out There? Who Supports Families when things get Tough?^ Author affiliation
Many families experience difficulty caring for children throughout their lives. Key family transitional stages, such as the birth of a child, entering early childhood services and beginning primary and secondary school can add to this difficulty. REACh Conversation Starters (FaHCSIA funded) took an action research approach to explore why families access some services and not others. Key services used by families at these stages include maternal and child health, childcare, kindergarten and primary and secondary schools. The project identified one key message i.e. ‘Parents only attend and seek support from services where they have formed good relationships with professionals through informal, positive, welcoming interactions’. The project further uncovered factors that impacted on professionals’ capacity to form these relationships. There is an increase in the diversity of family groups that professionals are expected to work with, adding to the complexity of their role;
Many school staff acknowledges a need for greater understanding of the impact of disadvantage on the learning outcomes and general wellbeing of children and young people. Staff reported feeling afraid and lacking confidence when interacting with some parents;
The demands of the teaching curriculum do not allow teachers the opportunity to consider their capacity to influence the development of ‘the whole child’;
There are few supports and educational services available to assist professionals build relationships with parents and families.
This paper will discuss the benefit of assisting professionals to work holistically with families and children.
Poster presentation (Abstract only)
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I have an interest in what is going on in the relationships between early childhood staff and parents^ Author affiliation
Recent family literature has guided our understanding about how children learn in the context of relationships. (Grille, 2005) The most important relationship is recognized as the safe and nurturing relationship of the child with the child’s parents. When young children are in the care of other adults a positive and nurturing relationship between the parents and these adults is very important to the child’s optimal development, “the closer the parent is to the education of the child, the greater the impact on child development and educational achievements” (Kasting, 1994, p146). There has been academic interest in understanding the relationships between early childhood professionals and their parents. The literature has identified that despite knowing the importance of a positive relationship with parents early childhood staff find these relationships difficult. (Jensen and Kiley, 2005 Powers, 2005). Many areas have been identified where these relationships struggle. My Masters Study, examined one possible area of struggle, asking the question “Does the “images” early childhood staff and parents have of each other contribute or become a barrier to an equitable relationship developing”? This paper will share the findings from one of the data collection methods used in the study, journals. Both parents and early childhood staff were asked to record their interactions and experiences with each other over several months. The journal provided a different lens through which to analyse the data which challenged the study question and previous academic understanding about relationships between early childhood staff and parents.
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Young Australian Women’s Aspirations for Family and Work in the 21st Century^ Author affiliation
Changes to the workforce participation, tertiary enrolments and childbearing patterns of Australian women underscore the need for research into the family and work plans held by younger generations of Australian women. This paper aims to assess young Australian women’s aspirations for, and attitudes towards, family and work in the 21st century. This paper draws on quantitative and qualitative findings from the younger cohort of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health (ALSWH). The analysis focuses on 7,790 women (initially aged 18-23years) who responded to all three surveys, sent in 1996, 2000 and 2003. We investigate the women’s responses to the aspiration items for motherhood, employment and relationships and their comments regarding these topics. The majority of young Australian women aspired to a combination of family and paid work at all three surveys while there were some slight changes in number of children and types of employment aspired to, across surveys. Social and demographic differences existed between women with varying aspirations. Finally, the women expressed an increasing concern for their futures and a changing attitude towards the family unit across surveys. The findings show the work and family plans held by young Australian women, the consistency of these plans, how much these plans are conditioned by social factors and the importance of these plans to young Australian women. The findings, along with future research on the options chosen by this group of young women, have significance for policy debates in several areas including worker entitlements, maternity leave and childcare.
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Involving Practitioners in Evaluations^ Author affiliation
This talk will address the issues around the Evaluation/Policy/Practice relationship in the context of the evaluation of large scale complex interventions for children and families. In theory the relationship between policy, practice and evaluation is quite straightforward. Policies are developed and implemented, and evaluation feeds into the further development and refinement of new policies and programs so that they are firmly based on rigorous research evidence. Yet the actual relationship is far more complex and problematic. Policy development must take into account broader political and economic considerations, and the influence of interest groups as well as research evidence. In particular the pace of policy making does not fit well with evaluation. Often major decisions about programs need to be made long before definitive evaluation findings are available. On the other hand practitioners’ main concern is to get the job done and help vulnerable children and families. For them evaluation can be seen as both an unnecessary bureaucratic burden and a threat to the continuation of the program. Evaluators need to be arms length in order to make objective judgments about the program, but need data which is collected comprehensively and consistently across the program. Yet evaluators, policy makers and practitioners rely on each other and cannot achieve their goals without each other. This talk will address these tensions, provide a theoretical basis for conceptualizing the role of evaluation in policy and practice, and will provide case examples of how these issues can be minimized.
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Brain Malleability and Investment in Early Childhood^ Author affiliation
There are increasing calls for governments to expend more resources on very young children. These are partly prompted by the ‘brain malleability’ thesis of early childhood development, which suggests that children learn easiest, and most, before the age of three, after which their brains are in large part ‘hard-wired’. We do not examine the ‘brain malleability’ thesis, or the evidence for greater public investment in early childhood, advocated by economists such as James Heckman. Rather we focus on three methodological issues central to investment in children, which remain little researched in Australia or internationally: What constitutes an investment in children? While Heckman (and others) focus exclusively on public investment in children, we argue that private investment, particularly by parents, also needs to be taken into account. Private investment includes both material investment and time investment. How can material and other investments in children be counted? We examine how public and private time and material investments in children can be counted. The definition of ‘investment’ is carefully considered, and a number of alternatives are proposed, including those that only capture investments that are directly aimed at particular children, and those that are aimed at all family members, or even just at parents, but which may also indirectly benefit children. We show how it may be possible to quantify public, private and time investments. How does Australia compare? We identify datasets which compare Australia’s past with current performance in public investment and with other OECD countries using OECD data not yet in the public domain.
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Tuning in to Teens: An Emotion-Focused Parenting Intervention for Parents of Pre-Adolescents^ Author affiliation
Changes in parent-child relationships often occur during adolescence due to physical, cognitive, social, and emotional changes in the child that challenge parents and often result in conflict and family disconnection. Recent studies have found that emotionfocused aspects of parenting appear to be protective for adolescents during this period of development and may assist the young person to regulate and understand their emotions. This pilot study investigated the feasibility of and impact on parent-child outcomes of a six-week group parenting program focused on promoting emotional competence. Sixty-six grade six students (aged 11 to 13 years) and one of their parents/primary carers were recruited from schools in lower socioeconomic areas of the northern and western suburbs of Melbourne. Parents were clusterrandomised (by school) into either a six-session parenting group program (Tuning in to Teens), or a single information session about their child’s transition to high school (High School Transitions). Parents and their preadolescent child completed questionnaires before and after the intervention. The measures addressed preteen behavioural and emotional outcomes, parent emotion socialisation of their children, parent emotional and general health outcomes, and family conflict. Parents in the intervention condition reported significant improvements in emotion focused parenting and reductions in criticism. The Grade 6 children of these parents also reported that their parents were less punishing and were less overwhelmed by their children’s emotions. Parents and children reported reductions in the child’s emotional and behavioural difficulties. Various feasibility issues relating to prevention and prevention research with this population are discussed.
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Interparental Conflict and Children’s Outcomes: The Pros and Cons of Silence^ Author affiliation
A large body of evidence may be summoned to document detrimental effects of parental verbal and physical conflict on children. At the same time, it is now accepted that conflict is a normal and expected part of interpersonal relations. Therefore, of consequence to wellbeing is not whether conflict occurs or not, but how it is conducted. To parents seeking to contain the fallout of disagreements the non-verbal non-physical form of conflict may seem an appealing alternative to arguments and aggression. This type of conflict, however, is still poorly researched in the context of families, and some indications are already available of its harmful effect on children. In this study we attempt to address this research gap by investigating the perspectives of parents and children on silent conflict. Our data are drawn from questionnaires of 135 couples and their adolescent children. Using newly developed psychometric measures we examine the links between silent parental conflict and children’s adjustment problems taking into account perceptions of parentchild relationships and family functioning. The findings generally support our hypotheses of deleterious effects of silent parental conflict on young people’s wellbeing and of the protective role of positive relationships with parents. We discuss the implications of our findings for researchers and practitioners interested in constructive management of parental conflict.
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A Qualitative Investigation of Young Adults’ Accounts of the Development of Relationships with Stepfathers^ Author affiliation
This study aimed to develop increased understanding of stepchildren’s views of the development of relationships with stepfathers. Twenty-five young adults from stepfamilies took part in narrative interviews that collected their stories of relationships with stepfathers. The interview data were analyzed using two methods of analysis. A thematic analysis allowed for an investigation of the common core themes that emerged across the participants’ stories. These included the importance of perceptions of the stepfathers’ personal qualities; stepfather warmth and support; discipline issues; and perceptions of his impact on the family. The narrative analysis examined the individual trajectories of the relationships, as told by the participants. Five types of narratives were defined. These ranged from narratives of Continuous Positive Regard through to narratives of Continuous Struggle. The results suggest that some stepfathers and children had relationships that began well and continued to strengthen across the years; other relationships were consistently of low quality; some were difficult initially but gradually improved; others started well, deteriorated, often during adolescence, and then recovered as the participants matured. A small number of relationships were experienced as abusive. It will be argued that these qualitative results challenge the “no-effects” of stepfather hypothesis.
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Grandparent and Relative Carers – Challenges and Opportunities^ Author affiliation
Background & Context: A ‘Green Paper ‘policy for statutory kinship care has been released for discussion in Victoria by the Children Youth and Families division of the Department of Human Services, in response to the rise in children placed with extended family in kinship placements. This Green Paper will lead to a revised Kinship Policy. Relatives who take on care of a child are acknowledging a sense of reciprocal obligation to the child and perhaps the parent. When children are placed in such care following intervention by Child Protection, these family relationships create a different form of care to foster care, and require a different response by Government.
Findings and Conclusions: This paper discusses the findings of the Green Paper consultations regarding the challenges and opportunities that the service sector faces in supporting kinship placements: The Child’s View: The child feels they are with family and not ‘in care’. They have continuing family interaction. It is not unknown for children to reach early conclusions about how much they can or cannot depend on their parent/s, notwithstanding that they love them. The Family Setting: The wider family can provide support to the child in enduring and positive relationships, and help to safeguard the child by their knowledge. Family also can help to identify when a potential placement is not suitable. Family members are emotionally attached to and often have considerable knowledge of the child and parent.
Practicalities are pressing: Family have rarely been able to prepare to care for the child before placement becomes necessary. Finance, housing, childrens’ needs, as well as changes to the carer’s lifestyle, are all dealt with simultaneously. In this initial crisis period, information and practical resources make a difference. Planning is not as linear as other care options: Generally the child and wider family know each other, and share views about the parents’ capacity to resume care and meet the child’s needs from the moment the child is placed. Also return to parents or continuing to live with a relative is often less a conflict of loyalties for the child than when care is with an outside person. Professional Roles are different: Scottish research notes that kinship care ‘operates simultaneously in both the public domain of the state and the private domain of the family. However this is not easily achieved in reality. For example, workers with high caseloads may need to relate to several adults rather than one, segmented roles and change of workers are difficult for families, family knowledge of the child and of the parent may not be heard, or the extended family not necessarily involved in planning.
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Family Homelessness and Citizenship^ Author affiliation
This paper presents findings from a collaborative project between Swinburne University’s Institute for Social Research and Hanover Welfare Services. The aim was to investigate the day-to-day lived experience of citizenship from the perspective of families who experienced homelessness. In-depth interviews were conducted with a small sample of female-headed sole parent families. All parents had full-time care of at least one child. They were asked about the level and type of interaction they and their children had with a range of institutions such as, Centrelink, schools, children’s services and welfare agencies. At the time of interview, families were living in transitional housing, ‘medium’ term accommodation that is dependent upon the availability of permanent housing. The length of time in transitional housing can vary. The only certainty for families was uncertainty, an important theme that emerged from the study a long with the need for stability and security, desire for respect, feelings of powerlessness and hope for the future. The findings challenge us to think differently about homelessness, and to develop services that are more responsive to people’s needs and aspirations as citizens; that is, as belonging to a community and having the right to participate in its social, economic and political life. Hanover Welfare Services is a prominent Melbournebased provider of services to people experiencing homelessness or housing crisis. Underpinning the service provision is a comprehensive research agenda. An important component of that agenda focuses on human rights and citizenship.
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Parent-Child Relations and Child Outcomes: Cross-Cultural Comparisons^ Author affiliation
Research on parent-child relations and the effect on child outcomes within a collectivist social orientation is scarce. Most research report that conflict increases in adolescence because of the need for behavioural and psychological autonomy that comes with individuation. However, in collectivist cultures independence and autonomy are not encouraged, but instead the socialization of children emphasizes conformity, interdependence, filial piety and group harmony. Therefore, conflict may be low in collectivist cultures, and may not correlate negatively with child outcomes. To understand parent-child relations in collectivist cultures better, this study examined parent-adolescent conflict (incidence and intensity) and adolescent functioning (self-esteem, delinquency, academic achievement and depression) in a sample of 208 Malay, Indian-, and Chinese- Malaysian adolescent-parent dyads by gender. No significant relationships were noted for the Chinese groups, or for the outcome variable, depression. Negative correlations were noted between conflict incidence (Malay males-fathers, Malay femalesmothers, and Indian males-mothers) and self-esteem. Conflict intensity was negatively correlated to delinquency whereas conflict incidence was positively correlated. When both were high, delinquency was high. Positive correlations were noted between conflict incidence (Malay females-fathers) and academic achievement. Conflict incidence, when intensity was low, facilitated higher self-esteem and lower delinquency.
Poster presentation (Abstract only)
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Evaluation of an Intensive Family-Based Service^ Author affiliation
The Intensive Family Based Service (IFBS) is a family support program within the NSW Department of Community Services provided to Aboriginal families whose children are at risk of entering an out-of-home care placement due to protective concerns, or where the children have been placed in out-of-home care and have a case plan goal of restoration. The evaluation tested the impact of the program on subsequent child protection reports or out-of-home care placements. It examined whether the program was more effective on the basis of the length of intervention, or for particular reported vulnerabilities. The evaluation found the program to have contributed significantly to a reduction in the number of child protection reports for children and young people following an IFBS intervention. Significant impacts on reported issues of carer drug and alcohol and carer mental health were observed. The program was demonstrated to reduce the likelihood of out-of-home placements by up to one third where children and young people had had a prior placement in the care system in the 12 months prior to the intervention. Interventions of 12 to 16 weeks were shown to have the lowest proportion of children and young people receiving a placement in the post intervention period. The evaluation concluded that the program is a highly culturally appropriate intervention, but that strategies to improve service levels and develop planned exit pathways for program families were needed. The economic analysis concluded that the benefits generated from the IFBS program outweigh the costs.
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Most watched: Preliminary findings of a work-in-progress on family representations in high rating programmes on German TV^ Author affiliation
Like most developed countries, Germany is facing a demographic decline. In 2006, the average number of children per woman decreased to an all time low of 1,33. The starting point of the study is that with an average TV viewing time of 220 minutes per German per day and a presumed effect of mass media on its consumers, could it be that media representations of family life affect people in their child-bearing age which might keep them from having children? This paper investigates what representations of family life are shown in those programmes on German TV that are most watched by people in their childbearing age, namely 14 - 49 year olds. A category scheme designed to cover the most important aspects of family life was constructed for content analysis; this will be briefly described first. In a second step, preliminary results will be presented of the application of this category scheme to a first corpus of material which consists of programmes on German TV that viewers in the selected age group actually watched the most within a previously specified week. Finally these results will be related to the results of a content analysis that applies the same category scheme to a second corpus of material, a purposely constructed programme week of the first German public channel entitled “Children are the future”.
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The Relationship between Child Support Compliance and its Predictors: Evidence from two Waves of LSAC Data^ Author affiliation
Joint financial responsibility for children after separation involving the payment of child support is one part of the focus of recent reforms by the Australian Government to encourage the continuing involvement of both parents in the upbringing of their children. Most Australian and international research has found a strong positive association between child support compliance and contact between children and nonresident parents. Attachment of the non-resident parent to the other parent and the child prior to separation, satisfaction with post separation parenting arrangements and low parental conflict have also shown a consistent positive association with compliance. However, in terms of the causal directions of these relationships, empirical evidence to date is limited and lacking in consistency. Using structural equation modelling techniques and data from the first two waves of Growing Up in Australia, the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) survey, this paper examines the predictors of compliance with child support obligations with an emphasis on the underlying mechanisms/interactions between child support compliance and its predictors. This work will build on preliminary analysis by the author which found frequent and scheduled contact between the child and the nonresident parent to be the strongest predictor of child support compliance. While low parental conflict and involvement of the non-resident parent in the upbringing of the child was also found to be predictive of child support compliance, instead of a having a direct relationship, the effect of these variables are mediated by contact between the child and non-resident parent.
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Stepping into Adulthood: A Comparison of Youths from Stepfather Families with Other Young Australians^ Author affiliation
Society’s image of a typical Australian family has changed considerably over the last few decades. Increasing rates of cohabitation, separation, divorce and remarriage have not only given rise to a complex array of family types which challenge the traditional concept of the family, but have also resulted in an increase in the prevalence of non-traditional family types. One such family type is the stepfamily. Given current estimates of the frequency of stepfamilies are likely to be low (9% of children lived in stepfamilies in 2004), the stepfamily is a significant family type in the Australian population, complete with a complex set of influences and demanding of analysis as a family type in their own right. Our research uses multivariate regression techniques to examine outcomes for youths with prior stepfather family experience using a unique data source collected in 2006, the Youth in Focus Survey. The survey includes 632 youths (15.5% of the wave 1 sample) who identify as having current or prior experience of living with a stepfather. Youths with prior stepfather experience were compared to those raised in intact and lone parent families on measures of educational attainment, educational aspiration and independence. We find that youths who had ever lived in a stepfather family have lower academic achievement and academic aspirations than youth living in intact families, and are more likely be financially independent and living independently. Measures for youth from lone parent families were found to be at levels in between those observed for youth from intact and stepfather families.
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Stepfamily Practice: Is There an Evidence Base?^ Author affiliation
Stepfamily Association of Victoria Inc (SAVI) is an innovative community organization working on the margins with stepfamilies adjusting to massive ongoing changes. SAVI commenced as a self-help support group in 1981 and is now a professionally resourced organization providing information, support, education and counselling for stepfamilies and training for professionals, with a strong focus on prevention and early intervention. SAVI has strong anecdotal evidence that its programs reflect best practice. However, the modern trend for services is to demonstrate evidence based practice. To accomplish this aim, SAVI obtained philanthropic trust funding from the Helen Macpherson Smith Trust to resource an external evaluation of its education and training programs, and chose the Program Logic process of evaluation. By using the Program Logic Model, SAVI was able to identify service delivery strategies and the assumptions that have informed current practice. The Model compares expected and actual service outcomes and identifies areas for further research, development and study. The Program Logic Model indicates how an organization works and aids in the identification of the theory and assumptions that underpin its service delivery. The model links outcomes with program activities/processes and the theoretical assumptions/principles of the program (W.K. Kellogg Foundation, 2001). This paper will present SAVI’s experience of this practice reflection process, resultant outcomes and future directions for stepfamily service delivery and research.
Poster presentation (Abstract only)
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The Australian Child Support Scheme as it Relates to Single Mothers: Historical Development and International Comparisons^ Author affiliation
Child support payments have the ability to influence the economic wellbeing of single parent families on low incomes. Erratic and unstable child support payments, experienced by a significant proportion of low income child support recipients, can therefore greatly influence the living conditions of these families. As such, it is imperative that child support policies and systems are explored to identify their potential intended and unintended effects. Whilst the financial provision for children in Australia has been established since the 1940’s, this paper will focus on the concept of child support and thus explore its development through the Family Law Act and the subsequent introduction of the Child Support Scheme. These two highly documented policies will be explored and analysed, generating a review of the emergence and development of child support in Australia from 1975 to present. In addition, this paper will also incorporate comparisons with international child support systems including those of New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Sweden. The two analyses of the Australian Child Support Scheme will be undertaken from a pragmatic feminist perspective. This combined approach will enable the concepts of ‘practical’ and ‘ideal’, and ‘equality’ and ‘empowerment’ to be explored in reference to the child support system for single mothers and their children.
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Child Social Exclusion: An Updated Index from the 2006 Census^ Author affiliation
The development of regional measures of child social exclusion for Australia are underpinned by increasing research and policy interest in indicators of child wellbeing, multidimensional measures of poverty, and spatial differences in disadvantage. The National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling at the University of Canberra has developed a small area index of child social exclusion, a concept which encompasses multiple dimensions of poverty, and the cumulative nature of many aspects of disadvantage. This paper describes a recently updated version of the index, based on new data from the 2006 ABS Census of Population and Housing. Variables incorporated in the index include family type, education level and employment status of the child’s parents, housing tenure and household income. We will present results displaying the regional distribution of child social exclusion risk in 2006, and analyse the characteristics of those areas (both urban and rural) which experience both the most and the least risk of child social exclusion.
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Towards a Better Understanding of Families in New Zealand^ Author affiliation
In 2006, 70 per cent of New Zealand households contained at least one family nucleus, however, it has been acknowledged that “household data are seriously limited in the insights they can give us about families” (Ministry of Social Development (2004) New Zealand Families Today). There is pressure to improve knowledge about the family through an increased policy and research focus on family issues, including the establishment of the New Zealand Families Commission and the key governmental theme ‘Families, Young and Old’. This paper discusses family and household statistics in New Zealand today and for the future. We outline what can currently be seen in family statistics and what is required to produce relevant family statistics to meet the needs of statistical data users. Statistics New Zealand is currently focused on the development of topics which will gain a greater insight into families in New Zealand today. This includes: the collection of more detail on particular family structures (for example the ability to identify stepfamilies); the collection of data on people living in more than one household; and the acknowledgement that families are more than just the people with whom a person lives. The paper also discusses the collection of information about children with parents living in different households and family support networks which extend beyond the household.
Poster presentation (Abstract only)
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Determining The Effects of Housing Costs On The Well-being Of Australian Families^ Author affiliation
The issue of ‘housing stress’ has created considerable media interest in recent times due to Australia’s ongoing property boom. There can be little doubt that the perceived positive effects that living in better homes and neighbourhoods might have for children’s development are among the motivating factors behind parental housing decisions. However, these benefits may come at a substantial financial cost. This paper uses data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) to explore the effects of housing costs on Australian families and children. It presents findings from LSAC that look at the effect of housing costs on parental mental health and children’s social and emotional well-being.
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Between Generations: Exploring the Dynamics of Value Transfer and/or Transformation using a Cultural-historical Theoretical Framework.^ Author affiliation
Throughout history, societal practices have been transferred and transformed. The intergenerational family/household has an important although not exclusive role in perpetuating the transmission of these societal practices. The research presented in this paper draws on the work of Vygotsky (1934/1987; 1978) and neo-Vygotskians in the areas of families’ funds of knowledge (Moll & Greenberg, 1990) and institutions, motives and goals (Hedegaard, 2005). The notion of family funds derived originally from anthropology in relation to family funds of economy (Wolf, 1966) relates to the historically accumulated knowledge and skills shared in and through families/households that form the basis of their economic, political and social platforms. The family funds concept has been adapted and used in the field of education with particular emphasis on family funds of linguistic (Moll & Greenberg, 1990) and mathematical (Gonzalez, Andrade, Civil & Moll, 2001) knowledge. This qualitative case study (a work in progress) explores further conceptualization of the notion of family funds with a focus on the process dynamics occurring as family/household values and beliefs are appropriated, transferred and/or transformed between generations during child-rearing. Framed within Australian multigenerational families/households consideration is given to factors that mediate and/or motivate value transmission. The study is designed in five phases with data generation occurring as an iterative process through the use of interviews, photographs and video footage. This paper grapples with some of the theoretical and methodological issues associated with designing multi-generational research using a culturalhistorical epistemology.
Poster presentation (Abstract only)
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The Parameters of Social Inclusion in Australia: Putting Family Violence and Sexual Assault on the Agenda^ Author affiliation
‘Social inclusion’ has always been a flexible concept, and subject to multiple meanings. As it quickly gains currency in Australian political and policy circles, I suggest we examine anew the contributors to inequality and disadvantage in Australia, and what we mean by those very terms. This paper will argue that preventing and responding better to family violence and sexual assault need to be ‘joined up’ to social inclusion initiatives. Firstly, I will present a theoretical argument about the components of social exclusion and social injustice, pointing out that social exclusion is about more than ‘just economics’. I will argue that narrow conceptions of social justice and inequality may be partly responsible for structuring a conceptual separation of family violence and sexual assault from more ‘mainstream’ recognized issues of social injustice. Secondly, I will briefly describe the prevalence of family violence and their effects, using this as an opportunity to point out that while these are clearly ‘gender issues’, they are also issues pertinent to children’s well-being and the well-being of the Australian families. Thirdly, I will explain why family violence and sexual assault are also ‘social exclusion’ issues. I will consider the evidence of a correlation of family violence and sexual assault to socio-economic status, and I draw on the examples of well-recognized facets of social exclusion: homelessness, mental illness and disability. Fourthly, I will explain why the experience of trauma, through experiencing family violence and/or sexual assault, could be said to be the quintessential experience of social exclusion (that is, trauma is social exclusion). Finally, I will suggest practical ways to ‘frame’ family violence and sexual assault within the current Australian social inclusion agenda, specifically through issues of work-place participation, child well-being, ‘strengthening families’, ‘strengthening communities’, and law and order issues, as well as the issues already mentioned (of homelessness, mental health, disability and overall disadvantage). I will discuss the advantages and drawbacks of framing these issues through these aspects of the social inclusion agenda, before concluding.
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Family Resilience in Families Where a Young Child has a Disability^ Author affiliation
Families where a child has a disability can experience significant stress and social, financial and emotional vulnerability. The concept of ‘family resilience’ has been identified by policy makers as a characteristic that enables families to meet the challenges they face. The literature describes family resilience as a three-step process: experiencing a crisis/adversity; drawing on strengths and resources; and adapting and resuming family functioning. Understanding how disability agencies can most effectively contribute to family resilience is a current and important consideration in disability and family policy. This paper is based on research conducted by the Social Policy Research Centre, University of New South Wales, for the Commonwealth State/Territory Disability Policy and Research Working Group. Interviews were conducted with parents of children with disability and disability agency representatives to examine: the resilience concept and its practical aspects for families; and the relationship between inter- and intra-family strengths and resources. This paper explores how families draw on their own (intra-) strengths and resources and those within the community (inter-) to counter adversity and negotiate the family resilience process. It discusses the unique finding that while community resources (particularly services) can help support families, they may also hinder family resilience if availability, accessibility and quality are inadequate. This paper concludes with policy suggestions as to how disability agencies may facilitate family resilience where families have a child with a disability.
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Making a Life after Care: The Provision of Support Across the Life Course^ Author affiliation
There is a considerable body of research that documents the contemporary experiences of children leaving out-of-home care and their need for support during this transition. In contrast, for those who grew up in orphanages and other forms of institutional care in earlier times, there has been little research concerning leaving care nor indeed what happened across their lives since that time. This paper draws on the findings of a research study undertaken in partnership with MacKillop Family Services which has collected life history interviews with forty people, now aged in their forties to their seventies, who grew up in Catholic Homes in Victoria. It also draws on the recommendations of the Australian Parliament’s report on children who grew up in institutional care, Forgotten Australians. Many of the research participants were not able to draw on the support of their family after leaving care, and this has had implications for housing, financial security and emotional support, implications which, for some, have had life-long effects. For others, their experiences of growing up in institutional care included interrupted education and the trauma of abuse, which have also had long-term effects. In this paper, we discuss both those areas where people experienced difficulties, and the resourcefulness they drew on to address them, and those areas where further attention is required. Our findings have implications for people who grew up in care in past decades, but also suggests issues for consideration for children who are leaving care today and into the future.
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Building Social Cohesion in Two NSW Communities: A Longitudinal Evaluation of a Community-Based Intervention^ Author affiliation
The Benevolent Society is a large NGO, which works in communities across metropolitan and rural New South Wales. As an organization, we are committed to building socially cohesive and connected communities as a way of overcoming social and economic exclusion. Due to the large amount of confusion however in the social cohesion literature, there is limited evidence of a clear, well-documented research framework that has evaluated the effectiveness of interventions aimed at addressing this exclusion via building social cohesion. This paper outlines a research framework to be adopted by The Benevolent Society in the evaluation of its social cohesion interventions in two disadvantaged communities in NSW. Components of the framework include: utilizing a clear, multidimensional definition of social cohesion; evaluating the impact of social cohesion longitudinally; adopting a mixed-method approach to research; and examining the regional and socioeconomic differences in the communities receiving the intervention. Such a framework will elucidate those factors that successfully build cohesion in communities as well as the impact of this increased cohesion on social and economic disadvantage.
Poster presentation (Abstract only)
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Evaluating Community-Based Programs: Challenges and Lessons from the Front-Line^ Author affiliation
Over recent years, government funding for communitybased support programs has increasingly been directed through non-government organisations (NGOs) – with an obligation on them to evaluate and report on the effectiveness of funded programs, rather than just planning and implementing them. While this allows for more locally-relevant and responsive programs, which most NGOs are comfortable developing and delivering, the emphasis on formal evaluation and reporting of program effectiveness can be more challenging – for both NGOs and external evaluators. The Centre for Children and Young People has supported a number of government-funded NGOs in meeting such evaluation obligations. This paper will outline the range of programs supported, the evaluation methods used and the various findings. It will also highlight some of the philosophical, practical and ethical challenges (faced by the NGOs and by the Centre), how we have approached these, what we have learned in the process and recommendations for future approaches. Examples of issues to be discussed include the types of data NGOs collect, their previous experiences with external evaluators, their need to tailor programs to meet clients’ needs, funding levels and timeframes, concerns about diverting resources from service delivery and ethical issues which all constrain the use of “standard” outcome-focussed evaluation methods. Furthermore, evaluation implies a shift in focus from “making” a difference to being able to “demonstrate” it and the dependence of future funding on demonstrated program effectiveness can create pressure for “positive” results. The Centre’s approach in dealing with these issues in a rural and regional area is outlined.
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Community Engagement and Volunteering: A Whole of Community Approach^ Author affiliation
The aim of Family Life’s community engagement and volunteering strategy is to engage volunteers and community partnerships in order to enable and resource innovative programs that deliver improved and sustainable life-outcomes for the most vulnerable families. In response to the needs of the most vulnerable people in our local community, Family Life develops innovative program models. Critical to the success of these program models is the support of volunteers and community partners. The Family Life volunteer program offers best-practice methodologies and employs a strategic approach to engaging the good will of community engagement and partnerships. Research by Monash University found that 100% of the babies in Family Life’s Community Bubs program for atrisk babies, were able to remain living safely at home. This outcome was only achievable, thanks to the support of trained Family Support volunteers. The success of Family Life’s YouthWorx Social Enterprise is also dependent on the commitment of dedicated volunteers. YouthWorx supports disengaged young people. Thanks to the support of volunteers, 45% of those young people who presented with the most complex issues have progressed to education or employment and more active participation in the community. A further example of volunteer engagement to deliver positive outcomes is Family Life’s Creating Capable Communities in which volunteers from all walks of life help create and then strengthen communities where none had previously existed. In the last financial year, Family Life volunteers contributed over 30,000 hours in labour and expertise, which can be valued as a community contribution of $750,000. Participation in the programs yields positive benefits for the volunteers too, with volunteers reporting increased wellbeing and satisfaction. When a whole community invests its financial and in-kind resources to support its most vulnerable members, the vulnerable become ‘able’ and the community becomes stronger.
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The Social Engagement of Older Persons in Australia^ Author affiliation
Aim: This study will examine the social engagement of older people in Australia.
Methods: With an ageing population, it is important to know whether people in Australia remain fully engaged in society as they age. Despite studies into aged volunteering, active ageing and ageing in place, the full range and extent of involvement of aged people in general social activities remain unclear. Using descriptive and multivariate analysis of the ABS General Social Survey (2002 and 2006), this study explores the patterns of aged social engagement, in terms of contact, trust and support from and for others, volunteering, and participation in community events.
Results: Results suggest that aged people volunteer and are supported by family at rates similar to the rest of the population, but are less likely to support others, be involved in activities, or attend cultural/community events and venues.
Conclusion: Aged people maintain strong connections with family and the community, but are at risk of living ‘sedentary’ lives with reduced engagement in wider community activities.
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Working (Poor) Families: Trends in working poverty in Australia 1997-2006^ Author affiliation
Having a job has long been regarded as one of the best routes out of poverty. But is this still true today? While poverty in Australia has generally been associated with being out of work, poverty persists among working households. The expansion of Government family payments over recent years has helped to lift many families out of poverty, shifting the profile of Australian poverty towards single people. However, the most recent ABS data shows that almost 60 per cent of people in working poor households are in couples with children. With a focus on the family experience of working poverty, this paper presents analysis of the ABS Survey of Income and Housing 2005-06 and examines trends in working poverty through analysis of the five previous surveys starting in 1997-98. The study analyses income poverty based on the OECD half-median household income poverty line. Drawing on the most recent data and research the paper explores the background to these trends, and the context of working poverty in Australia.
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'Not fully engaged' young people: Who is really at risk?^ Author affiliation
Over recent years, there has been considerable interest in the group of young people described as ‘not fully engaged’ (NFE) in education and/or employment, with some analysis tending to imply that all young people in this group are at risk of making poor longer-term transitions into employment and adulthood. However it is clear that, for many young people, the NFE state is not persistent, and simply reflects the fluid nature of young people’s lives, as they make the transition from full-time school education to ongoing employment. Moreover, as the labour market has improved in recent years, there have been significant changes in the composition of the NFE group, with fewer young people unemployed and more working part-time. This paper attempts to identify more accurately the characteristics associated with the group of young people who do go on to experience poor long-term outcomes, using data from the HILDA longitudinal survey and/or the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth. Particular focus is directed at young people’s early engagement with the labour force, in light of previous research findings that employment or unemployment in the first year out of school are important predictors of longerterm employment status.
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Safehands Program: “The Future of Our Children is in Our Hands”^ Author affiliation
“Project Safehands” is a joint cross-Government and local community initiative led by the Queensland Police Service aimed at raising awareness of the need for safe handling of children and community reporting of suspected physical abuse of children. In partnership with the Department of Child Safety, Department of Communities, and Queensland Health, this innovative prevention and early intervention campaign targets the safe handling of children aged 0-4 years and is designed to build both individual and community resilience to reduce and prevent child physical abuse. “Project Safehands” utilises a variety of social marketing strategies and communication mediums to engage, empower and support parents and families, and creates linkages with a range of local and state-wide government and non-government support services. This presentation explores the basis of the project in terms of service delivery collaboration, community engagement and principles of prevention and early intervention. It further reflects on key early learnings from the initial three months of implementation within the greater Ipswich District, including statistical and anecdotal feedback on key issues of community response, use of referral pathways and effectiveness of marketing and informational resources. Finally, the presentation outlines the critical aspect of programme analysis and evaluation in the context of refining and expanding “Project Safehands” for State-wide implementation.
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Talking About Sex: Young People and Preventing Sexual Violence^ Author affiliation
Despite ongoing emphasis in public debate on the ‘dangers’ of youth sex in terms of pregnancy and disease, Western society continues in many ways to be reluctant to talk to young people about sex. The ‘appropriateness’ of delivering sexuality education to young people and the risk of inadvertently encouraging youth sex continues to be debated in the United States (US), and within Australia where school sexuality education continues to be inconsistently delivered, and teachers are not necessarily specifically trained or resourced for the task (Milton et al 2001; Family Planning Victoria et al, 2005). Indeed, the aims and content of sexuality education remain subject to considerable disagreement in the context of often widely divergent community opinion, with the views of young people themselves rarely canvassed or considered (Monk, 2001). Moreover, content regarding sexual consent and sexual violence is not routinely included in school sexuality education. This paper draws on interviews and focus groups with 117 young people from urban and rural Victoria to explore the potential role of sexuality education in primary prevention of sexual violence. Young people’s own experiences and views towards sexuality education and the prevention of sexual violence are considered. It is argued that there is a need for an alternative framework with which to approach young people, sexuality education and the prevention of sexual violence; one which engages young men and women as active agents in their sexual choice-making and capable of reflection upon these choices.
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Preventing family violence: The Challenges and Rewards of Implementing a Programmes of Action^ Author affiliation
The National Taskforce for Action on Violence within Families was established in June 2005 to make improvements to the way family violence is addressed and how to eliminate family violence in New Zealand. This is a significant commitment by key government agencies, non-government agencies, the judiciary, the Children’s Commissioner and the Chief Families Commissioner. The Taskforce issued its First Report in July 2006 and Ongoing Programme of Action in February 2008. This report presents achievements to date and uses research and best practice to outline plans for the coming years. The vision that the Taskforce has been building on since 2005 is one where all families and whanau have healthy, respectful, stable relationships, free from violence. Action is being taken on four fronts: leadership, changing attitudes and behaviours, safety and accountability and effective support services. In 2005 the Families Commission identified preventing family violence as one of the key issues facing New Zealand families over the next five to 10 years and accordingly included this as one of the Commission’s key priorities. The Families Commission jointly leads a nationwide Campaign to change attitudes and behaviours around family violence. This paper discusses the challenges and constraints in developing and implementing a multi-agency long term programme of action. Using the experiences of the Families Commission, this paper will examine, how research and best practice has informed the Taskforce’s actions. This paper will also consider some of the complexities in working in a collaborative partnership with multiagencies within government and non-government organisations and detail the tensions in achieving the Taskforce’s vision.
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Parental Cohabitation and Children’s Wellbeing^ Author affiliation
As the first generation that experienced high rates of divorce reaches retirement age, the number of older Australians who have experienced divorce at some point in their lives will increase dramatically in coming decades. The impact of this is compounded by the structural ageing of the Australian population. Experience of divorce has been shown to have an adverse impact upon living standards in later life (de Vaus, Gray, Qu and Stanton 2007). There are reasons for believing that divorce, in certain circumstances, may also increase the likelihood of experiencing social isolation. There are likely to be gender differences in the consequences of divorce in older age. This paper extends the work into the financial consequences of divorce to examine the connections between divorce, a wide range of measures of wellbeing and the level of support received from families, friends and neighbours. Data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey (HILDA) are used. The effects of an ageing population combined with those approaching retirement having much higher rates of divorce than preceding generations will mean that the issues relating to the consequences of divorce for older people will be of high public policy relevance.
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Separation, child support and family incomes: New evidence for Australia^ Author affiliation
This paper, taken from research for FaHCSIA, addresses two questions. First, it considers the circumstances and living standards of Australian children who have a nonresident biological parent, the ‘target group’ for the Child Support Agency, and the role that child support plays in supporting their incomes. Second, it examines the dynamics of what happens to the living standards of parents and children involved in a marital or relationship separation. How do incomes and living standards of parents and their children compare before and in the year after separation, and what is the role of child support in raising children’s living standards in the year after separation? The analysis uses cross-sectional data from the first wave of the HILDA survey to address the first question, and panel data from the first five waves of the survey to examine the second question, where between-wave changes in marital status and living arrangements are examined. Findings are generally in line with those for other rich countries: children’s living standards decline after separation, the role of child support in supporting children’s living standards is generally modest, and a high proportion of parents with resident children report receiving no child support at all (a smaller, but still significant proportion of non-resident parents report not paying any). However, a high proportion of children do appear to stay with their non-resident parent quite regularly, particularly in the first year after separation, suggesting that they do share to a degree in the living standards of both parents.
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It Didn’t Really Work: Children’s Experiences of Changes in Mothers’ Working Patterns^ Author affiliation
Children living in workless, lone-mother families in the UK have a high risk of experiencing poverty. The Labour government’s strategy to reduce child poverty relies heavily on welfare-to-work programmes. Underpinning this policy objective is a central assumption that employment is the best route out of poverty for children and their families. However, the impact of mother’s employment on children’s lives, especially the lives of low-income children in lone-mother households is uncertain. To explore these issues this paper draws on new empirical findings from a qualitative, longitudinal study of low-income working family life in collaboration with Jane Millar at the Centre for Analysis of Social Policy, Bath. The study started in 2002/3 when the families left income support for employment and involves three waves of interviews (in 2004, 2005 and 2007), with an initial sample of 50 low-income lone mothers and 61 children. This paper draws on qualitative child data from the first two waves to explore the accounts of children whose mother’s attempts to enter the labour market and stay in employment were unsuccessful. The paper examines how children experienced their mother’s move into employment and the impact of ‘failed’ work transitions on their wellbeing and their perceptions of the value of work for them and their families. The findings show that lonemothers entering low-paid employment in unstable labour market conditions can have important implications for their children, especially with regard to their financial, social and emotional well-being and, in some cases, for their perceptions of the value of employment.
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Putting the Kids First: Caring for Children After Separation^ Author affiliation
The aim of the study was to explore how couples made arrangements for the care of their children after separation. It focused on couples who made the decision about arrangements between themselves, without recourse to the Family Court. Using qualitative methods the researchers interviewed a volunteer sample of thirty-nine parents (including 8 couples). Parents were asked how they decided on their current post separation parenting arrangements and what factors they considered important in influencing the nature of the arrangements. Interviewers also discussed changes in arrangements over time, satisfaction with current arrangements and needs for information on separation. A relatively high proportion of the parents in the study had shared care arrangements (at least a 30-70% split of overnights). Most reported making the decision regarding ongoing childcare between themselves, without the involvement of anyone else. Some had made use of counselling services and reported that this had helped them focus on the post separation parenting, rather than on relationship issues. A predominant theme emerging from the interviews was the prioritization of children’s needs and best interests. Both mothers and fathers included children’s ongoing contact with both parents as being in their best interests. Couples reported putting aside relationship issues and working to keep these issues separate from ongoing parenting responsibilities. While research has often focused on conflicted couples this exploratory study suggests that further study of successful post separation parenting might help guide parents through this very stressful time.
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Young People and their Families: Building Strong Bonds^ Author affiliation
Research on risk and protective factors for health and wellbeing in adolescence clearly indicates that a supportive family is important. Parent/family ‘connectedness’, for example, is considered a protective factor against mental health issues, substance use and suicidal behaviour. Paradoxically, involvement of family in services and programs for young people, particularly those with complex needs, is often unplanned and/or may be considered peripheral to service delivery. This presentation will commence with a review of research that signifies the critical influence of the bond between young people and their families, particularly parents. The urgent need to reconsider the perceptions of family and attitudes towards family in many areas of work with young people will be discussed. The Strong Bonds project, an initiative of Jesuit Social Services, was conceptualised in response to this perceived need in the youth-work field for a better understanding of the dynamics between young people and their families, and how this knowledge may be integrated into practice for positive outcomes. The presentation will conclude with an overview of the project and future directions.
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Innovative Intervention Strategies for Children and their Families in "Brighter Futures"^ Author affiliation
This presentation aims to provide an overview of the “Brighter Futures” evidence-based, targeted early intervention program developed to support vulnerable young children and their families across NSW by the NSW Department of Community Services (DoCS), the largest statutory child protection service in Australia. Brighter Futures provides targeted support to vulnerable families who are at risk of entering or escalating within the child protection system. Services like home visiting, supported playgroups and access to child care support families who have young children and who face specific problems such as domestic violence, drug or alcohol misuse, and mental health issues. A growing body of Australian and international research shows that prevention and early intervention interventions can prevent family situations from moving along the child protection continuum and can provide many other long-term benefits for children and families. It can promote healthy child development, increase resilience, reinforce family relationships and prevent the need for more intensive services later on. By providing support early in children’s lives, or early on in the development of potential problems, these families can be lead to a better future. This presentation provides a description of:
the principles and key features underpinning the model, including services and supports provided to families
working in collaboration with Lead Agencies and nongovernment organisations (challenges and achievements)
the evaluation methodology used in Brighter Futures by a consortium led by the Social Policy Research Centre from the University of New South Wales.
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Contact with the Child Protection System: An Analysis of South Australian Data^ Author affiliation
This paper will report on findings from a study analysing longitudinal child protection data held by the South Australian Department for Families and Communities. The study has analysed data relating to children born in three different years – 1991, 1998 and 2002. The aims of the study were to identify:
1. the extent to which the three birth cohorts had come in contact with the statutory child protection system
2. the nature, extent and outcomes of these contacts
3. the extent to which children subject to notifications went on to having other contacts with the statutory welfare system (including juvenile justice) and the relationship between identified variables and outcomes/other contacts and
4. changing trends and patterns over time (between the three cohorts).
The study has produced a range of findings with high relevance to child protection policy and practice. These findings will be reported and policy questions identified. For example, children born in the later cohorts are far more likely than those born in 1991 to be the subject of at least one notification and also to be notified at a far earlier age. This trend is particularly strong for Aboriginal children. Is this due to increased abuse in the community, or a greater readiness to notify? Is the notification system effectively identifying children most at risk? What are the implications for families and the community, as well as child protection systems?
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Deprivation, Social Exclusion and the Well-Being of Australian Families^ Author affiliation
This paper draws on data from two related surveys to provide a picture of the extent and nature of deprivation and social exclusion among Australian families with children. The surveys were conducted in 2006 and asked participants to identify which of a long list of items are essential – things that no-one should have to go without in Australia today. Those items regarded as essential by a majority of respondents are used to identify who is deprived (going without) and excluded (missing out) in the community generally, and among a smaller group of the clients of welfare services. Attention will focus on those indicators that are likely to have the most adverse effects on children, and the characteristics of those families facing the most severe forms of disadvantage will be identified. The indicators of disadvantage will then be compared with other information (collected in the two surveys) on several dimensions of the subjective well-being of the respondents, the quality and satisfaction with the area in which they live, and the incidence of disruptive life events such as separation, unemployment and accidents or illness. The analysis will aim to relate the incidence of disadvantage as reflected in deprivation and exclusion to adverse outcomes and events that are suggestive of a stressful life for the families involved and examine how these translate into low levels of well-being, or are resisted by resilient families.
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How can Communities, Schools and Teachers use the Australian Early Development Index (AEDI)?^ Author affiliation
Since 2004 the Australian Early Development Index (AEDI) has been completed in 60 communities as part of the Australian Early Development Index: Building Better Communities for Children project undertaken by the Centre for Community Child Health (a key research centre of the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute) in Melbourne in partnership with the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research in Perth and funded by the Australian Government and supported by Shell Australia. The AEDI is based on the Canadian Early Development Instrument (EDI) and is a community measure of young children’s development. Teachers of children in their first year of formal schooling complete the checklist on each child after they have had a chance to observe their development. AEDI data have now been collected on more than 37,000 children by over 2,000 teachers and 1,000 government and non-government schools. In recognition of the national and international work undertaken to date, the Rudd Government has committed to the national rollout of the AEDI over the next three years. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the development of the AEDI and outline the steps that will be taken in rolling out the AEDI to obtain a national snapshot of early childhood development.
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Validation of the Cultural Adaptation of the Australian Early Development Index (AEDI) for use with Indigenous Children^ Author affiliation
The Indigenous AEDI project is an extension of the existing Australian Early Development Index (AEDI) program which has been operating in Australian schools since 2004. This paper describes the qualitative and quantitative methods being used in adapting the AEDI to derive a culturally equivalent measure of Indigenous children’s early developmental status relevant to their successful learning at school. The project also aims to ensure that the Indigenous version of the AEDI can collect information on Indigenous children’s culturally related ways of learning and behaving that will be helpful in creating successful learning environments for them at school. Field trials of the preliminary Indigenous adaptation of the AEDI are being undertaken with around 600 Indigenous children in metro, country and remote community sites in WA during 2008. The transferability and appropriateness of the trial I-AEDI instrument and its accompanying administrative and community engagement and feedback processes will be evaluated in other States and Territories during 2009. This study is one of the first of its kind to develop and test culturally appropriate questionnaire items and scales which are inclusive of Indigenous perspectives of children’s development and culturally valued ways of learning, as well as measuring the relationship between Indigenous children’s early developmental status and their subsequent school learning outcomes.
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Women and Financial Accounts in Marriage^ Author affiliation
The paper examines accounts with financial institutions as a lens to explore money management and control in marriage and de facto relationships in Australia. We draw on Waves 2 and 6 of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey to analyse changes in the pattern of accounts by marital status, gender and age. We connect these changes with financial decision making. We also draw on a qualitative study of banking covering 108 persons in Australia. We conclude there is only a limited relationship between the pattern of bank accounts, money management and control. Couples having joint accounts only are not likely to have independent management and control. Couples who have separate accounts only are not likely to manage and control their money jointly. The relationship between bank accounts, money management and control is complicated because people use bank accounts to separate different kinds of money according to source, use and meaning, rather than displaying management and control. Money from wages is separated from bonuses or inheritance. Money used for daily living expenses is separated from mortgage payments, holidays or remittances to parents overseas. Joint accounts continue to have a symbolic meaning of togetherness, whereas separate accounts signal the right to independent expenditure. But joint accounts may be operated only by one partner, whereas money in separate accounts is often used for joint expenditure. Hence couples use bank accounts as a way of negotiating jointness and separateness in intimate relationships, rather than flagging management and control.
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Footprints in Time: Following the Developmental Pathways of Australian Indigenous Children^ Author affiliation
How is early childhood experienced by Indigenous children? In terms of parenting and household composition, home language or languages, child care and early education, health, nutrition and cultural input, Indigenous children can grow up under a unique set of circumstances (Warrki Jarrinjaku, 2002; Zubrick et al. 2004). What are we exploring in Footprints in Time and, as importantly, how are we doing this study? Footprints in Time, the Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children (managed by the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs) commences Wave 1 data collection in 2008. The study will involve quantitative and qualitative interviewing of the families and carers of around 2200 Indigenous children in eleven urban, regional and remote communities around Australia. Annual interviews will occur over a minimum of 4 years as the children grow. This paper shares the insights from the projects own footprints: the community and stakeholder consultations, the pilot research with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and peoples, and the exploration of ways to provide input and feedback from participants, governments and service providers. What’s being done differently in this research? How do we involve communities and families? What sorts of data are being collected and when will it be available? And, finally, what sorts of decisions might the research be able to inform?
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Patterns of Risk Taking and Adjustment Problems from the Mid-teens to the Mid-twenties: Trends from the Australian Temperament Project^ Author affiliation
Concern is often expressed about the progress of young people in Australia today. Unlike the 1960s and 1970s, during which time most young people had settled into stable career paths, married and become parents by their mid twenties, nowadays the twenties tend to be a period of lengthy further education and training and prolonged financial and material dependence. Employment opportunities have become more uncertain, with expectations that individuals will traverse multiple career paths during their working life. Many young people are postponing marriage and family life. The early 20s can be a period of considerable risk taking and health disruption, with rates of mental health problems, accidents and injuries, and substance use often reaching lifetime peaks. These impose a heavy burden of disease (Schulenberg & Zarrett, 2006). Until recently, few life course Australian studies have matured sufficiently to allow investigation of across-time trends in the rise and fall of problem behaviours. The Australian Temperament Project, a longitudinal study that has followed young people’s development from infancy to adulthood, provides a valuable opportunity to chart developmental trajectories over adolescence and early adulthood. This paper reports patterns of antisocial behaviour, substance use, depression and anxiety from the mid teens to the mid twenties, both singly and cumulatively.
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Do Australian Children Today have more Problems Than 20 Years Ago?^ Author affiliation
It is commonly believed that Australian children are not as healthy or happy as they were in previous generations. The rising rates of problems such as obesity, depression, suicide and substance use lead many to believe that today’s children are faring worse than yesteryear’s children. But there is little actual information to test this view. Two landmark longitudinal studies, the Australian Temperament Project (ATP) and Growing up in Australia, the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC), asked similar questions about children’s personality and behaviour, enabling a rare comparison of children born 20 years apart, in differing eras. Data from the first two LSAC data collection waves were used (0-1 and 2-3 years for the Baby cohort, and 4-5 and 6-7 years for the Kindergarten cohort), as was data from the 1st, 4th, 5th and 6th ATP waves (0-1, 3-4, 5-6 and 7-8 years respectively). The comparisons revealed that most children from both studies were progressing well in terms of their temperament style and externalising and internalising behaviour problems, with very few showing signs of significant problems. According to parent reports, children of the 2000s were doing as well and perhaps a little better than children of the 80s. According to teacher reports, children of the 2000s were slightly more likely to display difficult behaviour than children of the 80s, although they tended to be less anxious. Generally, the differences found were not quantitatively large and the two cohorts of children appeared to be progressing similarly.
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‘So That’s How I Found Out I Was a Young Carer and that I Actually Had Been Caring Most of my Life.’ Identifying and Supporting Young Carers^ Author affiliation
A common theme in the literature on care-giving is the relationships of care and support as anything other than a ‘normal' familial or intimate social relationship. Non-identification amongst young carers is complicated further by societal norms surrounding care-giving. Whereas adults are expected to provide care to other adults and children, children and young people are not expected to be care-givers but rather care recipients: to be a young carer transgresses social norms and expectations. An implication of not identifying oneself as a carer is that many young people remain ‘hidden' and beyond the reach of services and supports designed to help them in their caring role. This isolation and lack of support can have potentially negative implications for young carers, affecting school retention, further education, employment, future earnings, social contacts, with consequent impacts on mental health and well-being. This paper examines the circumstances and experiences of young carers in Australia, drawing messages from analysis of the literature on young carers, the impacts of their care-giving and the issues of hidden carers. It draws on qualitative research with young carers carried out through focus groups in NSW and South Australia with 68 children and young people with care-giving responsibilities (aged 11-24) and also on focus groups conducted with service providers and policymakers drawn from across Australia. The aim of the paper is to explore the contexts surrounding identification/non-identification as a care-giver by young people, in order to generate ideas for identifying and supporting hidden young carers.
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Promising Practice Profiles^ Author affiliation
The Promising Practice Profiles (PPP) is one component of the national evaluation of the Stronger Families and Communities Strategy (SFCS), a large-scale Australian Government initiative guided by the National Agenda for Early Childhood, which aims to give families, their children and communities the opportunity to build a better future. The PPP is an innovative process designed to identify programs and services across the four service streams of the SFCS that have adopted practices or ways of working that are demonstrably linked to key service objectives. In one convenient location, the PPP process documents these ‘promising practices’ to serve as valuable learning tools for policy makers, practitioners, service providers and key stakeholders in the fields of early childhood, early intervention and community development. The current paper reports on three key elements of the PPP process: call for submissions, independent peer review and development of the profile documents. Promising practices identified through three submission and review cycles are summarised in relation to their service objectives. For this purpose, the four priority areas of the National Agenda for Early Childhood have been adopted as the analytical framework; Healthy Young Families, Early Learning and Care, Supporting Parents and Families and Child-Friendly Communities. The paper concludes with a critical analysis of the PPP process and the value of the profile documents as a resource for the field.
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A Gender Equality Agenda for Australia^ Author affiliation
In November 2007 the federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick and her team at the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission began a five month national “Listening Tour” to hear the views of the Australia community on three gender equality themes. Community feedback was sought on the following broad themes – economic independence for women, work and family balance across the life cycle and freedom from discrimination, harassment and violence. This paper reports on the Listening Tour’s findings, which are drawn from a series of focus groups, public consultations and blog entries from HREOC’s online consultation tool. The views of researchers, policy makers, business leaders, non-government organisations and ordinary men and women from diverse backgrounds have been fed into the development of a new national gender equality agenda. This paper will present the key findings from the Listening Tour and outline the future directions of the Sex Discrimination Commissioner’s work in the context of the new workplace relations environment and developments in the area of paid leave entitlements for parents.
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Aboriginal Healing Project (AHP): Family Violence Partnership Programme^ Author affiliation
Background: The Aboriginal Healing Project is a joint Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and the Department of Health WA initiative to work towards increasing the safety of women and children in Indigenous communities.
Method: The project is based on community development principles and action research methods. There are five project sites in regional WA (Bunbury, Mandurah, Kalgoorlie, Geraldton, and Hedland). Each project site employs an Indigenous project officer to consult and work with the local community to address issues of concern using therapeutic method as identified by the group. As each region is different, each project has developed its own local ways of working on a common goal. A mid project evaluation has recently been completed to determine if the project was meeting the outcomes set out by the Commonwealth and state government.
Results: Over the past two years the project has grown and developed in each region. The monitoring aspect of the evaluation has recorded over 1188 individuals attending group sessions with over 301 individual sessions run to date (Feb 06 – Nov 07). When addressing issues of family and domestic violence, the approach used by this project has proven highly successful in engaging community members in dialogue where many before had failed.
Conclusion: This project is still developing and changing. Further funding is being sought to continue to support local empowerment and change. The action research approach used in the development and evaluation of the project has proven highly successful.
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Climate Change and Social Cohesion: What has the Drought Taught Us?^ Author affiliation
From 1995 to 1997, the first Australian in-depth sociological study of the impact of drought on farm families was undertaken in New South Wales and Queensland. At the time, this eastern seaboard drought was being named as the worst in the century. It was an historical event, as it was a signpost to major changes in drought policy, including the determination that it was no longer a ‘disaster’ but a fundamental ongoing risk that needed to be managed. Since then, more severe droughts have been experienced and our technologies for measuring and anticipating dry events have become more sophisticated. Our social policy responses have also changed while the whole nation has become more informed about the potential impacts of climate variability. The impacts that were previously experienced only by rural communities are now being shared in the city, where water shortages have become a fact of life. This paper reflects on the 1990s study specifically in relation to the wider impacts of drought on rural communities; the expectations of the land managers in the 1990s as to the future of such communities and the social and environmental policy decisions and reactions made then that are now underpinning our current experiences. It suggests that the remarkable community resiliency to climate change and variability evident in the 1990s needs to be better understood, and its potential harnessed as Australia moves into a drier and hotter future.
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Inconsistent Legal Outcomes in Non-accidental Brain Injury (‘Shaken Baby Syndrome’) Cases?^ Author affiliation
Background/Objectives: To determine medical, social and legal outcomes in suspected non-accidental brain injury (NABI) cases and to assess the use of medical and sociological evidence in the decision-making processes.
Methodology: A retrospective case review of children with suspected NABI (n=70) was performed. Data was obtained from; medical records, NSW Children’s Court and criminal courts. An empirical quantitative study provided epidemiological and sociological data; types of injuries sustained, number of cases resulting in criminal prosecution, social context (socio-economic status, domestic violence, mental health, substance abuse issues etc) and number of families previously known to social services. The decision-making processes of social services and the courts, and the use of medical and sociological data therein, was qualitatively analysed in 20 cases.
Results: Medical outcomes included high rates of morbidity and mortality. Social and legal outcomes were diverse: a majority of cases were referred to the Children’s Court whilst a minority of cases resulted in criminal prosecution. There was a trend for families with lower socio-economic status to suffer ‘harsher’ penalties (eg removal of children) but there was no significant correlation between injury severity and social/legal outcomes. There were multiple instances, within the courts, of poor understanding of medical and sociological evidence.
Conclusions: This study adds to knowledge of the sociological context of this type of abuse; this can aid the design of targeted interventions. The variation in social and legal outcomes despite similar medical findings implies the importance of social factors in decision-making. These insights can be used to improve inter-professional collaboration and standardisation of terminology and processes.
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Feeling Safe, Being Strong: Helping Children Build Safe, Happy and Healthy Relationships^ Author affiliation
“Feeling Safe Being Strong” (FSBS) is a (family) violence primary prevention and early intervention program that targets primary school students in years 3 and 4. The 10 session program is conducted within the host school and works with the entire grade rather than simply identifying and isolating those students who have been identified as having experienced family violence. The intention is to promote and encourage the development of positive strategies and safe responses to violence, and to create an environment that maximises the development, health and resilience of all children. FSBS is innovative in its approach, flexible in its delivery and able to cater for a wide range of primary school curriculum requirements.
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Children & Climate Change: Wellbeing Futures in the World's Driest Continent^ Author affiliation
In parts of Australia exposure to long-term drying and drought is now almost certain, as is increased fires, storms, flooding and sea level rises. Warming is happening faster than originally anticipated; already higher temperatures, water shortages and changes in ecosystems have been observed, placing Australia at the forefront of climate change-related impacts. Likely effects on human health have been well documented. It is expected that climate change will lead to increased loss of life and injury. Furthermore, changes in ecosystems may increase the reach of malaria and other communicable diseases. But most analyses have focussed on adults and their physical health. Likely impacts on mental health (especially depression and trauma) and the possible wider and indirect effects of social and economic changes have so far been neglected, and all are consequential to children. This paper scopes the potential effects on children’s wellbeing. There are unique dimensions to climate change confronting children. There are likely to be stresses placed on family relationships if families or parents move to avoid loss of livelihood. Indigenous, remote and rural families may be at particular risk, as will be poorer families with fewer resources to cope with food and water costs. Recent research also shows that children and young people are anxious and fearful about climate change, and there could be inter-generational impacts. We do not know how living with the consequences of climate change will affect the way children view previous generations. Further, children will be exposed earlier and for a greater proportion of their lives compared to adults, adding a longer term perspective to wellbeing impacts.
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“I Try and Make it Feel More Like a Home”: Families Living in Caravan Parks^ Author affiliation
Families who live in caravan parks as a last resort often face significant marginalisation and disadvantage; at the same time caravan park communities have numerous strengths that can help support families. This paper will discuss research exploring positive aspects of park life, strategies used by residents to make the most of caravan parks and principles of best practice for community workers supporting park residents. The research involved in-depth interviews with 11 residents, all of whom had moved into a caravan park as a last resort, a national best-practice forum attended by 60 service providers supporting caravan park residents, and in-depth interviews with 11 community workers. The residents identified a range characteristics or strategies that assisted with park life including the sense of community, the friendships they formed, being adaptable, having a positive attitude and the importance of balancing personal space with community involvement. Strategies identified by the community workers included recognising the importance of building relationships with residents, being creative and flexible, taking programs to caravan parks and working with park managers. Although caravan park life can be very challenging, especially for families with young children, they play an important role in providing accommodation for marginalised families. Rather than focusing on the deficits and problems with caravan parks; policy makers, researchers and service providers would do well to also consider the strengths of caravan park communities.
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New Narratives of Early School Leavers^ Author affiliation
The first hand stories of early school leavers can illuminate current policy issues for the crucial transition from school to work. The majority of young people in Australia finish Year 12, and those who leave school early are often portrayed as ‘at risk’ of social exclusion. The Life Chances Study illustrates the diversity of situations and experiences of early school leavers and explores this risk. The Brotherhood of St Laurence’s longitudinal Life Chances Study has followed a group of some 140 young people from diverse backgrounds since their birth in inner Melbourne in 1990. Eight of these young people had left school by the age of 16. They have been interviewed six monthly since then, both in person and by phone, and their stories recorded. A narrative interview approach has been used. In addition longitudinal data is available to deepen the analysis. The findings complement earlier research on voices of early school leavers (Smyth J et al 2000; Hodgson D 2007), but with a focus on post-school experiences. The young people’s individual pathways are diverse and complex and include experiences of trying to return to school, attempting TAFE and other post-school training, of trying to find work and of using employment services and other support agencies. The young people also discuss what would be helpful for service development to assist early school leavers. Analysis of this research is currently underway to highlight policy implications.
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Views of Children and Young People in Care: A Landmark Study in Queensland^ Author affiliation<
This presentation describes ground-breaking research conducted by the Queensland Commission for Children and Young people and Child Guardian. The aim of this ongoing research is to investigate and document the views of children and young people in alternative care (foster care, residential care and detention centre care) in Queensland and to identify changes in these views over time. The research features a repeated crosssectional longitudinal design. The first phase was conducted in 2006, the second in 2007. To date, a total of 4882 children and young people have participated in the study. The research employs a survey methodology to gather information on participants’ background characteristics, placement histories and perceptions of their current placement, Child Safety Officers, the care system in general, and the Commission’s Community Visitor (CV) program. Questionnaires tailored to the comprehension and literacy levels of the participants are administered to children and young people in care by CVs during their scheduled visits. Data collected reveals high levels of satisfaction with many aspects of the care system and improvements in some areas over time. However, a range of issues such as contact with family, lack of involvement in decisions and lack of longterm planning continue to impact negatively on perceptions of the placement experience. Findings from the study continue to be used to inform policy and practice decision-making among stakeholders in the Queensland child protection system. The study also demonstrates to children and young people that they have an important voice in shaping the future directions and priorities within the system.