Research plan 2009-2012

Research Plan 2009-2012
Sustaining families in challenging times

The Australian Institute of Family Studies seeks to increase understanding of factors affecting how families function by conducting research and communicating findings to policy-makers, service providers and the broader community.

 

Planned research

Research themes (browse projects by theme)

Cross-cutting themes

Principles underlying the Institute's research program

Research strengths

Clearinghouses

Concluding comment

 

This research plan, guided in its development by the Institute's Strategic Plan 2009–12, describes the areas in which the Institute intends to undertake research over the three-year period from July 2009 to June 2012. The research plan reflects the Institute's positioning as an Australian Government statutory agency within the portfolio of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, along with its close links with the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA), Attorney-General's Department (AGD) and other Australian Government portfolios, their departments and agencies, and with a range of other organisations, including state and territory government departments and agencies, non-government service and support providers, and other research institutes and centres.

The Institute's research increasingly involves commissions and contracts, and there is a need to be responsive to the changing external environment and emerging challenges, such as the high level of uncertainty that is likely to be generated by the current global recession. The plan therefore allows for the flexibility that is essential for this to be achieved, while at the same time ensuring that the organisation's research informs the shaping of future policy priorities and is itself informed by theory and previous research findings.

The development of this plan has evolved after extensive formal consultations and informal discussions with a wide range of key stakeholders across the country. It builds upon and extends the research undertaken as part of the Research Plan 2006–2008. Performance against the previous research plan will be reported in the Institute's Annual Report 2008-09.

Planned research

Families are the foundation of communities and the fabric of societies. In turn, their capacity to nurture and promote the wellbeing of their members requires that they are supported by a vibrant, caring and innovative society. Economic and social policies intersect and underpin the capacity of families to sustain and contribute to their communities and the wider Australian society. Several inter-related social trends have resulted in a major restructuring of family life and how families interact with one another, the market, the income support system and a range of social institutions. Examples of these trends include young people leaving home at older ages, increasing rates of de facto marriages, ex-nuptial births, relationship fragility, labour force participation of women, and changes to the ways in which care is provided to people with physical or mental disabilities or long-term health problems and the frail old-aged.

These trends have led to life courses and societies that are becoming increasingly complex. Many of our social structures, institutions and government policies continually need to evolve in response to these broad social changes. In turn, such responses will help shape the nature and strength of our society in the future.

At the time of developing this research plan, the world is experiencing a global recession. While the full impacts of the recession on the Australian economy are uncertain, unemployment has already increased and it is likely to remain high for the period of this research plan. Understanding the factors that contribute to family members (particularly parents) finding jobs and how the risk of families becoming long-term dependent on government benefits can be reduced will be of high priority for the Institute's research program over the next three years. The potential impact of the recession on social exclusion, especially on those families who are already struggling, is also an important issue. Research will also be undertaken into the nature of policies that mitigate the impacts of the recession on families and assist them during the economic recovery.

Another feature of this research plan is the focus on the life course from early childhood to the senior years, including middle childhood, adolescence and young adulthood. Families are multi-age units and extend across generations and households, so life course and intergenerational perspectives are of key importance.

For the period of this plan, the role of families in influencing key life decisions made by or in relation to children and young people will be given enhanced focus, including the roles that families play in educational, employment and relationship choices. Tracking relationships, family formation and demographic trends, and describing the diversity of Australian families are other areas of priority. Family functioning takes on a strengthened focus, with research seeking to describe the determinants of cohesion, resilience and wellbeing on the one hand, and division, vulnerability and dysfunction on the other.

Finally, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) Reform Council has been measuring the performance of the Commonwealth, state and territory governments in delivering on COAG's national reform agenda. The Institute will have a role to play in this work by providing some of the evidence base in relation to families, including in areas relating to COAG National Partnership payments: early childhood education, Indigenous early childhood development, social housing, homelessness, remote Indigenous housing, Indigenous economic participation, Indigenous remote service delivery, and low socio-economic status school communities.

Research themes

The Institute's planned research program, Sustaining Families in Challenging Times, will focus on the following themes:

  1. Economic wellbeing of families
  2. Families and work
  3. Social inclusion
  4. Violence, abuse and neglect
  5. Family transitions and family law
  6. Children, young people and their families

The relevance of the Institute's current research projects to each of these themes is described in Table 1, as a summary, or in detail, by research themes. The key research aspects of these themes are discussed in the following sections of this plan.

The Institute will also continue to monitor and analyse broad social, economic and demographic trends.

Cross-cutting themes

Indigenous Australians continue to be among the most disadvantaged groups in Australia, and COAG has endorsed several targets for closing the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. The Institute will undertake and disseminate research that increases understanding of the family-related and parenting factors that contribute to the high rates of mortality and morbidity among Indigenous children and will focus on the role of early learning, child care and family support in promoting the wellbeing and safety of Indigenous children and young people. Much of this work will involve appropriate consultation about research questions and research designs and some will be undertaken in partnership with Indigenous Australians.

Where appropriate, each of the six themes in this research plan will provide particular focus on Indigenous, migrant and regional and rural families, as well as those with members with a physical or mental disability or long-term health problems, or who are frail old-aged.

Issues of social inclusion and social exclusion, while comprising a theme in its own right, are also relevant to the other themes.

Finally, it is important to recognise that long-term unemployment will be a significant issue for the period of this research plan that has impacts on all of the other themes.

Principles underlying the Institute's research program

As outlined in the Strategic Plan 2009–12, the Institute follows the principles that its research is:

Some of the research is Institute-initiated, while others are commissioned or contracted. Institute-initiated research is generally funded from the annual appropriation from Parliament. The research principles apply equally to all Institute work, regardless of the funding sources.

Research strengths

While some of the research conducted by the Institute will involve the development of new datasets, other work will be based on further analyses of those that already exist. These and other existing datasets, including those developed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, represent valuable resources for research on Australian families.

The Institute has developed considerable expertise in the collection and analysis of longitudinal data. It is responsible for the design and methodological development of the national Longitudinal Survey of Australian Children (LSAC) and has been heavily involved in the development of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey and the Australian Temperament Project, a longitudinal survey of Victorian children that has been running since 1983.

The Institute has made a substantial contribution over the last three decades to identifying and understanding changes in families and how they interact with the market and social institutions. The Institute will continue to play this role during the life of this plan.

The Institute will continue to monitor international developments in family research and policy and to consider their relevance to Australia. It is important that international research findings and policy solutions continue to be analysed and reviewed critically in order to identify applicable lessons for Australia. The Institute also helps support research undertaken in other countries.

Theme 1: Economic wellbeing of families

This theme provides a focus on the economic wellbeing of families. The major focus will be monitoring the impact of the global recession on families.

1.1     The impact of the global recession on families

The Institute will conduct research that seeks to understand the factors that contribute to family members (particularly parents) finding employment and influence the risk that families become long-term dependent on government benefits. It will be particularly important to understand how different types of families are affected and how they fare once the economy begins to recover. Preventing social exclusion will also be important and the Institute's research will have a focus on this issue. Economic impacts that will be considered include: reducing working hours, underemployment and unemployment, diminishing asset values, decreasing income, financial stress and hardship, and increasing indebtedness. It will be important to understand how the growth of part-time employment, casual employment, agency work and self-employment will influence how the global recession impacts upon families.

There will also be research into the behavioural impacts of the recession, including to groups beyond those who become unemployed or underemployed. These impacts can arise from the economic repercussions themselves and from increased uncertainty and fear about the future. Examples of the types of impacts on which research will be conducted include:

The evidence from previous economic downturns indicates that those who are most vulnerable prior to the recession are likely to be the most affected in the long-term. A particular focus will therefore be on those at risk of experiencing long-term joblessness. In addition to the economic impacts, involuntary unemployment typically has negative social, physical health and psychological impacts, which can flow on to other family members, including children. There is evidence that for those who are unemployed for extended periods, these negative impacts are much greater than for those who find new employment relatively quickly. Research will be undertaken into the social and health effects of joblessness—particularly long-term joblessness—on families, the nature of policies that are likely to be effective in mitigating these impacts, and how policies might change as the economy recovers.

1.2     Jobless families with children

Australia has a relatively high rate of families with children in which no adult is employed, compared with other OECD countries. Moreover, the number of jobless households in Australia has fallen relatively slowly over the last decade, despite the strength of the economy over this period. As the effects of the global recession take hold of the Australian economy, the rate of jobless families with children is expected to rise. Given that it takes some time for people who lose their job at the beginning of an economic downturn to regain employment, we would expect more children to be growing up in these circumstances. Research will be undertaken into how the increases in unemployment, and particularly long-term unemployment, associated with the global recession are affecting different types of families (e.g., single-parent families, couple families, parents with low levels of human capital, families with young children), and the extent to which the crisis increases the number of jobless families in which there are children. The work will focus on identifying the types of policies that seem most likely to be effective in containing or reducing the number of such jobless families during the economic recovery.

1.3     Retirement incomes

The ageing of the Australian population will mean that the costs of the public pension system as measured by proportion of GDP will increase in coming decades. The 2009–10 Budget announced several changes that are designed to contain these increases. These include progressively increasing the qualifying age for the Age Pension to 67 years and increasing the rate at which the pension is withdrawn, from 40 cents for each dollar of additional income to 50 cents.

In this context, Australians' retirement incomes are becoming more dependent upon the value of their superannuation. Understanding how family factors (such as taking time out of the labour market to provide care) affect the accumulation of superannuation is a topic of increasing importance, given the structural ageing of the population. While superannuation is a long-run issue, recent significant falls in equity markets have reduced the value of superannuation considerably for some older Australians. This may also have an impact upon the workforce participation decisions of those approaching retirement and potentially of those who have just retired who may then seek to re-enter the workforce, as well as the ability of older Australians to provide intra-family financial support. These issues will be an area of active research during the life of this research plan.

1.4     Provision of government support to families: Cash versus in-kind transfers

Australia provides very significant levels of support to families, and the level of support has increased dramatically since the early 1980s. In general, governments provide social assistance in one of three ways—cash transfers, in-kind transfers or tax relief—but there are differences in the extent to which each type of assistance is provided across OECD countries. Australia has one of the highest proportions of social assistance to families provided in the form of cash payments and one of the lowest proportions provided in the form of in-kind transfers or tax relief, compared to other OECD countries.

Research will be undertaken into the implications of Australia's reliance on cash payments for families and the nature of the benefits and disadvantages of providing social assistance to families as cash compared to the direct provision of services. The Institute is also intending to undertake cross-national comparisons of tax-benefit systems in order to better understand the effects of the Australian system on work incentives and living standards.

Theme 2 - Families and work

Understanding the patterns of paid employment and unemployment, as well as unpaid family or other work, and how such work interacts with family life and family members' wellbeing is of ongoing importance. The Institute will build upon its research in this area by exploring work and family issues for families with dependent children and those with other caring responsibilities, including the impact of paid parental leave on workforce participation, the influence of paid employment on family life, and the determinants of the labour force status of those with caring responsibilities.

2.1     Employment conditions and standards

The new National Employment Standards will come into effect in 2010. Research in this area will focus on how workplace arrangements are affecting the ability of employees with caring responsibilities to balance their work and family responsibilities. Key questions are: Who has access to different work practices?, How are they used?, and How effective are they in helping families balance work and caring responsibilities?

2.2     Labour force participation and caring for children

The paid employment arrangements of mothers are of particular interest, especially for mothers with very young children. A more comprehensive Paid Parental Leave scheme for new parents will be introduced in January 2011. Understanding the effects of this on return-to-work decisions, the division of paid and unpaid work (including parenting) between mothers and fathers, and the use of other services (including child care) will be a focus of the Institute's research.

The incentives that the new government-funded Paid Parental Leave Scheme has on employer behaviour will be another area of policy interest. The availability of parental leave also has implications beyond those of labour force participation, with links to breastfeeding and maternal and child wellbeing. Such relationships, along with parental leave in general, will continue to be examined by the Institute.

A particular issue that the Institute will examine concerns the extent to which workplace conditions, such as inflexible working schedules, create barriers for the shared non-financial care of children within both separated and intact families.

More broadly, we consider the extent to which paid work arrangements affect family life and family wellbeing. Because of work, many people feel stressed, rushed and dissatisfied with the amount of time they have for their family. The Institute considers it important, then, to continue to investigate the ways in which family members manage their time, especially with regard to paid employment and the division of paid and unpaid work within families.

Australia has relatively low rates of employment of lone mothers. This trend contributes to the high rates of joblessness in Australian families with dependent children relative to OECD standards. The Institute plans to undertake research into the reasons for these low employment rates, with possible explanations including the tax-benefit system and the impact it has on work incentives, child support policies, community expectations, the industrial relations system, and lone mothers' educational levels and work preferences.

2.3     Labour force participation of those with caring responsibilities

People with caring responsibilities for a person with a physical or mental disability or long-term health problem, or the frail old-aged represent another important group on which the Institute will focus its research. Structural ageing of the Australian population means that more people will experience these caring responsibilities in coming decades.

Older workers may also have distinctive needs within the workplace, and may face different difficulties in meeting their responsibilities to paid employment and to family (including caring for a spouse or grandchildren). The Institute will explore the workplace experiences of older workers, looking at, for example, experiences of age discrimination and what factors enter into retirement decisions. Ways in which workplace arrangements can be structured in order to allow older workers to continue to be employed will be explored. This is an area of particular interest given that the employment rate of these older workers has increased significantly over recent years, although the experience of the past suggests that older workers are disproportionately affected by recessions.

2.4     Labour supply responses to the financial returns from paid employment

An important issue for many families is the financial incentives to be in paid employment. While research has been conducted by others into documenting the incentives to be in paid employment generated by the income support and tax systems, much less is being undertaken on how families respond to these incentives (e.g., parents' understanding of effective marginal tax rates and how the financial incentives affect their decisions). This is an area in which the Institute will continue to undertake research.

A key issue for parents in the labour market is having access to appropriate forms of child care that enable their employment, while also providing a positive environment for their children. The Institute will continue conducting research on child care and its links with parental employment. A particular focus will be on how families with school-aged children manage out-of-school-hours care needs and the impact this has on parental employment circumstances.

Theme 3 - Social inclusion

Governments around Australia have been establishing social inclusion agendas to prioritise the needs of the disadvantaged. A social inclusion agenda recognises that while poverty is a critical factor, it is not the only cause of exclusion, and many groups are vulnerable to multiple forms of disadvantage. Social inclusion also recognises that it is important to identify the processes by which people become socially excluded. Given the multifaceted nature of social exclusion, social inclusion policy approaches underscore the importance of having "joined-up" services that respond to individuals' needs and the interlocking nature of the problems they face.

While much of the research described under other themes is relevant to social inclusion, research that focuses explicitly on social exclusion will be undertaken as part of this theme.

3.1     Geographic disadvantage

The Institute will seek to monitor the impact of the global recession on locational disadvantage and identify which areas are most affected. The implications for families living in these geographic areas will be researched, including the impacts on children's wellbeing and the policies that will be most effective in minimising them.

Work undertaken by the Institute as part of the previous research plan—using the first wave of data from LSAC and the evaluation of the Communities for Children (CfC) program (undertaken by the Institute in partnership with the Social Policy Research Centre)—has found that neighbourhood disadvantage influences the outcomes of children as young as four years of age. The impacts on children of living in a socio-economically disadvantaged neighbourhood will continue to be a focus. With four waves of data from LSAC becoming available during the period covered by this research plan, it will be possible to look at the effects of neighbourhood disadvantage for children up to the age of eleven. The interaction between how families parent their children and the neighbourhood environment will be considered. The implications of the continuing growth of major cities in Australia for the patterns of spatial inequality and social exclusion will be important, as will their implications for the development of efficient and well-focused community services.

This research will assist in identifying policies and models of service delivery that can be effective in reducing the extent of geographically concentrated disadvantage.

3.2     Children at risk of long-term disadvantage

Some children are more vulnerable to social exclusion due to their own characteristics or experiences, their families, the communities in which they live, or a combination of all three. The Institute will continue to investigate the circumstances that make some children more vulnerable to disadvantage and exclusion. Data from a variety of sources, including LSAC, will be used to explore these issues.

3.3     Climate change and drought

The impact of climate change has the capacity to widen social inequalities in Australia, as some areas may be disproportionately affected. The Institute's Rural and Regional Families study has been examining the impact of drought and social and economic change on 8,000 families in rural and regional areas. This study will continue to be used to further our understanding of how drought and climate change affects the wellbeing of families in regional and rural Australia.

The "tyranny of distance" presents a challenge for many families living in rural and remote areas of Australia. The Institute's Australian Family Relationships Clearinghouse (AFRC) has examined how services can be delivered more effectively in rural areas through improved models of service delivery. Further work focusing on the location and access to services of disadvantaged groups, such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families or carers of people with a physical or mental disability, will enable improved policies and services to be provided to families in rural Australia.

3.4     Disadvantage among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and their families

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples continue to be among the most disadvantaged groups in Australia. Recently, there has been an explicit policy focus on addressing the gap in life expectancy and other life chances between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and their families and the rest of the Australian population. The Institute will continue to undertake research on the particular issues that Indigenous families face, and the policies that have the best chance of meeting their needs.

Particular attention will be paid to parenting and the role that families play in educational participation and outcomes for Indigenous children. Research will also seek to understand the extent to which the differing outcomes for Indigenous children are a result of socio-economic disadvantage, geographic remoteness and the extent to which they are due to Indigenous-specific factors. There will also be a focus on what factors are associated with children doing well.

Examining the role that social and geographic communities play in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children's development may also be important in developing better policies that address the gap between the life chances of Indigenous children and other Australian children.

Three waves of data from the Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children (being undertaken by the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs) will be available during the period covered by this plan. This will provide the first large-scale longitudinal data on Indigenous children and their families and will be used by the Institute. Data from LSAC will provide comparative data for non-Indigenous children (and a smaller sample of Indigenous children), thus allowing comparisons between Indigenous and non-Indigenous children.

3.5     Socially inclusive service provision and design

Given the multifaceted nature of social exclusion, a particular challenge is to design and enhance existing service provision to deliver integrated or joined-up services that address the needs of the most disadvantaged. The Institute will undertake research that enhances our understanding of how to provide and design socially inclusive services to families.

Theme 4 - Violence, abuse and neglect

Recently, issues of child abuse and neglect, family violence, community violence and sexual assault have received increased prominence. In April 2009, Protecting Children is Everyone's Business: National Framework for Protecting Australia's Children 2009–2020 and Time for Action: The National Council's Plan for Australia to Reduce Violence Against Women and Their Children 2009–2021, were released.

Key themes in these plans include the need for:

4.1     Abuse and neglect

Growing awareness of the problem of child abuse and neglect in the community, along with the introduction of mandatory reporting and other systems issues, have led to a substantial increase in the number of reports to statutory authorities about suspected harm to children. Around 80% of cases referred to child protection services are assessed as not requiring a statutory response; yet these families would benefit from services and supports to prevent their children from experiencing child abuse and neglect.

The Institute will continue to collate, synthesise and evaluate the existing evidence base regarding child abuse and neglect, and its prevalence, causes and consequences. It will also undertake new research and "translate" research information for policy-makers and practitioners in areas such as:

Families can also experience the long-term repercussions of childhood sexual abuse, highlighting the importance from a family perspective of understanding and improving the ways in which the needs of adult survivors of child sexual abuse are addressed.

This research will principally be undertaken through the Institute's National Child Protection Clearinghouse (NCPC).

4.2     Family violence and separated families

Children are affected by violence directed towards other family members, and research has found that witnessing family violence increases their risk of directly experiencing abuse. There are significant concerns about how to minimise the risk of violence directed by one parent to the other or to children post-separation. The Institute will focus on the interface between family law, family violence and models of appropriate service provision. The Institute will also undertake research on how the family law and child protection systems interact and ways in which this can be improved to reduce the risks of children experiencing violence.

4.3     Sexual assault

Many Australian women are sexually assaulted, and the evidence reveals that in the majority of cases the victim knows her attacker. While less common, sexual assault of men is also an important issue. Sexual assault also has consequences for the families of victim/survivors. The way in which families respond to a member who has been assaulted can have a major effect on the impact of the assault and the extent to which the victim/survivor recovers.

Research will be undertaken into the nature of policies and interventions that can help to prevent violence from occurring and that are most effective in reducing the incidence and prevalence of violence, including sexual assault. Examples include programs that aim to raise community awareness, change attitudes that condone or excuse sexual violence, and promote respectful relationships (particularly among young people).

Research-based information is needed to support efforts to build the capacity of front-line service providers (e.g., crisis centres, mental health and other health professionals, community workers, youth workers). Work is also needed on the integrated service models that best meet personal and therapeutic needs.

Another area of research will relate to the legal responses to sexual assault and the extent to which they can be modified to better take into account the needs of particular groups such as older victims, those in residential care, those who have a physical or mental disability, and survivors of child sexual abuse.

Finally, the Institute will undertake research that seeks to better understand the effects of sexual assault on mental wellbeing, interpersonal relationships and families and workplace productivity.

This research will principally be undertaken through the Australian Centre for the Study of Sexual Assault (ACSSA).

Theme 5 - Family transitions and family law

Families are continually changing and evolving. For example, rates of cohabitation have increased dramatically in recent decades and the number of children living in single-parent families has grown. In addition, developments in family law have affected policies and practices in relation to family relationships and parenting arrangements. While there is a growing body of evidence on these and other trends and their implications for family wellbeing and policy, there is a need to continue to monitor how families are changing and the associated implications of such trends.

Work within this area will focus on: (a) family life transitions and associated challenges, (b) ageing and intergenerational relationships, (c) supporting relationship wellbeing, and (d) family law.

5.1     Family life transitions and associated challenges

The Institute will continue its role of monitoring trends in family life transitions—such as couple formation pathways, relationship stability, separation and divorce rates—and examining the way in which these transitions are negotiated, the wellbeing of family members and related community values.

Challenges confronted by step- (and blended) families, including those that cross household boundaries and "non-residential" step-families, need greater research attention. Such families are more vulnerable to breakdown than first families, yet little is known about different patterns of step-family dynamics in Australia, their causes and origins and their consequences for family members' wellbeing. The Institute will conduct a comprehensive review of research into step-families, with a view to undertaking further work in this area.

The Institute will also examine the meaning of non-marital cohabitation for those concerned, the way in which these relationships unfold, and associated implications for family members, including any children of these relationships.

5.2     Ageing and intergenerational relationships

The ageing of the population will have fundamental impacts on virtually all aspects of family life. The work described in several sections of the other themes relates to ageing, but it will be important to gain a more holistic understanding of the impacts of ageing on family life.

The Institute will continue to examine intergenerational relationships, including retirement issues, transfers of support between older parents and their adult children, and grandparent–grandchild relationships.

The level of involvement of grandparents in their grandchildren's lives varies greatly, and our past research suggests that parental separation is often a catalyst for change in these relationships. Separated parents may facilitate, ignore or deny access to grandparents on one or both sides, while grandparents may offer stability and comfort to grandchildren during this difficult transition, or intensify problems by "taking sides". The Institute is undertaking research into such issues, with a view to suggesting ways in which to foster children's access to child-focused, beneficial grandparenting.

5.3     Supporting relationship wellbeing

The Institute will continue to undertake research into the factors that encourage healthy relationships, allow couples to effectively deal with conflict and to develop resilience in the face of adversity. Much of the Institute's work in this area will be through the Australian Family Relationships Clearinghouse.

Strengthening family relationships is also a central objective of the 2006 family law reforms, entailing the creation of new relationship services and the expansion of others. The Institute is currently evaluating the extent to which these services are meeting this and other core policy objectives of the reforms. This multi-pronged project represents part of the Institute's evaluation of the family law reforms.

5.4     Family law

The Institute's work in this area is designed to monitor, assess and inform policy and practice developments relating to family law. Areas of priority for new research include:

These priorities build on the Institute's existing family law research program. This program comprises a range of significant projects, the largest of which is the evaluation of the family law reform package and associated longitudinal research. The Institute will be reporting on its evaluation of the family law reform package in late 2009.

5.5     Child support

The Australian child support scheme has recently been significantly changed. The changes are aimed at having a scheme that better balances the interests of both parents and to be more focused on the needs and costs of children. The changes involve the introduction of a new child support formula that more accurately reflects the costs of raising children, including the impact of the Family Tax Benefit payment, greater recognition of the costs of contact of non-resident parents, more equal treatment of children in first and second families, and improved enforcement of the scheme.

The Institute will undertake research into the impact of the new child support scheme, including the interactions between separated parents' financial support of their children and their non-financial involvement in their children's lives, the financial living standards of resident and non-resident parents, and the extent to which compliance with the child support scheme changes.

Theme 6 - Children, young people and their families

This theme focuses on the influence of families on children and young people. Projects within this theme will address:

6.1     Parenting

The early years of children's lives are recognised as being crucial for their subsequent development and wellbeing. Many learning, health and adjustment problems in adolescence and adulthood have their roots in children's early experiences. Particularly important are children's experiences within their families, with the parenting they receive being one of the most powerful influences. The Institute will conduct research on the conditions and circumstances that assist or impede effective parenting. How parenting is learned is not well understood, although it is critical to preparing parents for child rearing. The information sources and supports used by young parents, including teenage parents, and the effectiveness of differing resources will be a further area of research. While the early years are undoubtedly very important, children's pathways can be changed by their later experiences and opportunities. As children move through middle childhood and adolescence, parenting approaches change. The Institute will undertake research into the challenges parents experience at these life stages and the efficacy of differing parenting approaches. Institute projects that will be able to shed light on these questions include LSAC and Family Pathways: The Study of Separated Families in Australia.

6.2     Intergenerational disadvantage

Particular family circumstances and conditions can place children and young people at risk of problematic outcomes. The effects of parental job loss on children and families will be of increasing importance. Understanding the factors that assist families to cope with a loss of income is critical to the provision of effective services and supports. Growing up in a disadvantaged household is associated with poorer outcomes for children over a range of areas of life. For instance, recent Institute research showed that children from disadvantaged households tended to be less ready for school than their more affluent counterparts. The factors that drive intergenerational transmission of disadvantage are less well understood, particularly in the Australian context. The Institute will conduct further research on these issues using data from LSAC and the Australian Temperament Project.

6.3     Early childhood care and education

There is a growing evidence base that the benefits of high-quality child care and preschool education are greatest for children from disadvantaged backgrounds. The Institute will undertake research into how the early childhood care and education system affects children from disadvantaged backgrounds and those at risk, and ways in which it can be modified to better meet their needs. Evidence from LSAC reveals that Australian children from the lowest socio-economic status families have lower rates of use of the most beneficial types of child care than children from higher socio-economic status families. Research will be undertaken into the reasons for the lower rates of use of child care by children from disadvantaged families and how those rates can be increased. Research will also be undertaken into how improvements in early childhood infrastructure (such as the joining up of child care and preschool education services) affect children's development and wellbeing. The Institute will use data from LSAC as well as other surveys to explore these issues.

6.4     Young people, risk-taking and positive development

Adolescence and early adulthood can be a period of considerable risk-taking among young people. For example, antisocial behaviour reaches a lifetime peak in adolescence, while rates of mental health problems, substance use and road crashes peak in early adulthood. The individual, family, peer and school factors that increase or mitigate the risk of these health-compromising behaviours is a key issue that the Institute will address. In addition, the Institute will undertake research on the role of families in key life decisions of young people, such as their educational and career directions, interpersonal relationships, and involvement in communities and the broader society. Institute projects that will be able to address these issues include LSAC and the Australian Temperament Project.

Clearinghouses

The Institute strives to be recognised as a "centre for excellence" in the development and delivery of clearinghouses. Our goal is to increase the accessibility of research information and to support people in making sense of the evidence base—"translating" and linking research findings into policy and practice.

The role of the clearinghouses is to provide valid, reliable, current, accessible, comprehensible and usable research and information. The clearinghouses support evidence-informed decision-making in relation to specific areas of policy and professional practice for a range of government and non-government agencies by identifying, gathering, synthesising and publishing research and resources.

The Institute manages four clearinghouses and will be a partner in the operation of a fifth, each of which has a specific role in communicating information of relevance to its specific sector, and responding to the needs of governments, key agencies involved in service delivery, and front-line workers. Our resources are also valuable tools in enhancing community understanding of the issues, and are drawn on by the media, researchers, students, peak bodies and individuals in the community, as well as our key target groups: policy-makers and practitioners.

The Australian Centre for the Study of Sexual Assault (ACSSA) facilitates access to current information on sexual assault in order to assist in the development of evidence-based strategies to respond to and ultimately reduce the incidence of adult sexual assault. The aim is to improve understanding of the effects of sexual assault and the impact into adulthood of child sexual abuse, as well as the response of services to the victim/survivors.

The Australian Family Relationships Clearinghouse (AFRC) aims to facilitate easy access to research, good-practice examples, resources and relevant trends in families and relationships. The aim is to enhance family relationships across the lifespan by improving understanding of factors contributing to relationship wellbeing and by informing family relationship service provision in the areas of prevention, early intervention and post-separation.

The Communities and Families Clearinghouse Australia (CAFCA) provides resources to assist those working in the field of early childhood and community development (including place-based early intervention and prevention, combating economic and social disadvantage, and building socially inclusive communities). Projects funded under the former Stronger Families and Communities Strategy have been a priority audience; however, the clearinghouse's resources, particularly its collection of "promising practice profiles", have wider application to communities throughout the country.

The National Child Protection Clearinghouse (NCPC) conducts research and distributes information and other resources, including specialist advice on the latest developments in the field, in order to inform policy, practice and research into child abuse prevention. The aim is to improve understanding of child abuse and neglect and provide resources to those working to prevent child abuse, protect children and provide out-of-home care services.

Finally, in partnership with the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), the Institute will be establishing a national clearinghouse addressing Indigenous issues. This clearinghouse will focus on increasing understanding of the available information in relation to the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals, families and communities. AIHW will host the clearinghouse on their website.

Concluding comment

While this research plan is ambitious, it contains elements of flexibility, for it is essential that the Institute is responsive to emerging issues relevant to the wellbeing and stability of Australian families. The Institute therefore welcomes feedback on the above research themes and suggestions for further areas of research on emerging issues of concern to Australian families.

Note: The AIFS Research Plan spans the financial years 2009–10 to 2011–12.