What you told us

Results of the Clearinghouse Consolidation Survey

Thanks to all of you who completed our recent online survey, which helped to assess how the consolidation of the National Child Protection Clearinghouse, Australian Family Relationships Clearinghouse and Communities and Families Clearinghouse Australia would impact upon your work and how the merged suite of Clearinghouse products and services could be improved to match your needs.

Summary

There were 550 participants who responded to the survey. The results¹ showed support for the consolidation, and users generally consider the existing range of Clearinghouse products and services to be very useful or useful. Respondents were also supportive of exploring ways to improve accessibility and to raise their level of engagement with the Clearinghouse, such as the use of webinars and social media.

"[The Clearinghouse will] provide up to date information, research and articles that are easy to access and having one central point will be great."
User comment

Usefulness of Clearinghouse Products and Services

On the whole, respondents had a very positive impression about the usefulness of Clearinghouse products and services, particularly with regard to Clearinghouse publications. The majority of users consider Clearinghouse publications to be very useful or useful, with responses ranging from 74% for What's New to 83% for E-Alerts and Resource Sheets.

"...(The Clearinghouse) provides very up-to-date research information about a host of very useful topics and is a great starting place for research and further education..."
"The Resource and practice papers are excellent tools for learning and developing practitioner knowledge base..."
User comments

Impact of Clearinghouse Products and Services on User Outcomes

A primary aim of the Clearinghouse is to synthesise and disseminate research to users to assist them in producing positive outcomes in their work. The comments above together with the survey data reflect the success of the Clearinghouse in delivering these outcomes. For example, respondents were very positive about the impact Clearinghouse products and services have on their work, with “mostly agree” or “strongly agree” responses ranging between 77% (the clearinghouses help me to confirm choices or decisions made at work) to 93% (the clearinghouses inform me about what is going on in my field).

New Products and Services

There was considerable support from users for a range of new and planned Clearinghouse products and services, particularly those that employ new technologies to enhance accessibility and user engagement. Many respondents felt that seminars/forums, online videos, webinars and the provision of downloadable audio/video resources would be useful to their needs.

"(I'd like to see)..webinars and on-line information that is quick and easy, to access the mountain of information"
"...isn't it time we pushed the envelope of our engagement with technology just a bit??"
User comments

Topics of interest to respondents

Respondents were asked to nominate three topics of interest on which they would like the Clearinghouses to publish. The vast majority of topics are already the subject of planned or existing Clearinghouse publications. These included child protection, family violence, out-of-home-care and family law, with a strong focus on the impact of the family law process on children’s wellbeing.

Where to from here?

A significant amount of support exists for the new Clearinghouse site. Our challenge lies in making content more accessible and interactive, and providing you with up-to-date best-practice information on the hot topics in your field. We will endeavour to take into account the many useful suggestions that were provided via the survey, and will continue to update you on the status of the clearinghouse consolidation. If you have any queries regarding the consolidation, please feel free to contact clearinghouse staff through the AIFS inquiries page.

1.Non-responses were not included in calculations of percentage figures. Percentage figures are rounded to the nearest whole number.