Skip to content
The Kids Research Institute Australia logo
Donate

Discover . Prevent . Cure .

Search

Research

Redressing ‘unwinnable battles’: Towards institutional justice capital in Australian child protection

Australia’s history of negative child protection outcomes for children in state care highlights the sustained, systemic nature of serious harm. Situated in emerging conversations on structural challenges and state violence for parents involved in child protection systems, we trace the resources and barriers to responsive and ‘just’ child protection practice, highlighting how institutions can serve to compound disadvantage and injustice. We argue that addressing challenges such as access to advocacy at the level of the individual is to miss the underlying politics of oppression that serves to keep families marginalised.

Research

‘Can you sleep tonight knowing that child is going to be safe?’: Australian community organisation risk work in child protection practice

Risk averse practice has dominated the child protection field for decades, with high-profile child deaths, ever-tightening surveillance, and regulation of families. In this context, the practice of social work as ‘risk work’ including the use of risk assessment tools has been subject to substantial scholarly investigation. Less attention has been paid to the community organisations that play a central role in supporting child protection-involved parents. Based on interviews with Australian community workers, we examine their negotiation of the parent support/parent risk dichotomy.

Research

Disparities in severe neonatal morbidity and mortality between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal births in Western Australia: a decomposition analysis

The health disadvantages faced by Australian Aboriginal peoples are evidenced in early life, although few studies have focused on the reasons for population-level inequalities in more severe adverse outcomes. This study aimed to examine the scale of disparity in severe neonatal morbidity (SNM) and mortality between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal births and quantify the relative contributions of important maternal and infant factors.

Research

The impact of child maltreatment on the risk of deliberate self-harm among adolescents: A population-wide cohort study using linked administrative records

This study calls for the early identification of children who are vulnerable to maltreatment, the better identification of the duration and severity of maltreatment experiences, and the provision of continued care and support, to reduce the child's deliberate self harm risk in adolescence.

Research

Parenting adolescents: Developing Strategies for FIFO parents

This study was to explore the parenting patterns of families exposed to the fly-in-fly-out (FIFO) work pattern in raising adolescent children...

Research

Bridging the gap of school change: Pre-service teachers’ knowledge and understanding of cyberbullying

The beliefs, attitudes and understandings of pre-service teachers towards bullying and more recently, cyberbullying remains unclear.

Research

Health of adolescent refugees resettling in high-income countries

Early identification and management of the healthcare issues faced by adolescent refugees resettling in countries are key to improving long-term health outcomes

Research

Vitamin D status and predictors of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations in Western Australian adolescents

Using prospective data from the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study, we investigated vitamin D status and predictors of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin...

Research

To Feel Belonged: The Voices of Children and Youth with Disabilities on the Meaning of Wellbeing

The aim of this paper was to describe the meaning of wellbeing for children and youth with disabilities from their perspective.

Research

Affirming schools, population-level data, and holistic public health are key to addressing mental ill-health and substance use disparities among gender and sexuality diverse young people

Yael Perry BPsych (Hons) MPsych (Clin) PhD Program Head, Mental Health & Youth; Head, Youth Mental Health 08 6319 1298 yael.perry@thekids.org.au