Welcome to our first Issue of Children Australia for 2018. We hope you have had a wonderful Christmas and entered the New Year with energy and enthusiasm for the challenges ahead. We also welcome back many of our Editorial Consultants and especially want to make our new members of the team feel engaged in the journal's activities for 2018. One of our new Editorial Consultants is Shraddha Kapoor who is Associate Professor at Department of Human Development and Childhood Studies, Lady Irwin College, University of Delhi. Dr Neerja Sharma, now retired, who has supported Children Australia for some years, was Shraddha's Professor before becoming her colleague and now a dear friend. Shraddha herself has been teaching in the department for last 27 years in the subjects of developmental psychology, child development, wellbeing, family and gender. Her particular interests are childcare, early childhood education and gender.

Kinship care has become the fastest growing form of out-of-home care in Victoria and is the preferred placement option for children who are unable to live with their parents. Little is known about family violence in kinship care that is perpetrated by a close family member of the child in care (usually the child's mother/father) against the carer(s) and children once the placement has started. In this context, family violence means any act of physical violence, emotional/psychological violence, verbal abuse and property damage. In 2017, Baptcare undertook research with 101 kinship carers to gain a better understanding of how family violence was impacting on children and families in kinship care in Victoria. The study used a mixed design that specifically targeted kinship carers who had direct experience of family violence during their placement. This study has demonstrated that significant amounts of violence from family members are being experienced by kinship carers in Victoria and the children in their care. As a response to these findings, Baptcare is proactively addressing family violence in kinship care, across a range of domains, to provide solutions to the issues identified in this research.

The Discourse of Child Protection and its ensuing political responses are discussed here following a 6 month analysis of media platforms in which child protection reforms were recommended following child abuse and neglect reports. The headlines, in social and other media were analysed to identify the significant aspects of reactions to horrifying tales, stories and reports of child deaths, injuries and other abuses. Clear evidence emerges of a disturbing discourse of deferral and political inaction that is only relieved when inquiries and Royal Commissions advocate strong and immediate changes. In addition, this study shows that lacunae (or what is missing in text or discourse) show that the voice of children is only heard after the event of horrific abuse and often relies on whistle-blowers or advocates. Despite the warnings and research of many distinguished child protection academics a cycle emerges which needs to reflect community desires to protect children via legislation and stronger regulations. Further, some inquiries have indicated stronger regulation and training of beleaguered child welfare staff.

This article explores the prevalence of cumulative harm as a subtle and pervasive harm type, often dismissed or ignored in child protection assessment and reporting practices. The author examines a range of trends and research that identifies current gaps in the legislative response to cumulative harm identification and intervention. Through analysis of the current practices informing child protection in Australia, it is clear that there is movement towards a more holistic understanding of harm and the impacts of long-term maltreatment. However, a nationwide level of consistent practice has not yet been achieved, which places cumulative harm and reoccurring maltreatment on an equal footing with episodic maltreatment, particularly in relation to notification and reporting. Internationally, although variations are evident, just as they are in national framework, there is an inclusive impetus towards early intervention as a means of addressing harm prior to the onset of cumulative impact. There is a growing emphasis on children's wellbeing, development and universal right to quality of life and fair treatment.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) has been widely acknowledged as a prominent problem throughout Australia. A growing body of research has linked corporal punishment of children in the home with numerous adverse outcomes both in childhood and adulthood. Some of these adverse outcomes in childhood, such as aggression and antisocial behaviour, may be antecedents for involvement in violence as an adult. Adverse longitudinal outcomes of corporal punishment in childhood include involvement in intimate partner violence as an adult, both as victim and as perpetrator. Corporal punishment is a type of family violence that is legal in Australia, yet its role in the family violence scenario is not yet fully appreciated. This article presents extant scientific literature on the link between corporal punishment in childhood and involvement in intimate partner violence in adulthood, and argues for the employment of this knowledge in the implementation of policy making around corporal punishment of children.

In every state and territory in Australia, child welfare departments, under various names, maintain or, alternatively, fund group homes for children and young people in the non-government sector. Increasingly, these group homes offer only four places with no integrated treatment or educational services. In that respect they can best be viewed as providing care and accommodation only. Since 2010, following the release of a definition of therapeutic residential care by the National Therapeutic Residential Care Work Group, there has been debate about how to make group homes therapeutic. In 2017, as part of a wider reform effort, New South Wales renamed all their out-of-home care (foster care and residential care) as intensive therapeutic care and ceased using the term residential. The net result is that the group homes in New South Wales will from now on be referred to as intensive therapeutic care homes. This article raises questions about the utility of this renaming and explores whether or not group homes can be therapeutic given the characteristics of the population of children and young people they accommodate, their small size, the staffing complement and the limited job satisfaction with high staff turnover as a consequence of this smallness. All of these factors lead to the well-documented, anti-therapeutic instability of the group home life space.

Children and young people in out-of-home care (OOHC) experience a wide range of educational issues at rates disproportionate to their peers. Collaboration between child protection and education systems is critical to addressing unique educational needs within this cohort. This article presents a qualitative case study investigating child protection workers’ perceptions of their work with primary and high school educators in Western Australia. Methods included policy analysis and in-depth interviews with a purposeful sample of 11 Case Workers and Education Officers employed by The Department for Child Protection and Family Support in metropolitan, regional and remote locations in Western Australia. Overall, participants reported that a jointly established Memorandum of Understanding had helped strengthen mutual accountability for education planning to support students in OOHC. However, difficulties obtaining Documented Education Plans and limited access to supplementary educational supports within both systems were considerable sources of tension. An adaptation of Whittington's (2003) Two-Stage Model of Collaboration illustrates the hierarchical nature of the influences on cross-system collaboration in the present study. While the size of the study limited its scope to one stakeholder group, the study offers frontline insights that may inform the development of future education and child protection agency initiatives.

Child abuse and neglect is a preventable public health issue, yet a complex global phenomenon with considerable adverse impacts on children, families, health and social services, as well as the Australian community. Despite the widespread adverse impact of child abuse and neglect, the research in this field within Australian child welfare systems is relatively scarce. What is needed is to understand the various challenges, barriers and limitations that face child abuse and neglect researchers and impede methodologically rigorous research within child welfare systems in Australia. This paper provides a brief overview of the key methodological limitations, barriers and challenges, as well as the strengths of the research methods used in studying child abuse and neglect. This paper also explores the potential gains from adopting a national translational research framework. Innovative translation of research and knowledge into effective care system responses and evidence-based practices for children remains a pressing issue. Further advances in Australian research and the evidence base will require substantial investment in research and evaluation activities, with a new emphasis on translational research and active collaboration between researchers and practitioners. Finally, this paper concludes with key recommendations and directions for future Australian-based research with the ultimate goal of improving practices and policies.

Got It! is an early intervention programme for children with emerging conduct problems offered to families in schools. This article builds on prior research and reports on outcomes and experiences for a cohort of participants two years after programme completion. Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) child conduct scores were obtained pre-intervention, and at three post-intervention time-points, and were used to map children's behaviour trajectories. Whilst statistically significant two-year post-intervention improvement was not found for the whole sample, qualitative parent interviews produced insights into experiences of children in different behaviour trajectory groups, including sustained improvement, no improvement and fluctuating child behaviour. The findings provide a better understanding of the role that Got It! can play in assisting families with young children with conduct concerns. The targeted group intervention appears to have a lasting impact for children who maintain a shift from the abnormal to normal behaviour bands. For the group of children who began and remained in the abnormal or borderline bands, however, Got It! also had a role to play in linking families with specialist follow-up services. The integration of Got It! within schools and the value of professional development and consultation for teachers is also indicated.

This article describes the study design of Parenting Today in Victoria: a representative survey of contemporary parenting experiences, behaviours, concerns and needs of parents. The aims of the study, sample design, survey content development processes, including pilot survey administration, data collection procedures and demographic characteristics of the sample are described. The survey was administered via computer assisted telephone interviewing using random dialling of landline and mobile phone numbers in 2016 to parents of children aged 0–18 years who were living in Victoria, Australia. The response rate was 57% with 2600 parents surveyed (40% fathers). The sample was broadly representative of the Victorian population on major demographic characteristics when compared to data from the Australian Census of Population and Housing (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2011). However, adjustments were made for over representation of younger parents (16–34 years), more highly educated parents and for those living outside major cities. This survey provides rigorously collected, accurate and up-to-date information about the experiences, preferences and concerns of a large and representative sample of parents. Findings will provide vital new insights to inform policy decision making, service planning and future research aimed at understanding parents’ attitudes and behaviours, and the psychology behind their help-seeking.

It is interesting how personal views influence the way we think and write professionally about issues in child welfare. Tregeagle and Cheers’ review (2016) of Adoption Deception: A personal and professional journey (Mackieson, 2015) is a good example of how deep beliefs can undermine consideration of the lived experience of another.