Enhancing outcomes for young people in out-of-home care who self-place. This project aims to enhance the safety and well-being of young people in out-of-home care who leave formal placements to stay in unapproved locations. The significance lies in the development of new knowledge with this group of young people about their needs and of factors shaping effective responses to them. Expected outcomes include the generation of policies and practices to reduce the drivers of young people leaving a ....Enhancing outcomes for young people in out-of-home care who self-place. This project aims to enhance the safety and well-being of young people in out-of-home care who leave formal placements to stay in unapproved locations. The significance lies in the development of new knowledge with this group of young people about their needs and of factors shaping effective responses to them. Expected outcomes include the generation of policies and practices to reduce the drivers of young people leaving approved placements and to address the support and protective needs of young people when staying in unapproved locations. The benefits include improved social and economic inclusion of young people in out-of-home care and reduced socio-economic burdens on health and justice systems associated with placement breakdown. Read moreRead less
Fostering lifelong connections for children in permanent care. The out-of-home care sector in Australia is undergoing transformation to ensure children who cannot be restored to birth families exit care to permanent families. New South Wales is leading the way on these reforms. The emerging Australian policy model, permanency with lifelong connection to birth families, is distinctly different from the policy models in similar Western nations. While the Australian policy goal is clear, practices ....Fostering lifelong connections for children in permanent care. The out-of-home care sector in Australia is undergoing transformation to ensure children who cannot be restored to birth families exit care to permanent families. New South Wales is leading the way on these reforms. The emerging Australian policy model, permanency with lifelong connection to birth families, is distinctly different from the policy models in similar Western nations. While the Australian policy goal is clear, practices for achieving this goal are under-developed. This action research project will engage the New South Wales out-of-home care sector to design and trial relationship-building practices that promote positive relationships between children and their birth families.Read moreRead less
Researching an all-of-family program in family violence & substance misuse. Family violence services and drug and alcohol services have been inappropriately siloed given co-occurrence of these problems is common. This project aims to evaluate an innovative program which integrates these services, focuses on fathering to ensure recognition of the needs of children (50% of family violence victims) and provides all-of-family support to ensure the safety and well-being of women and children. Expect ....Researching an all-of-family program in family violence & substance misuse. Family violence services and drug and alcohol services have been inappropriately siloed given co-occurrence of these problems is common. This project aims to evaluate an innovative program which integrates these services, focuses on fathering to ensure recognition of the needs of children (50% of family violence victims) and provides all-of-family support to ensure the safety and well-being of women and children. Expected outcomes include better evidence for countering family violence, and policy frameworks for integrated service provision. Changing the behaviour of men who use violence is a significant social challenge and the outcomes of this targeted approach should have ramifications nationally and internationally. Read moreRead less
Activating social connection to address isolation in Australia. Surveys of wellbeing repeatedly emphasise social isolation, but there is a gap in positive approaches that can be used to grow connection. This research aims to design an approach to activate social connection for people and communities. Using a pre-tested evidence-based framework, experiences of vulnerable cohorts, and affordances of ways to connect on and offline, this project takes a strengths focus to develop a joined-up place-b ....Activating social connection to address isolation in Australia. Surveys of wellbeing repeatedly emphasise social isolation, but there is a gap in positive approaches that can be used to grow connection. This research aims to design an approach to activate social connection for people and communities. Using a pre-tested evidence-based framework, experiences of vulnerable cohorts, and affordances of ways to connect on and offline, this project takes a strengths focus to develop a joined-up place-based strategy. Expected outcomes include world-first practical tools and guidance for local social connection activation and new knowledge about how interwoven on/offline services assist social connection. Increasing social connection is expected to improve individuals’ mental wellbeing and community resilience.Read moreRead less
DIsrupting Child Exploitation - the DICE project. Child sexual exploitation is an insidious social problem which impacts the most vulnerable children and young people in Australia. The DICE project (Disrupting Child Sexual Exploitation) aims to develop a multi-agency response which pivots the focus of intervention to the sexual exploitation predators who target vulnerable young people in statutory care. Previous interventions have prioritised protecting (and controlling) the young people, with l ....DIsrupting Child Exploitation - the DICE project. Child sexual exploitation is an insidious social problem which impacts the most vulnerable children and young people in Australia. The DICE project (Disrupting Child Sexual Exploitation) aims to develop a multi-agency response which pivots the focus of intervention to the sexual exploitation predators who target vulnerable young people in statutory care. Previous interventions have prioritised protecting (and controlling) the young people, with limited success. Through a trauma informed approach which supports young people, combined with disruptive police strategies targeting perpetrators, and co-ordinated multiagency working, it is anticipated that there will be measurable changes to the protection of vulnerable young people. Read moreRead less
Reducing young women’s offending through improved service delivery . Young women’s contact with justice and welfare agencies has increased rapidly across Australia and the world, creating a crisis that is costly and harmful, especially for young Indigenous women. Pathways into these systems are gendered; but the systems were designed to address the needs of young male offenders. This project therefore aims to discover how these systems could be better designed to improve outcomes for young women ....Reducing young women’s offending through improved service delivery . Young women’s contact with justice and welfare agencies has increased rapidly across Australia and the world, creating a crisis that is costly and harmful, especially for young Indigenous women. Pathways into these systems are gendered; but the systems were designed to address the needs of young male offenders. This project therefore aims to discover how these systems could be better designed to improve outcomes for young women. The project uses a novel approach that gives young women a voice in how five Anglicare end-users (the research partners) and other end-users can enhance their service provision in the welfare and justice sectors and become models of best practice.Read moreRead less
Building connections: schools as community hubs. This project aims to support school systems and planning authorities enhance engagement between schools and local communities. The key objective is to advance the cost-effective development of the infrastructure required to deliver community programs and services from school sites, in addition to education programs for school-aged students. The project expects to generate new knowledge about how best to plan, design, govern and manage facilities a ....Building connections: schools as community hubs. This project aims to support school systems and planning authorities enhance engagement between schools and local communities. The key objective is to advance the cost-effective development of the infrastructure required to deliver community programs and services from school sites, in addition to education programs for school-aged students. The project expects to generate new knowledge about how best to plan, design, govern and manage facilities and infrastructure to enable schools to operate successfully as more than a school, encouraging the development of resilient and connected communities. The outcomes are expected to include a development framework for maximising schools as community hubs.Read moreRead less
Exploring Wellbeing Outcomes in the Aquatic and Recreation Industry. This project aims to investigate the impact on individual wellbeing through use of public aquatic and recreation centres in Australia. Through the use of mixed methods across multiple locations, the project expects to generate new knowledge on the effect on users of different management and service models for the provision of aquatic and recreational infrastructure. Expected outcomes include a quantifiable measure of social and ....Exploring Wellbeing Outcomes in the Aquatic and Recreation Industry. This project aims to investigate the impact on individual wellbeing through use of public aquatic and recreation centres in Australia. Through the use of mixed methods across multiple locations, the project expects to generate new knowledge on the effect on users of different management and service models for the provision of aquatic and recreational infrastructure. Expected outcomes include a quantifiable measure of social and emotional wellbeing that can be utilised by centre management and government. This will help assessment of best practice for maximising community wellbeing, and can guide investment decisions by state and local government.Read moreRead less
Confronting everyday harms: preventing abuse of people with disability. The findings of the Disability Royal Commission necessitate new approaches to prevent violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation. Framed by recognition theory, this project proposes empirical research with young people with cognitive disability, using a new concept of ‘everyday harms’ in their paid relationships. The results will inform early responses to poor quality interactions in disability support. The strategic alliance ....Confronting everyday harms: preventing abuse of people with disability. The findings of the Disability Royal Commission necessitate new approaches to prevent violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation. Framed by recognition theory, this project proposes empirical research with young people with cognitive disability, using a new concept of ‘everyday harms’ in their paid relationships. The results will inform early responses to poor quality interactions in disability support. The strategic alliances with the government, industry and community partners will develop a practice framework to prevent everyday harms and the escalation to abuse, and to promote safety and wellbeing. The research has policy benefits for capacity-building in the sector to act on the rights and voices of people with disability. Read moreRead less
Strengthening Relationships for Young People in Residential Care. Young people in residential care face major challenges in forming positive relationships, many having experienced adults as a source of threat rather than safety. This project aims to investigate practices within therapeutic residential care that enable or limit young people’s identity formation, positive social connections, safety and wellbeing. This research will generate nuanced knowledge informing interpersonal and institution ....Strengthening Relationships for Young People in Residential Care. Young people in residential care face major challenges in forming positive relationships, many having experienced adults as a source of threat rather than safety. This project aims to investigate practices within therapeutic residential care that enable or limit young people’s identity formation, positive social connections, safety and wellbeing. This research will generate nuanced knowledge informing interpersonal and institutional change. Expected outcomes include improved approaches to therapeutic care and to methods for enabling the participation of young people in care in matters that may change their life trajectory on exiting care. Expected benefits include more responsive policies and frameworks for practice.Read moreRead less