Communities and Justice

Information for participants

General information for all participants

A huge thank you to everyone who has participated in this important study. Your voices are helping us build a strong evidence base to improve children’s experiences in care and how to best support parents and caregivers.

News

  • During 2025 we will be conducting our first interview with young people aged 18-25 years old about their transition to independence.
  • During 2026-2027 we will invite caregivers and young people to join in the last interview for this Study when those who were infants at the start of the Study will be 15-17 years old!
  • We hope you continue to take part in this Study and we look forward to interviewing you again.
  • Read the Study brochure (PDF, 473.3 KB).
  • For the latest news about the POCLS, please read the latest newsletter (PDF, 1.4 MB).

If you are part of this Study, please let the researchers know if you change your address or phone number so we can keep in contact with you:

Organisation: DCJ researchers who are managing the Study
Telephone:     1800 997 960
Email:              [email protected]
Webpage:       The POCLS research team

Organisation: Ipsos/I-view who are conducting the interviews
Telephone:     1800 105 088
Webpage:       Ipsos Australia

The study interviews

The data collection to date includes six rounds of interviews with caregivers, activities with children over three years of age, and a short interview with children and young people over seven years of age. Birth parents, guardians and adoptive parents are invited to take part in the interviews if the child(ren) is restored, with guardians or adopted during the study. Young people aged 18-25 years are also being invited to participate in an interview.

The NSW Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) researchers contact every caregiver of children under 17 years to seek their permission to securely transfer their contact details to Ipsos. Researchers will also contact 18-25 year olds to seek their permission to securely transfer their contact details to Ipsos. This is referred to as an 'opt-in' recruitment process (PDF, 221.1 KB).

Ipsos/I-view is an independent research agency that specialises in social research data collection and have conducted all the interviews with children, young people and caregivers for this study. The interviews, conducted by their trained interviewers, collect information on the characteristics, needs, experiences and outcomes of children which is crucial to improve programs, services and supports.

Information about the study is available to participants:

Last updated:

08 May 2025