Our research partners and projects

The NSW Child Development Study is administered by the University of New South Wales and includes a partnership with the Department of Communities and Justice. It is a longitudinal population study of life-course risk and resilience for mental health and wellbeing among a cohort of 91,635 NSW children born between 2000 and 2006. It links administrative records from multiple NSW agencies spanning health, education, child protection and criminal justice, with cross-sectional assessments collected in early and middle childhood. Many papers have been produced from this study to inform policy and practice. Visit the NSW Child Development Study website for more information. Also view the FACSIAR Lunch and Learn webinars in February, April, and July 2022 presented by the NSW CDS researchers. The April webinar page has a list of the FACSIAR evidence to action notes that provide plain English translations of the findings from this study.

Led by the University of New South Wales, this research aims to inform policy and practice that supports better health, development and social outcomes for NSW children, particularly disadvantaged children. Health and human services data have been linked for more than 2 million NSW children born since 2001 and their parents. This includes data from the health, child protection, education, justice and social housing sectors. The research will help us better understand the experience and outcomes for children involved with child protection services.

The study will examine how common child protection services involvement is during children's lives and the characteristics of children and families who are at risk of such involvement. This information is important for understanding who might benefit from prevention and early intervention services. The research will also look at the health, development and social outcomes of children involved with child protection services, including the impact of programs and services that may improve children's outcomes.

This qualitative, mixed methods PhD project research with the University of Sydney’s Law School aims to thematically analyse the reasoning of Children’s Court magistrates and appellate judges in cases applying the statutory test of ‘realistic possibility of restoration’. This research study aims to enhance knowledge of the Court’s expectations and minimum requirements regarding restoration, including its priority concerns and expectations for what parents need to achieve. The research involves thematic analyses from interviews with DCJ staff including caseworkers, Managers Casework and DCJ Legal, in addition to interviews with judicial officers and a study of 100 published and unpublished judgments in contested restoration cases. The project has the support of the current and former Presidents of the Children’s Court.

A major research project led by Southern Cross University and industry partner the Australian Childhood Foundation. Partner universities include Trinity College Dublin, Charles Sturt University and Australian Catholic University. The Australian Research Council and the Australian Childhood Foundation are funding this research over three years. The project aims to critically examine the relational practices that enable and constrain positive trusting relationships and social connections within and beyond the immediate residential care setting. This research will ask young people, workers, therapeutic specialists and managers in therapeutic residential care (Intensive Therapeutic Care; ITC or Intensive Therapeutic Care Significant Disability; ITC-SD) about the practices used to support young people to develop trusting relationships, what helps and what gets in the way. This is the first large-scale mixed-methods study in Australia on this topic.

This PhD research project with Charles Sturt University aims to capture the views of young people who are already in care to determine their perceptions and insights about their care experience. This research will utilise inductive research methodology to listen to and explore young people’s lived experience and constructed reality about the benefits and challenges of being a child/young person in care. Young people’s perspective will be sought about what can be done to improve the experiences of children and young people in out-of-home care

This qualitative PhD research will explore the impact of health information on how courts make decisions about infants who are removed from birth and are considered for placements in out-of-home care (OOHC) and how the principle of ‘what is in the child’s best interests’ is understood by child protection workers and health professionals when making these decisions. This study will utilise a case study approach to conduct the research involving documentation overview of relevant cases, literature, legislation and the Convention on the Rights of the Child as well as individual interviews of DCJ staff.

The study aims to determine:

• What health concerns do child protection workers and health professionals consider in their decision making when infants are placed in OOHC?
• To what extent do the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 (NSW) and the Contact Guidelines support or require evidence-based practice for infants in OOHC?
• How is the best interests principle understood by child protection workers and health professionals for infants who are being considered for placement in OOHC?

Findings from this research will provide child protection workers and health professionals an understanding on how decision-makers use health information in relation to infants, a uniquely vulnerable sub-group of children.

This mixed methods PhD research project, conducted in collaboration with Monash University, seeks to enhance the understanding of how psychologists, caseworkers, and behaviour support practitioners can deliver behaviour support services to children and young people in Out-of-Home Care (OOHC) in ways that are both trauma-informed and culturally responsive to the diverse needs of these children. The study involves an online survey and interviews with DCJ psychologists and caseworkers to explore the integration of trauma-informed and culturally responsive practices into the design and delivery of behaviour support plans. 

This PhD research through the University of Sydney aims to identify the cultural challenges experienced by Aboriginal identified child protection caseworkers working within the Department of Communities and Justice and build new knowledge about how staff can be supported in their role. This qualitative project uses a culturally appropriate method for understanding cultural specific practice and challenges by drawing from the expertise, the insights and experiences of Aboriginal-identified child protection workers directly to provide this analysis and review of the measures of support within the organization and system. This research project recognises self-determination of Aboriginal people as part of assessing the progress and delivery of changes to child protection services and practice for Aboriginal children, families and communities.

The soaring rates of Indigenous children living in out-of-home care requires an urgent response. This Aboriginal led research is being conducted through UNSW’s Social Policy Research Centre, and UTS’ Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research, in partnership with Aboriginal organisations. It is the first of its kind to investigate the rates, outcomes and experiences of successful and sustainable restoration for Aboriginal children in out-of-home care. The project intends to identify successful child restoration initiatives and produce an empirical roadmap for navigating service systems with the goal of restoration. The project expects to make a substantial contribution to this largely neglected research area that will benefit parents and families, communities, practitioners, policy makers and academics. This is a four-year study beginning in September 2021 and is funded through the Australian Research Council.

The researcher has recommended reading: Why are First Nations children still not coming home from out-of-home care? in The Conversation.

This PhD project with the Guunu-maana (Heal) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Program, The George Institute for Global Health, aims to explore the meanings of home and desired housing outcomes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social housing tenants living in urban New South Wales, particularly in South East Sydney. Findings from this research will assist in developing and piloting a tangible resource, such as an information booklet that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social housing tenants can use when navigating housing services. Visit The George Institute website for further information about this project.

This mixed-methods PhD research project with the University of Melbourne aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the “Walking in Blak Traks” cultural safety training program. "Walking in Blak Traks" is an Aboriginal-led training program, developed by DCJ Psychological and Specialist Services which seeks to enhance clinicians' cultural competency. It aims to improve clinicians' cultural responsiveness, self-efficacy and adoption of culturally safe practices. The current research involves surveys and focus groups with DCJ staff and clinicians who have completed the training to determine the trainings’ impact and effectiveness.

Joining the Dots is a data-linkage study with the University of New South Wales of infants born in NSW and the ACT with a diagnosis of Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) between 2001 and 2018. The study aims to determine the rates of death, hospital admissions and academic outcomes among this cohort. The findings will assist to identify the causes of disadvantage in families affected by perinatal substance dependency, addiction and abuse and will provide recommendations of how the Department of Communities and Justice can best support these families.

This quantitative research study in collaboration with the University of Wollongong will establish a new regional linked dataset for the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District (ISLHD) linking data from births, deaths, the Australian Early Development Census (AEDC), health, education, ambulance, child protection and out-of-home care (OOHC) for children born in the region from 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2012. The study aims to:

• Describe the 12-month prevalence of health service use for mental health, self-harm or suicide-related reasons in school aged children in the regional area
• Describe the contribution of childhood adversity to risk of health service use for mental health, self-harm or suicide-related reasons in school age children.
• Explore the contribution of health service use for mental health, self-harm or suicide-related reasons, and childhood adversity on attainment of educational outcomes across primary and high school.

For further information please refer to University of Wollongong – supporting student well-being

Access to justice includes the right to be heard and the right to participate in legal proceedings. This mixed-methods PhD research project with the University of Technology, Sydney aims to:

• determine the extent to which children and young people subject to secure care orders have access to justice;
• evaluate what impact the type/method of legal representation has on a child or young person’s access to justice;
• identify how the cultural needs of First Nation children and young people are honored in secure care proceedings;
• review the appropriateness of other judicial settings for the management of secure care, including the Children’s Court of NSW.