Dr Leah Bromfield
Senior Research Fellow

BAAppSci(Hons) (Deakin), PhD (Deakin)

Biography

Dr Leah Bromfield is Manager of the National Child Protection Clearinghouse and the Communities and Families Clearinghouse Australia at the Australian Institute of Family Studies. She has completed a PhD on the topic of chronic child maltreatment in statutory child protection services.

Recent projects

• National comparisons of child protection related policy and practice
• Evaluating the Australian out-of-home care research evidence base
• Conducting an audit of Australian child protection research
• Enhancing culturally appropriate practice for Indigenous carers
• Investigating the prevalence and risk factors for maltreatment in organisations
• Investigating the effectiveness of child abuse prevention programs
• Investigating the use of research by policy makers and practitioners in the child protection field

Specialist areas

• Chronic child maltreatment and cumulative harm
• Statutory child protection systems
• Research to practice

Selected recent publications

• Bromfield, L. M., & Arney, F. (2008). Developing a road map for research: Identifying the priorities for a national child protection research agenda. Child Abuse Prevention Issues, 28.
• Bromfield, L. M., & Holzer, P. J. (2008). Protecting Australian children: Analysis of challenges and strategic directions. (PDF 2.5 MB)
• Bromfield, L. M., & Holzer, P. J. (2008). A National Approach for Child Protection: Project report.(PDF 1.0 MB)
• Holzer, P. J., Lewig, K., Bromfield, L. M., & Arney, F. (2008). The research utilisation project: Research use in a sample of Australian child and family welfare professionals. (PDF 769 KB)
• Holzer, P. J., & Bromfield, L. M. (2008). NCPASS comparability of child protection data: Project report. (PDF 1.4 MB) Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies.
• Bromfield, L. M., & Arney, F. (2008). Dissemination Strategies: Solutions not problems. Beyond the Rhetoric: Evidence-informed practice workshop, Dartington Research in Practice, Dartington, UK.
• Bromfield, L. M., & Gillingham, P. (2008). Child protection, risk assessment and blame ideology. Children Australia.
• Bromfield, L. M., & Osborn, A. (2008). Australian research investigating residential and specialised models of care: A systematic review. Developing Practice, 20, Summer/Autumn 2008.
• Bromfield, L. M., Gillingham, P., & Higgins, D. J. (2007). Cumulative harm and chronic child maltreatment. Developing Practice.
• Bromfield, L.M., & Miller, R. (2007). Cumulative Harm: Specialist Practice Guide. Melbourne: Department of Human Services.
• Bromfield, L. M., & Osborn, A. (2007). "Getting the big picture": A synopsis and critique of Australian out-of-home care research (Child Abuse Prevention Issues No. 26). Melbourne, Vic: National Child Protection Clearinghouse, Australian Institute of Family Studies.
• Holzer, P.H., Lewig, K., Arney, F., & Bromfield, L.M. (2007). The research utilisation project: Facilitating research informed policy and practice. ARACY Network: Knowledge Brokering Workshop, Benevolent Society, Sydney.
• Bromfield, L. (2006). The Australasian Statutory Child Protection Learning and Development Group. Child Abuse Prevention Newsletter, 14(2), 11-12.
• Cashmore, J., Higgins, D., Bromfield, L., & Scott, D.A. (2006). Recent Australian child protection and out-of-home care research: what's been done, and what needs to be done? Children Australia, 31(2), 4-11.
• Higgins, D., Bromfield, L., Higgins, J., & Richardson, N. (2006). Protecting Indigenous children: Views of carers and young people on "out-of-home care". Family Matters, 75, 42-49.
• Higgins, J., Bromfield, L., & Richardson, N. (2006). Child abuse prevention: What works? The effectiveness of home visiting programs for preventing child maltreatment (Research Brief 2). Melbourne, Vic: National Child Protection Clearinghouse, Australian Institute of Family Studies.
• Holzer, P., Bromfield, L., & Richardson, N. (2006). Child abuse prevention: What works? The effectiveness of parent education programs for preventing child maltreatment (Research Brief 1). Melbourne, Vic: National Child Protection Clearinghouse, Australian Institute of Family Studies. Full text
• Holzer, P., Higgins, J., Bromfield, L., Richardson, N. & Higgins, D. (2006). The effectiveness of parent education and home visiting child maltreatment prevention programs (Child Abuse Prevention Issues No. 24). Melbourne, Vic: National Child Protection Clearinghouse, Australian Institute of Family Studies.
• Irenyi, M., Bromfield, L., Beyer, L., & Higgins, D. (2006). Child maltreatment in organisations: Risk factors and strategies for prevention (Child Abuse Prevention Issues No. 25). Melbourne, Vic: National Child Protection Clearinghouse, Australian Institute of Family Studies.
• Bromfield, L., & Higgins, D. (2005). Chronic and isolated maltreatment in a child protection sample. Family Matters, 70, 38-45.
• Bromfield, L., & Higgins, D. (2005). National comparison of child protection systems (Child Abuse Prevention Issues No. 22). Melbourne, Vic: National Child Protection Clearinghouse, Australian Institute of Family Studies.
• Bromfield, L., Higgins, D., Osborn, A., Panozzo, S., & Richardson, N. (2005). Out-of-home care in Australia: Messages from research. Melbourne, Vic: National Child Protection Clearinghouse, Australian Institute of Family Studies.
• Fish, E., Bromfield, L., & Higgins, D. (2005). A new name for Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy: Defining Fabricated or Induced Illness by carers (Child Abuse Prevention Issues No. 23). Melbourne, Vic: National Child Protection Clearinghouse, Australian Institute of Family Studies.
• Higgins, D., Bromfield, L., & Richardson, N. (2005). Enhancing out-of-home care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people. Melbourne, Vic: Australian Institute of Family Studies, 78p. Full text
• Higgins, D., & Bromfield, L. (2005). Safety, crime and justice: From data to policy. Conference papers. (PDF 111 KB) Canberra, ACT: Australian Institute of Criminology.

Presentations

See Staff papers and presentations and National Child Protection Clearinghouse Publications