Australian Institute of Family Studies

Recent publications

Young mother working on her computer with her daughters playing on their mobile devices

Families in Australia Survey: Life during COVID-19

Report— Jul 2020

This report contains early findings from a major survey that ran May-June 2020, exploring how Australian families coped with the COVID19 pandemic.

Good practice in delivering and evaluating interventions for young people with harmful sexual behaviours

Commissioned report— Jul 2020

This report published by ANROWS shows that many young people who engage in these harmful sexual behaviours have their own history of childhood trauma.

Financial journeys of Australian parents after separation – transitions into and out of poverty

Journal article— Jun 2020

This article examines poverty rates across a 4‐year period, transitions into and out of poverty, and factors affecting post-separation pathways

Expressions of masculinity and associations with suicidal ideation among young males

Journal article— Jun 2020

This study examines associations between conformity to masculine norms and suicidal ideation in a sample of adolescents.

Child wellbeing after parental separation

Research summary— Jun 2020

This research summary discusses the experiences and needs of young people whose parents have separated and have accessed the family law system.

News

Survey: Gambling in Australia during COVID-19

June 2020: AIFS is surveying people who gamble to see how they adjusted to changes in gambling availability due to the pandemic. We want to find out what people gambled on before and during the restrictions, and how people’s gambling participation, health and wellbeing changed. To take the survey, all you need is to be 18 years old or over, living in Australia, and to have gambled in the past 12 months.

Hope that people at risk of gambling harm will use pokies closures to kick the habit

April 2020: With pokies venues closed due to coronavirus restrictions, there is hope that some people at risk of gambling harm will be able to kick the habit. However AIFS researcher Dr Rebecca Jenkinson cautioned that ‘this is also a time of great uncertainly, anxiety and stress for people’, which can leave people vulnerable to gambling harms. ‘We do know that the greatest harm associated with gambling is related to poker machines, absolutely. But there is concern that some people – particularly those at risk of gambling-related harm – might fill the gap left by the pokies with sports betting, lotto tickets or even online poker machine games, which are illegal in Australia.’

Coronavirus response: Resources for families

Coronavirus has had a huge impact on family life. Children home from school, parents working from home, or out of work. Grandparents isolated. Illness and fears for health and safety. It is a stressful time, but it can also be an opportunity for families to pull together and strengthen the bonds between them.

Here are some resources that can help.