2019 was another big year for CFCA, over 1.75 million users visited our website and we welcomed over 4,000 new subscribers to our fortnightly newsletter.

In the past two years we have experienced significant growth, recording large increases in website users, publication downloads, webinar attendees and newsletter subscribers. This motivated us to revisit our engagement with the sector in order to ensure our work remains relevant and responsive to you. We conducted stakeholder consultations, round-table discussions and more than a dozen in-depth interviews which provided us with a greater understanding of the sector and your needs to guide our work. Thank you to everyone who engaged with us this year.

During the year we published two new papers, four updated resource sheets, and a poster collaboration with NAPCAN and the Parenting Research Centre. This year was also a bumper year for webinars: we recorded 15 webinars, six of which were co-produced with Emerging Minds for our series on child and infant mental health. These webinars were attended by over 11,500 people and covered a range of popular and niche topics.

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Published in 2019

Papers and practitioner resources

Elder abuse: Key issues and emerging evidence

CFCA Paper No. 51

Adam Dean

Elder abuse is a multifaceted and often hidden form of abuse. There is currently no national data on the prevalence of elder abuse in Australia. Based on international studies, it is estimated that between 2% and 14% of older people in high- or middle-income countries experience elder abuse every year. The term 'elder abuse' covers a range of harmful behaviours, including physical, emotional, sexual and financial abuse and neglect.
This paper provides an overview of elder abuse in Australia. It discusses key issues involved in how elder abuse is defined and examines its prevalence, impact and associated risk factors, with a focus on implications of recent research for policy and practice.

Therapeutic residential care services in Australia: A description of current service characteristics

CFCA Paper No. 52

Sara McLean

Therapeutic residential care is a relatively recent development in out-of-home care service provision for young people who are unable to be placed in family-based care. This paper is intended to complement a recent CFCA publication on this topic, Therapeutic residential care: An update on current issues in Australia (McLean, 2018; CFCA Paper No. 49).
This companion paper provides a snapshot of the current practice of therapeutic residential care services conducted in Australia. It describes the configuration and characteristics of current therapeutic residential care services in Australia. The views of therapeutic residential care service providers included in our consultations are summarised, together with issues to be considered in the further development of this form of care for young people.

Child protection and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children

CFCA Resource Sheet – January 2019

This resource sheet is designed to assist practitioners, policy makers and researchers with an understanding of the extent to which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are involved in the Australian child protection and out-of-home care systems. The resource sheet is based on the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) Child Protection data 2016–2017 (AIHW, 2018). 

Reporting child abuse and neglect: Information for service providers

CFCA Resource Sheet – June 2019

This resource sheet provides information to service providers and practitioners working in the child, family and community welfare sector on how to report suspected child abuse and neglect. It defines child abuse and neglect, and provides contact details for the reporting authority in each state and territory.

Australian legal definitions: When is a child in need of protection?

CFCA Resource Sheet— July 2019

This resource sheet provides information for practitioners and researchers on legal definitions of when a child is in need of protection for each Australian jurisdiction. 

LGBTIQA+ communities: Glossary of common terms

CFCA Resource Sheet— November 2019

This resource sheet provides a glossary of terms for practitioners and service providers associated with the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, gender diverse, intersex, queer, asexual and questioning (LGBTIQA+) communities to help them to better understand the terminology and to use inclusive language in service provision.

Top 5 in 2019

Best-attended webinars

#1 (1,586 attendees)

Child-focused approaches when working with parents affected by family and domestic violence

Sarah Wendt and David Tully

This webinar identified the skills and knowledge that practitioners need in order to have child-focused conversations with adults affected by family and domestic violence.
This webinar was co-produced by CFCA and Emerging Minds.

#2 (1,487 attendees)

Putting children first: Changing how we communicate with parents to improve children’s outcomes

Derek McCormack and Lesley Taylor

This webinar discussed new research on ways to communicate with parents to improve children’s development and wellbeing.

#3 (924 attendees)

Intimate partner violence in Australian refugee and immigrant communities: Culturally safe strategies for practice

Alissar El-Murr, Adele Murdolo and Cecilia Barassi-Rubio

This webinar focused on what works to meet the needs of women from refugee and immigrant backgrounds who experience intimate partner violence.

#4 (912 attendees)

Supporting the social and emotional wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children through a collaborative community approach

Bill Wilson, Dana Shen and Ruth Tulloch

This webinar discussed how service organisations can work with Aboriginal communities to increase accessibility for First Nations families.
This webinar was co-produced by CFCA and Emerging Minds. 

#5 (819 attendees)

Building resilience and wellbeing in the early years: Coping strategies for parents and children from CALD backgrounds

Erica Frydenberg and Janice Deans

This webinar discussed an approach to building coping strategies for parents and young children, with a focus on families from CALD backgrounds.

Most-read short articles

#1 (5,703 views)

Talking about parenting: Why a radical communications shift is needed to drive better outcomes for children

Annette Michaux

This discussion article explains the importance of understanding how parents think about parenting in order to communicate more effectively with them.

#2 (3,288 views)

Talking about parenting? A resource for practitioners working with parents and children

Adam Dean

This short article describes a new resource launched during National Child Protection Week 2019 designed to support practitioners working with parents and children. 

#3 (2,583 views)

Support needs of siblings of children with disability

Kate Strohm

This short article discusses key findings of a project that identified experiences and needs of siblings of children and young people with disability. 

#4 (2,347 views)

Young people transitioning from out-of-home care: What do public inquiries tell us about the state of current policy and practice in Australia?

Philip Mendes

This short article summarises key messages from recent public inquiries about supporting young people leaving out-of-home care. 

#5 (1,985 views)

Normalising mental illness in older adults is a barrier to care

Geneva Batten

This short article explores whether the normalisation of mental illness in older adults may prevent their access to mental health services.