Child and family wellbeing

Child and family wellbeing is vital for health, development, stability and success for individuals and their communities. The work to deeply understand child and family wellbeing, and all the factors that contribute to it, is nuanced and complex.

Our child and family wellbeing research explores the complex factors that shape the wellbeing and functioning of families and their members, including children. We focus on early intervention, inclusion and long-term outcomes, and how families navigate challenges, build resilience and access support. 

Key research areas

Under the child and family wellbeing theme, we explore the wellbeing and functioning of families, including:

• Early childhood, including what works in early-childhood interventions, such as programs that support developmental milestones, school readiness and family engagement.
• Child-parent and family relationships, including transitions to parenthood, post-separation wellbeing and how relationships within families evolve and impact wellbeing.
• Inclusion and social connectedness, including how culture, community and place-based supports foster belonging and wellbeing. Our work considers the influence of the digital and physical environment, and social infrastructure on families.
• Mental health and wellbeing, including across life stages, and how families respond to and recover from events such as natural disasters, climate change and pandemics.
• Experiences of children and young people with disability, including experiences related to access to services, and inclusion and wellbeing across systems and settings.
• Child, family and relationship services, including the effectiveness of universal and specific prevention and early intervention services, so we can understand what works and in what contexts.