Director's report

David Stanton

The year 2001 marks four anniversaries of relevance to the Australian Institute of Family Studies: the Centenary of Federation; the Institute's own twenty-first birthday; the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Family Court of Australia; and the centenary of the Australian Public Service. Introducing this celebratory issue of Family Matters, the Institute's Director provides overviews of articles on the Institute and the Family Court, and of several publications that mark the other two anniversaries. Included are comments on the history of social protection, and a selection of the key measures that were introduced to form the basic building blocks in social protection over the past 100 years in Australia. Summaries are also provided of other articles that cover family change, how couples start their relationships, children and parenting, the history of child protection, and long-lasting marriages.