Media releases

New research to improve the lives of vulnerable local children has been showcased at Federation University Australia’s Gippsland campus. 

The child and family services symposium on 14 February, entitled Communities of Knowledge and Practice – New Ways Forward, featured research by Federation University PhD students. 

The research highlights policy and practice gaps impacting the region’s vulnerable young people, their families and the workforce involved in their care. 

The research was initiated by the Inner Gippsland Children and Youth Area Partnership (IGCYAP). 

The partnership brings together community, health services, police, government and Federation University researchers with the aim of improving outcomes for vulnerable children and young people in Baw Baw, Latrobe, South Gippsland and Bass Coast local government areas. 

This collaboration allows locally relevant research to be fed back to organisations who have workers on the frontline of child and family services. 

The PhD research topics include: 

• Alison Fonseca - Helping professionals’ perspectives on work-related traumatic stress and its transmission to their relationships with their children. 

• Lynda McRae - You can't hear a child you don't see: Front-line worker perspectives on engaging young people in out-of-home care in the decisions affecting their lives. 

• Kay Lancefield - Early intervention to reduce young people’s contact with the criminal justice system. 

• Mary Randall - Engagement with family services in Inner Gippsland by families experiencing vulnerability.  

The symposium also featured presenters from across inner Gippsland who shared insights on the innovative programs helping children and families in the region. 

Quotes attributable to research coordinator Dr Susan Yell: 

“This event brings together people working in the child and family services sector to improve outcomes for the most vulnerable children, families and young people across our region.”