Child and Family Welfare Association of Australia Inc. (CAFWAA)

National Out-Of-Home Care Research Roundtable

Following release of the Research Audit (see below) CAFWAA was able to enlist the support of a host of key groups with an interest or involvement in out-of-home care across Australia to plan a national forum aimed at constructing the foundations of a national research agenda and plan.  This coalition of organisations was instrumental in coordinating the effort required to pull together the various stakeholders needed to establish an agenda that would help to divert future research initiatives. The roundtable was held in brisbane on 16 May 2006. A report (in MSWord format) is available here. The Australian Government, through the Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, and the ACT Government, through the Department of Disability, Housing and Community Services, provided much needed financial support towards conducting the Forum. The Queensland Department of Child Safety was of great assistacne with the hosting of the event.

National audit of research into out-of-home care

The CAFWAA/ACWA Audit of Australian Out-Of-Home Care Research was launched in Canberra on October 29 2005 by Associate Professor Dorothy Scott OAM. This landmark publication reports on the first national audit of Australian out-of-home care research. The audit, which was conducted during 2004, identifies all completed or continuing out-of-home care research projects in Australia in the ten year period 1995 - 2004, analyses strengths and gaps in the current research effort and identifies priorities for future research. The audit reports on the resources provided for child welfare research in Australia, places the Australian research activity within an international context and presents recommendations for the development of a national research agenda in this area.

The report contains listings of all research projects, key child welfare documents and research publications and is an essential document for all who are concerned with the development of research, policy and practice in child welfare in Australia.

The audit was conducted by Dr Judy Cashmore and Dr Frank Ainsworth for the Child and Family Welfare Association of Australia (CAFWAA) and the Association of Childrens Welfare Agencies (ACWA) with a grant provided by the Ian Potter Foundation.

To order your printed copy please complete this form and return it to ACWA