This research shows that healthcare and social assistance workers are twice as likely to file a workplace compensation claim for psychological injuries, compared to a similar dataset of workers in all non-healthcare industries, including construction, retail and law-enforcement services.

The NSW social services sector employs more than 230,000 people, and provides care to more than 1 million people per year. This report underlines the opportunities arising from investing in the sector.

This report presents the findings of a nation-wide study of the experiences of frontline domestic and family violence (DFV) practitioners in Australia during the early months of COVID-19. The study explores the perceived impacts of the pandemic on clients, service adaptations and innovations, and the...

Australia spends relatively little on the provision of care as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product, when compared to other developed nations with robust systems of care. Drawing on recent research from the UK, this paper argues that a stimulus investment in the care economy...

This policy paper outlines the barriers youth peer workers face and makes ten recommendations for ensuring that the workforce grows and is well-supported.

This paper explores the prevalence and presentation of client violence towards workers, considering any violent or aggressive behaviour from clients, direct associates of clients, and friends or family members of clients. It compares current research to official data reports, and considers why there might be...

Knowledge and research are very limited around services and supports which promote successful reunifications. Furthermore, assessments of effectiveness generally use ‘rate of reunification’ as their primary outcome measure and do not monitor program impact after children have been returned. Given the high level of reunification...

There is growing evidence that reunifying children with their birth families is often unsuccessful. UK figures suggest that around 30 percent of reunified children will return to care within five years. Insights from evaluations of successful reunification programs are needed to develop effective reunification practices...

This article argues that the profession of social work is reluctant to embrace the multicultural face of Australia and lacks the intellectual apparatus to respond to diversity.

This paper is part 3 in a series on reunification for children in out-of-home care. It describes selected research which has documented factors which predict reunification breakdowns and considers ways in which reunification decision-making can be improved.

The aim of this paper is to offer some guidance to the management of child protection and related services by drawing on occupational health literature.

Frontline child protection work is highly stressful, emotionally taxing and, at times, can result in secondary trauma. Additionally, statutory child protection organisations consistently experience high turnover and staff shortages, creating adverse workplace cultures and extra stress for their workforce. Consequently, there is a growing recognition...

A new coalition of domestic violence experts in Victoria says there's a growing demand for skilled workers to support victims. The Victorian government has just given the family violence support sector an $87 million boost. Family violence organisations say it's welcome money, but they don't...

The aim of the research program is to increase understanding of the difference community programs make to the lives of Western Australians and what factors enhance the resilience and long-term financial viability of Western Australia’s emerging social enterprise sector.

The Holding Children Together Service, funded by the Communities for Children initiative and the Alice Springs Transformation Plan, has been developed as an innovative service designed to fill an identified gap in therapeutic service provision for young children in Alice Springs who have experienced trauma...

Drawing on research findings from empirical survey research with sixty social planning practitioners in Australia, the paper briefly explores the diversity and shifting landscape of social planning practice over the past century before drawing on the survey findings to develop a picture of current social...

This evaluation of the Ola Fou youth worker programme took place over two weeks in late February and March 2008. A participative methodology was used including observation of youth workers in context, a review of literature and programme documentation, focus group discussions in Fiji and...