This report presents the latest data on adoptions by Australian families, and highlights important national trends in adoptions over the last few decades. Data for this report were obtained from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) Adoptions Australia data collection. This data collection is a record of all finalised adoptions in Australia since...

This paper presents evidence regarding the extent to which parental substance misuse, domestic violence and parental mental health problems co-occur and discusses the wider context of exclusion and disadvantage. The factors most commonly associated with the occurrence of child abuse and neglect, and identified in families involved with child protection services, are domestic violence, parental...

This paper summarises the results of a small-scale study into the online interactions of suspected paedophiles with undercover Australian police officers posing as male children. The study provides insight to an under-researched area of how persons with a sexual interest in male children interact with potential victims and whether these interactions differ from online engagements...

Unreasonable or difficult behaviour should not mean inadequate service from government agencies, argues this report on the Child Support Agency. This report examines the Child Support Agency’s ‘write only’ policy which restricts certain customers to written contact only, as a result of ‘unreasonable behaviour’, which might include threats or abuse or unnecessary persistence. Under these...

Mission Australia's ninth consecutive annual youth survey report is the largest of its kind in Australia and in 2010 received over 50,000 responses from young people across the country.