Various research projects focussing on issues of child safety, the well being of youth and families, and community participation are supported by the department. A range of these are featured below.
Contact details have been provided to enable those interested in more information to liaise directly with the researchers.
| Project Title | Summary | Researcher/s | Organisation/s | Email/Web |
| Kinship Care; An Exploration of the Practice Issues Encountered by Child Protection Practitioners | This study explores practice issues to understand how the resource of kinship care may be enhanced, in order to achieve the best placement and permanency outcomes for children. | Jennifer Nash | University of Queensland |
jennifer.nash@uqconnect.edu.au Completed 2011 |
| A national comparative analysis of child, family and service factors contributing to successful and unsuccessful reunification outcomes in out-of-home care | To gain insights into whether balance is being achieved around reunification and how existing services and decision-making processes might be enhanced so as to achieve this objective. |
Associate Professor Paul Delfabbro and Dr Lisa Kettler Associate Professor Elizabeth Fernandez |
University of Adelaide University of NSW |
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| Adolescent Behaviour Study: Animal Harm and fire setting | This study examines the prevalence of animal cruelty and fire-setting among offending and non-offending youth. Greater understanding of the prevelance and characteristics related to such behaviours is crucial to developing prevention strategies. | Dr Bruce Watt | Bond University | bwatt@bond.edu.au |
| Building Knowledge for Policy and Practice in out of Home Care | The aims of this doctoral study are to develop a systematic map of out-of-home care literature and to examine the utility and limitations of the map as a possible way to improve accessibility of the literature. | Belinda Mayfield | University of Queensland | belinda.mayfield@uqconnect.edu.au |
| Does Child Sexual Abuse Influence Later Sexual Offending in Maltreated Boys: A Prospective Study using the Queensland Longitudinal Data Set | The research explores the links between child sexual abuse and adolescent and adult sex offending with the use of prospective data. |
Professor Anna Stewart Dr Troy Allard |
Justice Modelling @ Griffith University | |
| Genetic Testing and Child Protection: An exploration of the use of DNA paternity testing in the context of child protection practice | This project examined the application of DNA paternity testing in the context of child protection practice, the implications that this genetic information has for working with children and their families. | Josephine Yellowlees | University of Queensland |
Completed 2011 |
| Improving the measurement and surveillance of child abuse in Queensland | Enhancing the identification of child abuse and neglect related injuries in routine health data collections, and the development of an educational program for key health personnel. | Dr Kirsten McKenzie | Queensland University of Technology | k.mckenzie@qut.edu.au |
| Intimate Partner Abuse of Women in Queensland | This project is an extension of a pilot study in the Bowen Basin region in 2008. The research methodology involves a statewide CATI survey of a random sample of 1200 women aged over 18 years and in a current heterosexual relationship. | Ms Heather Nancarrow | Queensland Centre for Domestic and Family Violence Research, Central Queensland University | enquiries@noviolence.com.au |
| Neglected Dimension of Community Liveability | The Community Liveability Tool is designed to assist policy and planning at local and state government levels to create, maintain, and sustain liveable communities. This tool is informed by research which investigated the liveability (the characteristics that make a place where people want to live) of urban, regional and rural localities across South Queensland. | Professor Laurie Buys | Queensland University of Technology | l.buys@qut.edu.au |
| Pathways to better practice: developing human resources in child protection services for rural and remote communities with Indigenous populations in WA and Queensland | This project addresses the challenges of providing child protection services to Indigenous children and their families with a specific focus on service delivery in rural and remote areas in Western Australia and Queensland. |
Professor Lesley Chenoweth, Dr Donna McAuliffe, Assoc.Professor Clare Tilbury Professor Daniela Stehlik |
Griffith University Charles Darwin University |
l.chenoweth@griffith.edu.au |
| Resilience in Child Protection Workers | This research project investigates current challenges faced by the child protection workforce, and aims to identify effective supports for staff. | Erica Russ | University of Queensland | erica.russ@uqconnect.edu.au |
| Supporting successful school to work transitions for young people in care | This project advances the findings of the 2007-09 ARC Linkage funded research 'Promoting successful further education and work transitions for young people in care', known as the WAY Project. This was a mixed method study which examined the career development process for young people in care. The current project will provide new knowledge about how to improve educational participation and better support the school to work transition for children in care. | Professor Peter Creed and Associate Professor Clare Tilbury | Griffith University | |
| Trial integrated response to domestic and family violence in Rockhampton: Client experiences and outcomes | To inform the further development of client centred responses to domestic and family violence in Queensland by assessing, from a client perspective, the extent to which the 'Breaking the Cycle' integrated response to domestic and family violence (being trialled by the Queensland Government in Rockhampton) has achieved its key goals. The research objectives are to provide evidence of the way the trial integrated response (the Trial) was experienced by clients; and evidence of what has been achieved for clients through participation in the trial. | Ms Heather Nancarrow | Queensland Centre for Domestic and Family Violence Research, Central Queensland University | enquiries@noviolence.com.au |
| Treatment for Children and Youth at Risk for Long-term Antisocial outcomes in hard to reach families | This project investigates whether an innovative intervention approach has the capacity to reduce a gap in services by reducing long-term risk for antisocial outcomes, including recidivism, in at-risk Aboriginal and other youth. | Professor Kevin Ronan | Central Queensland University | K.Ronan@cqu.edu.au |
| Understanding the Relationship Between Mental Illness and Offending: Implications for Crime Prevention, and the Management of mentally ill offenders | The project will provide an overview of available frameworks to reduce homelessness, mental illness, offending and co-morbidity and identification of best practice for the Queensland context. The project will assist agencies by providing information about the nature and prevalence of homelessness, child protection and mental illness in their client population as well as relationships with offending. |
Professor Anna Stewart Dr Troy Allard |
Justice Modelling @ Griffith University |
For further information about research activities please contact the Major Projects and Review unit.
