Resources

SWIRLS research provides tools, resources and information for social work practitioners and industry, for use in practice and policy development. Browse SWIRLS resources below.

Reports and publications

Forums, webinars and podcasts

Public lectures

Reports and publications

Mentoring care-experienced young people: A framework for program design

Mentoring care-experienced young people: A framework for program design

Dr Joel McGregor, Dr Ben Lohmeyer, & Dr Catherine Hartung. Swinburne University of Technology.

This report serves as a concise reference tool for practitioners seeking to access essential information on mentor program design for care-experienced young people. This report is designed to work alongside a website which provides more in-depth information about each of the concepts discussed in this report.

Mentoring care-experienced young people: A framework for program design

See associated project website

The Australian Centre for Social Innovation (TACSI) paper - Understanding the opportunities for peer-to-peer support to change lives, ease the demand on Australia’s stressed social service systems, and rebuild the fabric of our society

The benefits are mutual : Understanding the opportunities for peer-to-peer supports to change lives, ease the demand on Autsralia's stressed social services systems and rebuild the fabric of our society

The Australian Centre for Social Innovation (TACSI), is an independent, not-for-profit organisation working across Australia. Their purpose is to partner with communities and organisations to put people at the heart of shaping their lives and society.

Peer-to-peer platforms, services and enterprises present us with an opportunity not only to change lives but to do so in a way that eases demand on Australia’s stressed social service systems and strengthens the fabric of our society.

This paper makes the case for mainstreaming peer-to-peer support.

Responding to domestic violence: difficult conversations - by By Kate Seymour, Sarah Wendt and Kristin Natalier

Responding to domestic violence: difficult conversations - by Kate Seymour, Sarah Wendt and Kristin Natalier

This book reflects on the problem of domestic violence by thinking critically about policy and practice responses. Moving beyond accounts of men’s violence embedded in metaphors of ‘good’ and ‘bad men’, or as the expressions of particular structures and practices, it initiates challenging conversations concerning the ways in which our embeddedness in gendered discourses shapes the responses we imagine are possible and desirable. It will be of interest to scholars and students of gender studies, sociology, health, and social care.

Preview and Order Book

Report on the Round Table Consultation Event : Domestic violence and religion

Report on the Round Table Consultation Event : Understanding domestic violence and religion

A Roundtable Event titled Understanding domestic violence and religion was held on 28 October 2022 to explore the question of how faith-based organisations could be part of the solution to domestic violence in Australia. The Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence (State of Victoria 2016) recommended that faith leaders and communities establish processes for examining responses and recovery to domestic violence. Many FBOs have embarked on this recommendation to raise awareness in congregations, schools, and other institutions of the church, as well as training, identifying and developing resources, and searching for best practice to support and respond to both victims-survivors and perpetrators of domestic violence.

The Roundtable Event was created to bring interested stakeholders together to talk; share ideas about domestic violence policies, services, and other relevant resources; and enable the possibilities of further work with faith communities. Eighty-one people attended. The key messages and recommendations elicited from the research presentations, panel discussions and roundtable are detailed in the report.

Round Table Consultation Event - Report

To order a hard copy of the report please e-mail swirls@flinders.edu.au with your name, organisation and postal address.

Learn more about the project Religion and domestic violence: exporting men's perpetration on our partnership and projects page

View the presentations and resources from the round table consultation event in the forums, webinars and podcasts section below.

Emerging Minds practice papers - Child-focused approaches to complex problems

Emerging Minds practice papers - Child-focused practice approaches to complex problems
Emerging Minds and SWIRLS, January 2023

The compounding effects of disadvantage can mean that children and families present to services with multiple intersecting issues. Trauma, intergenerational disadvantage, alcohol and drug use, mental illness and family and domestic violence (FDV) can all impact one another, making them more challenging for children and families to overcome. Child-focused practice approaches are key to supporting children and families facing complex, coexisting problems.

So, how can practitioners provide the support that is required when working with children and families affected by complex issues? What are the specialist skills that all practitioners need to work effectively with children and families, and how can these be developed in busy professional roles?

The following resources use a structural approach to consider the needs of children and understand the context of parent and family adversity. They support a focus on the environments that affect family life, a curiosity in the parent’s story, and non-shaming conversations that support child safety and wellbeing.

Read practice paper - Child-focused practice competencies: Structural approaches to complex problems

This interactive practice paper provides practical advice on how to have conversations with parents and children who are experiencing co-existing issues of intergenerational disadvantage, alcohol and drug use, mental illness, trauma, and family violence. It examines context in the lives of disadvantaged families, the effects of intersecting disadvantages, and how practitioners can create alliances which increase children’s safety and wellbeing.

This paper will help you to:

consider how issues of intergenerational disadvantage, substance use, mental illness, trauma and FDV can affect children’s social and emotional wellbeing
understand structural approaches to disadvantage that shift parents away from self-blame, paving the way for a focus on children
develop parental stories of connection, resilience and strength that foster confidence and agency in their care for children; and
bring children’s developmental needs into focus, while resisting shaming and stigmatising parents.

Read literature review - Insights for social workers supporting families with complex needs

There is growing recognition of the links between knowledge translation, policy and practice, particularly in the family and domestic violence (FDV) field (Cameron, 2020). Bridging the gap between research and practice is critical for the future of social and human service work (Cabassa, 2017). Practitioner knowledge provides an essential context for successful knowledge translation.

This literature review was written to inform the development and delivery of the practice paper Child-focused practice competencies: Structural approaches to complex problems. It reviews implications and skills for practice across five distinct yet intersecting topics:

working with the effects of intergenerational disadvantage on children and parents
child-focused social work practices with parents and children affected by substance use
child-focused social work practices with parents and children affected by mental illness
child-focused social work practices with children who have experienced trauma; and
developing a plan for children and families affected by violence.

Read paper - Child-focused practice in social work: Beginning the naming journey when family and domestic violence is present

When a parent is affected by family and domestic violence, they may describe this violence in different ways to a practitioner. These descriptions can minimise the effects of the violence on children and mean that they don’t receive the support they need for their safety or wellbeing.

This paper helps generalist practitioners to support parents to name their experiences of violence and consider its effects on their children. It will support you to:

engage with fathers who use violence and who may be blaming female partners or children for their behaviour, underreporting the seriousness of their actions, or describing their violence as communication or relationship issues
engage with mothers who experience violence and who may believe they are complicit or to blame for their partners’ actions or the consequences for their children if they disclose; and
help parents to name their experience of violence.

When parents are able to name their experiences of violence, their children are much more likely to receive the early intervention and prevention support they need for their mental health, safety and wellbeing.

You may also be interested in listening to the Emerging Minds podcast series which complements these resources. Click here to access.

Connecting the dots: Understanding the DFV experiences of children and young people with disability within and across sectors

Project Lead : Professor Sally Robinson
Research Team: Associate Professor Melissa O'Donnell, Professor Kylie Valentine, Associate Professor Tim Moore, Dr Amy Marshall

RESEARCH AIMS:

This project aimed to:

Scope and map current data capture of children and young people with disability experiencing domestic and family violence, identifying gaps and limitations and mapping new intersections unique to this population.
Develop a new understanding of the support and service needs, priorities and perspectives of children and young people with disability experiencing domestic and family violence, as well as system barriers and enablers.
Determine steps to bring service processes into better alignment with children and young people’s priorities.

SIGNIFICANCE:

This project develops a picture of the prevalence and extent of children and young people with disability exposed to domestic and family violence in Australia, with additional focus on intersecting forms of difference and marginalisation. It centres the experiences and priorities of children and young people with disability who have experienced domestic and family violence and ensures any policy and practice recommendations are child-focused.

This project highlights implications for improving policy and practice across intersecting disability, child and violence domains. It begins to address one of the evidence gaps identified in the 2020 interim report of the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability. The report concluded that there is an omission of people with disability from national data collections and a lack of analysis of data on violence and disability, and therefore limited evidence to inform government.

Download report - The nature and extent of domestic and family violence exposure for children and young people with disability

Download report - Connecting the dots: Understanding the domestic and family violence experiences of children and young people with disability within and across sectors: Final report

Download fact sheet - Connecting what matters: Children and young people with disability and their families share their views on how services can help when they experience domestic and family violence

Please consult the ANROWS website for more information on this project.

Nurturing social connection and addressing loneliness in Community Centres in South Australia

Chief Investigator : Ben Lohmeyer
Research Assistant: Ros Wong

This project set out to investigate which programs in Community Centres in South Australia build social connection, and by doing so address the issues of social isolation and loneliness in their communities. The findings outlined in this report demonstrate that a much of the existing practice and service delivery by staff and volunteers in community centres reflects the recent literature in this area.

The project invited community centres to participate in the project through Community Centres SA networks.15 community centres responded to the EOI and participated in a focus group. 123 people participated across the 15 focus groups. Participating community centres included a spread of socio-economic areas across the greater Adelaide region, the Adelaide Hills and regional South Australia.

Download report - Nurturing social connection and addressing loneliness in Community Centres in South Australia

Listen to the podcast

ANROWS Research Report - “It depends on what the definition of domestic violence is”: How young Australians conceptualise domestic violence and abuse

ANROWS Research Report – “It depends on what the definition of domestic violence is”: How young Australians conceptualise domestic violence and abuse

The 2017 National Community Attitudes towards Violence against Women Survey (NCAS) found that although young people have a good overall understanding of domestic violence, particularly its physical forms, there were also some “areas of concern” within young people’s understandings. The NCAS raised concerns about young people’s understandings of:

the non-physical forms of domestic violence, such as financial and technology-facilitated abuse
the high prevalence of violence against women in the community
the gendered nature of domestic violence.

To further explore these findings, the current study unpacked how young people define and make sense of domestic violence. In particular, the study examined how young people distinguish domestic violence from other unhealthy relationship behaviours, how common they perceive domestic violence to be and their understanding of the gendered nature of domestic violence.

The mixed-method study involved a short online survey and focus groups with young women (41) and men (39) aged 16 to 18 from across Australia from a range of backgrounds. Fourteen online focus groups, each with four to six participants, were conducted. Seven of the focus groups were with young men and seven were with young women.

This report addresses work covered in ANROWS’s National Community Attitudes towards Violence against Women Survey (NCAS) Research Program. This work is part of the ANROWS Research reports series. ANROWS Research reports (Horizons) are in-depth reports on empirical research produced under ANROWS’s research program.

Authors

DR ERIN CARLISLE
Senior Research Officer (NCAS), ANROWS

DR CHRISTINE COUMARELOS
Director, Research Program (NCAS), ANROWS

KATE MINTER
Senior Research Officer (NCAS), ANROWS

DR BEN LOHMEYER
Lecturer in Social Work, Flinders University

ANROWS Report – “It depends on what the definition of domestic violence is”: How young Australians conceptualise domestic violence and abuse

ANROWS Research summary - “It depends on what the definition of domestic violence is”: How young Australians conceptualise domestic violence and abuse

This report addresses work covered in ANROWS’s National Community Attitudes towards Violence against Women Survey (NCAS) Research Program.

This work is part of the ANROWS Research reports series. ANROWS Research reports (Horizons) are in-depth reports on empirical research produced under ANROWS’s research program.

For additional information, please consult ANROWS website.

Royal Commission into violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of people with disability - Changing community attitudes to improve inclusion of people with disability

Research report - Changing community attitudes to improve inclusion of people with disability

The Royal Commission into violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of people with disability wants to know what could be done to change attitudes towards people with disability so that they are better included in society. UNSW Sydney and Flinders University researched effective policies to change attitudes, using an evidence review and national interviews. The research found evidence about interventions to change attitudes, behaviours and outcomes.

Research report (Auslan) Changing community attitudes to improve inclusion of people with disability

Download the research reports

ANROWS Project – Engaging men who use violence: Invitational narrative approaches

This qualitative study explored how invitational narrative ways of working successfully engage men and enable behavioural and attitudinal change. The study explored the historical and philosophical foundations of invitational narrative practice, and the principles and skills that practitioners use in their work.

Project outcomes provided greater understanding of the therapeutic and service delivery practices that lead men to engage with or disengage from programs. Specifically, the findings contributed to the growing understanding of key values and principles of invitational narrative ways of working that support engagement and enable change when working with men who use violence in their intimate partner relationships.

As an outcome of this project, ANROWS, in partnership with Flinders University and Uniting Communities, hosted a symposium for policy-makers and practitioners on invitational narrative approaches to engaging men who use violence. The symposium explored the key findings of the research project, ‘Engaging men who use violence: Invitational narrative approaches’, led by Professor Sarah Wendt.

ANROWS Report - Engaging men who use violence: Invitational narrative approaches

This report addresses work covered in the ANROWS research project PI.17.12 Engaging men: Invitational-narrative approaches. ANROWS research contributes to the six National Outcomes of the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children 2010-2022. This research addresses National Plan Outcome 6 – Perpetrators stop their violence and are held to account.

ANROWS Research summary - Engaging men who use violence: Invitational narrative approaches

ANROWS Research to policy and practice papers are concise papers that summarise key findings of research on violence against women and their children, including research produced under ANROWS’s research program, and provide advice on the implications for policy and practice. This is an edited summary of key findings from the ANROWS research project Engaging men: Invitational-narrative approaches.

View the symposium in our public lecture resources here.

Listen to the ANROWS Insights podcast episode in our podcast and webinar resources here.

For additional information, please consult ANROWS website.

ANROWS Project – Seeking help for domestic violence: Exploring rural women’s coping experiences

This work is part of the ANROWS Landscapes series. ANROWS Landscapes (State of knowledge papers) are medium length papers that scope current knowledge on an issue related to violence against women and their children. Papers will draw on empirical research, including research produced under ANROWS’s research program, and/or practice knowledge.

The state of knowledge paper examines research and literature on the effects of social and geographical isolation and remoteness on the ability of women to disclose, report, seek help, and receive appropriate interventions following domestic and family violence and/or sexual assault.

The paper outlines:

research findings on regional, rural and remote women’s experiences of domestic and family violence and sexual assault; and
the main approaches of service delivery for domestic and family violence and sexual assault, drawing on literature that describes service provision in regional, rural and remote Australia.

State of knowledge paper - Seeking help for domestic violence: Exploring rural women’s coping experiences

ANROWS Compass (Research to policy and practice papers) are concise papers that summarise key findings of research on violence against women and their children, including research produced under ANROWS’s research program, and provide advice on the implications for policy and practice.

This report summarises the key findings of a qualitative case study design on this topic that engaged with five different locations: Mount Gambier, Murray Bridge, the Riverland, and Whyalla in South Australia, and Derby in Western Australia. Each region had a specialist domestic and family violence agency based on the hub-and-spoke service model. The agency was located in the greatest population density (hub) and provided outreach services to cover large geographical distance (spokes) (Roufeil & Battye, 2008).

ANROWS Research summary - Seeking help for domestic and family violence: Exploring rural women’s coping experiences

This report presents the results of a qualitative study examining the experiences of women seeking help for domestic and family violence who live in regional, rural, and remote areas in Australia. The study contributes to the limited evidence on how geographical and social isolation shapes women’s coping with and decisions to seek assistance for domestic and family violence, and their efforts to live safely.

This report addresses work covered in the ANROWS research project 1.3 “Seeking help for domestic violence: exploring rural women’s coping experiences”.

ANROWS Research report - Seeking help for domestic and family violence: Exploring rural women’s coping experiences

Please consult the ANROWS website for more information on this project.

As an outcome of this project, ANROWS, in partnership with Flinders University and Uniting Communities, hosted a public lecture on Seeking help for domestic violence: exploring rural women’s coping experiences. The symposium explored the key findings of the research project, led by Professor Sarah Wendt.

View the symposium in our public lecture resources here.

Young people’s experiences of bullying and violence in secondary schooling

Young people’s experiences of bullying and violence in secondary schooling: Phase 1, Preliminary findings

This qualitative research project explored young people’s ideas and experiences of bullying and violence in secondary schooling. Students were asked to discuss the difference between violence and bullying, where they see it happening in their school, community and society, and how it might be prevented. The purpose of the study was to learn from young people, rather than to capture data about them or identify the victims or perpetrators of bullying and violence.

This report provides a preliminary insight into the findings of Phase 1 of the study.

Ecc Preliminary Report - Phase 1

Young people’s experiences of bullying and violence in secondary schooling: Phase 2, Preliminary findings

In the second phase of this project, young people involved in flexible learning programs (FLO) talked about their understandings and experiences of bullying and violence. The purpose of this phase was to learn from young people about their experiences of violence and bullying in school, and better understand the contemporary social dynamics that enable and justify bullying.

This report provides a preliminary insight into the findings of Phase 2 of the study.

Uniting SA FLO Preliminary Report - Phase 2

Housing SA project - Young women’s experiences of violence and homelessness

Housing SA project - Young women’s experiences of violence and homelessness

This report presents the results of a qualitative study exploring young women’s experiences of domestic and family violence, sexual abuse and homelessness and housing insecurity. The study contributes to an evidence base that supports a gender-sensitive, trauma-informed approach to creating housing stability for young women who have experienced violence. The findings are presented to inform the South Australian Housing Authority as it deliberates on reform to improve the state’s homelessness system, with the aim of reducing homelessness across South Australia. The reforms are focused on providing services to prevent people from falling into homelessness; to ensure people get the right support they need, when they need it; and to rapidly rehouse people into safe, stable and long-term housing so they don’t cycle in and out of homelessness. These aims are particularly pertinent to the experiences of young women who have endured and survived violence and abuse.

Young Women’s Experiences of Violence & Homelessness: Research Report

Forums, webinars and podcasts

Making and breaking social policy podcast

Making and breaking social policy podcast

Featuring a range of guests who are involved in the making and breaking of social policy, this podcast is about how we all live together and if we can make that work.

This podcast was created as a key piece of content for two social policy topics in Social Work at Flinders University. It is hosted by Dr Ben Lohmeyer, Lecturer in Social Work at Flinders Uni and SWIRLS Member.

Listen to this podcast

Suggest a topic for the podcast

HDA and DCP Forum : Starting early for children in need - where we start matters

Starting early for children in need - where we start matters

The message for National Child Protection Week (3-9 September) 2023 is that ‘Every child in every community needs a fair go’, complemented with the theme ‘Where we start matters’. For the HDA and DCP forum, an expert panel of speakers present around their work in this area on a wide range of topics from babies, children, mothers and support programs.

SPEAKERS

Dr Prue McEvoy, Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist: Lead Psychiatric Director, Department for Child Protection on Child Maltreatment: the obstacle to children getting a fair go

Brad Morgan, Director, Emerging Minds on Early Support, early in life: Mental health as a foundation for lifelong development

Dr Alisa Willis, Head of Impact, Growth and Innovation, Junction Australia on Growing Together

Gemma Crisp, Lead Clinician – Speech Pathologist, Therapeutic Carer Support Team. Department for Child Protection on Identifying children in care who are at risk of disability or developmental delay - living in rural and remote South Australia

Dr Carmela Bastian, Senior Lecturer, College of Education, Psychology and Social Work, Flinders University on Safety and wellbeing of children in the context of women’s shelters

A/Professor Yvonne Clark, Senior Research Fellow, University of South Australia and SAHMRI on Understanding the needs and providing support for pregnant women with Aboriginal babies in antenatal settings

Hanne Brunes, Liaison Officer and Esma, foster carer, Life Without Barriers on The Mockingbird Family

CHAIR

Professor Leah Bromfield, Director, Australian Centre for Child Protection, University of South Australia

View the recording

Emerging Minds podcast - Child-focused approaches to complex problems

Emerging Minds podcast series - Child-focused practice approaches to complex problems
Emerging Minds and SWIRLS, January 2023

In this two-part podcast series, Professor Sarah Wendt and the SWIRLS team share structural approaches to conversations with parents who are facing intersectional disadvantage. They describe the important competencies in non-blaming conversations with parents, creating opportunities to make change in the lives of children.

Throughout these episodes, Sarah and the team examine three key practice questions:

What is happening for the child and how can their safety and wellbeing be maintained or improved?
How can an understanding of parenting capacity uncover many of the strategies that parents use to support their children, despite multiple disadvantages?
How can a focus on the parent-child relationship help practitioners to have supportive and non-threatening conversations with parents?

Child-focused approaches to complex problems – part one is available now. Part two will be released on Tuesday 7 February 2023.

Listen to the podcast series - Child-focused approaches to complex problems

Emerging Minds has partnered with SWIRLS to develop a suite of resources, including these podcasts and practice papers. These resources provide practical examples of structural approaches to holding child-focused conversations with children and parents who are experiencing adversity, using a structural approach to consider the needs of children and understand the context of parent and family adversity. They support a focus on the environments that affect family life, a curiosity in the parent’s story, and non-shaming conversations that support child safety and wellbeing.

Access all resources

Round Table Consultation - Domestic violence and religion : Exploring how faith-based organisations can be part of the solution

Round Table Consultation Event – Understanding domestic violence and religion: Exploring how faith-based organisations can be part of the solution. Held Friday 28th October, in-person at
St Athanasius College, Melbourne and online via livestream.

PURPOSE ... THE OPPORTUNITY

Presented by the Social Work Innovation Research Living Space (SWIRLS) at Flinders University, University of Divinity, Lutheran Church Australia, and Christian Research Association This event was a national gathering to share information about initiatives and research demonstrating how churches and faith communities in Australia are working to prevent and respond to domestic and family violence. This purpose and opportunity of this gathering was to promote inter-faith awareness of how religious organisations and communities are raising awareness about domestic and family violence, and how they understand their role in responding and providing support to congregations and affected individuals – victim/survivors and perpetrators of violence.

The gathering also invited government and service provider representatives to share information about their work with faith communities on this issue. The event supported sharing ideas about how domestic and family violence policies, services, and other relevant resources, can further work with faith communities.

In this space there are difficult conversations and reflections in the call for renewed knowledges, practices and initiatives that will promote safety and reduce the risk of spiritual abuse and domestic and family violence. As religious institutions commit to addressing domestic and family violence, this gathering sought to acknowledge the work being done to transform church and faith-community responses, and ensure churches and faith settings are safe spaces, and support accountability and healing.

RATIONALE

It is timely to bring together church and faith communities to share information about their initiatives because:

Churches and faith-communities are investing in research to understand and address domestic and family violence.
Churches and faith communities are seeking to understand practices and instruction that have detrimentally impacted on and risked victim/survivor safety.
The Royal Commission into Family Violence has recommendations for faith-communities (adopted by the Victorian Government) – the role of faith-communities is recognised as significant in supporting (or constraining) individuals and faith community members to understand, recognise and respond to DFV, and support safety.
Churches and faith communities can support victim/survivor and perpetrator accountability and healing.

PRESENTERS

Professor Wendy Mayer, Dean of Research Strategy, University of Divinity
Professor Sarah Wendt, Director, Social Work Innovation Research Living Space (SWIRLS)
Dr Josephine Clarke, Research Associate, Social Work Innovation Research Living Space (SWIRLS)
Dr Ruth Powell, Director at NCLS Research

PANNELISTS

Lieutenant Star Conliffe, Salvation Army Officer
Associate Professor Cathy Vaughan, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health
Tania Farha, CEO, Safe and Equal
Janette Phelan, Joint Churches Domestic Violence Prevention Project (Queensland)

Resources, including recordings of the research presentations, panel discussion and presentation slide decks are available below.

Responses from the consultation will be collated and a report will be produced and distributed as an outcome of this event.

Professor Wendy Mayer - Welcome and Acknowledgment of Country

Professor Sarah Wendt and Josephine Clarke - Research Presentation

Presentation slide deck - Professor Sarah Wendt and Dr Josephine Clarke

Dr Ruth Powell - Research Presentation

Presentation slide deck - Dr Ruth Powell

Please note, due to technical difficulties the slide deck did not present in full during the live presentation. The slide deck provided here is the full presentation and, as such, may not exactly match the order delivered in the live presentation.

National Anglican Family Violence Project - Research Outputs: Main report plus 3 detailed study reports

Research Presentations - Question Time

Panel Discussion (Facilitated by Professor Sarah Wendt) - Janette Phelan, Associate Professor Cathy Vaughan , Lieutenant Star Conliffe, and Tania Farha

Teaching/Research Nexus

The Teaching/Research Nexus

While many of us espouse the value of the teaching-research nexus in university education and in social work, research has shown it is often unclear what the nexus is and how it expresses itself in an academic’s work. The nexus can be explicit or subtle and can be achieved in many ways. For this SWIRLS PhD and Honours Research Seminar Professor Sarah Wendt poses questions and leads a discussion about:

What is the teaching/research nexus?,
Why does the teaching/research nexus matter in social work?
How to strategically plan for the teaching/research nexus to be more visible in the discipline?

SWIRLS Research Seminar - Child Protection

SWIRLS researchers and PhD students have the drive to make a difference in the lives of children and young people. This ‘in conversation’ panel, facilitated by Professor Sarah Wendt, provided an opportunity to hear about current research exploring child protection lived experiences, practices, and systems. Furthermore, the panellists provided their reflections on how their research contributes to continue improvement for children, young people and their families.

Panellists:

Dr Carmela Bastian – who has 20 years experience practicing in child protection and now researches child-centred practices and collaboration across systems

Dr Ben Lohmeyer – who has ten years’ experience in the non-government youth services sector and now researches young people’s experiences of structural and systemic violence

Luke Cantley – Research Fellow who has gained extensive experience working as an Aboriginal Health Worker and seeks to understand the role Aboriginal culture plays as a protective factor within the child protection system

Amy Bromley – PhD student who has ten years of experience in the child protection sector and is researching how child protection systems reform through empowering practitioners

Isabelle Hermes – PhD student who is researching the service engagement of parents who are at risk of, or who have experienced, child removal by statutory child protection agencies

Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare - Emerging Themes : Collaborations

Emerging Themes Video Series : Collaboration

In the second instalment of the Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare 'Emerging Themes' video series, Professor Sarah Wendt (Matthew Flinders Fellow and Professor in Social Work, College of Education, Psychology and Social Work, Flinders University) & Dr Carmela Bastian (Senior Lecturer, College of Education, Psychology and Social Work, Flinders University), speak on the importance of how effective system collaboration and coordination can keep children and families safe.

Uncertainty in Social Work

Hear from Flinders University's Social Work Innovation Research Living Space (SWIRLS) PhD candidate and Associate Lecturer in Social Work, Chris Reynolds, as he discusses the topic of 'uncertainty in social work' in a cross Centre conversation as a special guest for the Centre for Social Work Innovation and Research's (CSWIR) 2022 podcast series.

Fearless Minds interview series - The unseen impacts of youth violence

Focusing on the invisible - The unseen impacts of youth violence

When we think of youth violence, we might think of school bullying or youth ‘gangs’. But SWIRLS researcher Dr Ben Lohmeyer steps back from these eye-catching behaviours to uncover where violence is an invisible and accepted part of Australian society.

Hear from Dr Ben Lohmeyer who explores the concept of invisible violence and its impact on the lives of our young people. Are violent movies and video games really corrupting young people's minds? What are other less visible ways that young people are being exposed to power inequalities and violence? Is being a young person harder today than it was 20 years ago?

Diversity considerations for older Australians receiving aged care and palliative care

Dr Georgia Rowley, RePaDD Member and Research Fellow, Social Work Innovation Research Living Space (SWIRLS), discusses the needs for diversity considerations in Australia’s aged care and end-of-life care workforce, and the creation and use of informational web pages attaining to diverse population groups for the RePaDD seminar series where members and guest speakers present their research and its implications for palliative care, death and dying across the community, and health and social systems.

Read the article - Steps towards equitable care: creating web pages to highlight diversity for Australia’s aged care and end of life care workforce

Watch the seminar video

Decolonising Social Work

Aboriginal social work academics Sue Green and Bindi Bennett posed the challenge: ‘Decolonising requires the individual and in turn the profession to undergo a journey of self-discovery and a personal process of decolonising themselves’ in their article for Australian Social Work journal. In this forum, SWIRLS Members respond to this challenge and also talk about what decolonisation means to them. These resources formed part of the Nordic Circles Study Group conference - decolonising social work, held on Monday 9th May, 2022.

Read the article - Wayanha: A Decolonised Social Work

Decolonising - what does it mean?

Decolonising - responding to the challenge

Nordic Circles Study Group Conference - Welcome to Country and decolonising social work forum

For the Nordic Circles Study Group Conference 2022, a live Welcome to Country by Kaurna Elder, Uncle Mickey O’Brien was broadcast from Australia, followed by SWIRLS members engaging in a group conversation, about the importance of an Acknowledgement of Country and Australia’s historical context, colonial legacies and continuing impacts. The circle creates a space for regular collaboration over an extended period of time, durable networks in the Nordic-Baltic region and beyond and provides a cross-disciplinary forum for debating topics that are not already established in universities, thereby contributing to the initiation of new research agendas and alternative perspectives.

Welcome to Country by Kaurna Elder, Uncle Mickey Kumatpi Marrutya O'Brien

Acknowledgement of Country and discussion by Luke Cantley & SWIRLS

Learn more about Nordic Circles Study Group

Social work routes - health inequities and decolonisation

Social work routes podcast - health inequities and decolonisation

Luke Cantley has family connections to the Gunditjmara nation of Victoria (Australia) and is a Research Associate located within the Social Work Innovation Research Living Space (SWIRLS) at Flinders University. Through his research Luke seeks to understand the role Indigenous culture plays as a protective factor within the child protection system, whilst also exploring the nuances between child safety and cultural safety. Luke has gained extensive experience working as an Aboriginal Health Worker using a strengths-based approach across diverse sectors including Prison Health, Primary Health Care, Public Housing and Mental Health Services.

This podcast is part of the The Social Work Routes podcast, dedicated to exploring the pathways to social justice work. The podcast is hosted by Kris Clarke, an Associate Professor at the University of Helsinki.

Listen to the podcast

Emerging minds podcasts – Family violence and child-aware practice

Emerging minds podcasts – Family violence and child-aware practice

Listen to podcast - part 1

This episode is the first in a two-part series on family and domestic violence and child-aware practice. Tune in to hear experienced family violence practitioners and other leaders in the field discuss the impact of family and domestic violence on children and the mother-child relationship, and some of the practice dilemmas that accompany conversations with mothers about their children’s wellbeing in a context of family violence, and some ways of having conversations with mothers that respond to these dilemmas.

Listen to podcast - part 2

Tune in to hear experienced family violence practitioners and other leaders in the field discuss some of the possible entry points into conversations about children’s wellbeing with mothers experiencing family violence and fathers who are using violence. They’ll also address themes of safety, complexity, and organisational support. This episode is the second in a two-part series on family and domestic violence and child-aware practice.

ANROWS insights podcast - How do we engage men who use violence?

Engaging men who use violence in conversations about change is a critical first step to sustainable attitudinal and behaviour change.

Engaging men who use violence: Invitational narrative approaches, a research report from ANROWS, explores how invitational narrative approaches use stories to challenge minimisation, denial or apathy towards the use of violence against women and children. Invitational narrative practice engages perpetrators in an emotional journey, supporting them to take responsibility for their behaviours by discovering their core values and relationship ideals.

In this episode, members of the research team Professor Sarah Wendt (Flinders University), Dr Kate Seymour (Flinders University), and Chris Dolman (Emerging Minds and Uniting Communities) sit down with Michele Robinson, Director, Evidence to Action (ANROWS) to discuss what invitational narrative practice is, how shame and “ethical preferences” play an important role in this technique and discuss how to evaluate the effectiveness of this work.

As an outcome of this project, ANROWS, in partnership with Flinders University and Uniting Communities, hosted a symposium for policy-makers and practitioners, led by Professor Sarah Wendt, on invitational narrative approaches to engaging men who use violence. The symposium explores the key findings of the research project.

View the symposium in our public lecture resources here.

Read the research reports in our reports publications resources here.

For additional information, please consult ANROWS website.

Listen to the podcast

Public lectures

Increasing uncertainty: The effect new system responses in the lives of vulnerable Danish children in conflict with the law

Presenter: Professor Tea Torbenfeldt Bengtsson, The Danish National Centre for Social Science Research.

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SWIRLS and CSWIR : The importance of lived experience in social work

This international public lecture, presented by the Social Work Innovation Research Living Space (SWIRLS) at Flinders University in South Australia and the Centre for Social Work Innovation and Research (CSWIR) at the University of Sussex in the UK is an ‘in conversation with’ style event, where panel members discuss how the voices of consumers in the health and welfare sector is well established and increasingly important in the implementation of services.

There is a growing movement in hearing the voices of people with lived experience to influence social work practice, education and research. This webinar includes panel members from the UK and South Australia to share their experiences and make recommendations for the way forward.

ABOUT THE PANELISTS

Dr Jeri L. Damman, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Social Work and Social Care and Member of the Centre for Social Work Innovation and Research (CSWIR), University of Sussex

Jeri is a Senior Lecturer and co-director of the Centre for Social Work Innovation and Research. Jeri’s research addresses participatory and inclusive practices with birth parents in child welfare and how these contribute to system improvements to promote positive outcomes for children, parents, and families. Jeri’s recent work, in both the US and England, explores the development, implementation and delivery of parent mentoring/advocacy programmes in child welfare, an innovative practice approach that involves birth parents with lived experience in service delivery roles. Jeri’s extensive social work practice experience in both England and the U.S. informs her cross-national interest in how child welfare systems seek to engage with and involve birth parents.

Dr Carmela Bastian - Senior Lecturer, College of Education, Psychology and Social Work, and member of the Social Work Innovation Research Living Space (SWIRLS), Flinders University

Carmela is committed to improving the lives of children. She has over twenty years’ experience in the field of child protection and human services as a social work practitioner and academic. Carmela's employment history exemplifies a wide range of experiences, including as a front-line practitioner, policy and program manager, and involvement in service development. Her PhD research—called The moral status of children in child protection: the case for emerging from our moral ignorance—engaged in philosophical deliberation to assert that children are valuable members of the human community and illuminate the criticality of relationships, rights and obligations.

Clare Muthurajah – Lead Practitioner (Family Advisory Board (co-production), Solution Focused Practice, Living Proof, MARAC)

Clare became a social work resource officer in 2005 for Brighton & Hove and then qualified with a Masters in Social Work in 2008, whilst continuing to work for the local Authority, she then became a parent and has two children aged 14 and 12. Clare has worked as a front line child protection social worker and has since gone on to work for a specialist team working with infants, along the way training in the Dr Patricia Crittenden’s Dynamic Maturational Model of attachment, trained to use the Adult Attachment Interview and the CARE-Index with infants. Clare has since changed roles and alongside doing Solution Focused Therapy with families and domestic abuse work and facilitating anti-racist discussion groups, she is responsible, with her colleagues Mary Crowther and now Krystal Shirley, for developing co-production in children’s services. This is becoming the most rewarding part of her role, alongside the direct interventions that she is able to do with families.

Dr Alisa Willis - Head of Service Impact at Junction Australia

Alisa is a highly regarded leader with a 20-year career in social work, policy and senior management in Australia, the United Kingdom and the Philippines. Her appointment with Junction follows more than four years with the Department for Human Services SA where she was Director of the Early Intervention Research Directorate (EIRD).As the Director of EIRD, she has led the reforms of the Child and Family Support System, and the implementation of evidence-based services that make difference in the lives of vulnerable children and their families. Alisa has a strong focus on early intervention, child protection, domestic and family violence, Aboriginal culture competency as well as service modelling, training, research and practice reform. She has also worked for Mission Australia, with impressive achievements in service growth and implementation.

Krystal Shirley – Expert by Experience

Krystal Shirley, Founder of 4D Care Experience, is an EBE, trainer and consultancy advisor for all aspects of children's social care, specialising in CPS, Domestic Violence, Trauma Awareness, Anti Racist and Relationship Based Practice. Krystal set up 4D Care Experience in 2019 to share her personal experiences with other professionals and raise awareness of child protection services, poor practice, domestic abuse, mental health, lone parent families and lack of community support networks. Krystal has worked with many sectors across the UK and has a strong understanding of relationship based and anti oppressive practice. Krystal is a critical friend who sits on a variety of advisory boards, active member of a variety of stakeholder opportunities as well as being involved in many other projects. Krystal is an active change maker who seeks out every opportunity to build bridges within communities and collaborating to provide safe spaces. Krystal is a survivor of all these adverse childhood experiences and more. Krystal brings a unique perspective in understanding how this impacts children, how professionals can make a difference and how the system needs to change to meet the ever-changing and increasing risks facing our children and families. Krystal has gone on to form a collective group of parents and professionals called the Family Advisory Board, coupled with her role as a social care professional. Krystal is a compelling speaker and trainer having appeared on radio, at social work conferences among other events locally and internationally.

Carolyn Curtis – CEO at The Australian Centre for Social Innovation (TACSI)

Carolyn is CEO of The Australian Centre for Social Innovation (TACSI), one of Australia’s most respected social enterprises focussed on addressing challenging social issues. Carolyn leads TACSI’s purpose to bring people, communities and organisations together to collectively tackle societies toughest social challenges and build the futures we wantCarolyn is a visionary and hands-on leader of TACSI’s dynamic mutli-disciplinary teams based in Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne and working across Australia. Carolyn is also a leader of social innovation beyond TACSI, as a Director for the Social Innovation Exchange, the Fay Fuller Foundation and Junction Australia.

Towards Broader Understandings of Violence: Challenges for Men and Masculinities - Presented by Professor Jeff Hearn

Towards Broader Understandings of Violence: Challenges for Men and Masculinities – Presented by Professor Jeff Hearn

In this session, Professor Hearn will discuss how work and studies on men, masculinities and violence have developed over recent times. Two particular examples are presented. The first concerns how digital gender-sexual violations, such as image-based sexual abuse, upskirting, online abuse of girls and women often not known IRL, compound immediate physical abuse. The second concern moves towards broader understandings of different kinds of violence, both theoretically and empirically across and between societies, for example, through the open-ended concept of violence regimes. In both cases, urgent questions are posed for how to think differently about men’s violences, including moving beyond narrow definitions of perpetrators and ways of doing ‘men’s work’, and looking towards broader responses to men, masculinities and (anti-)violence.

About the Speaker

Jeff Hearn has worked on various approaches to violence for over 40 years, including on men’s violence against women and children, sexual harassment, violence in organisations, sex trade, wounding, digital violations, war, and violence regimes. He is Professor Emeritus, Hanken School of Economics, Finland; Senior Professor, Human Geography, Örebro University, Sweden; Professor of Sociology, University of Huddersfield, UK; honorary doctor, Social Sciences, Lund University, Sweden; and UK Academician in the Social Sciences. He was formerly Professor, Gender Studies, Linköping University, and Senior Professor, Gender Studies, Örebro University, both Sweden. His books include: Taking Child Abuse Seriously (1990), Children, Child Abuse and Child Protection (1999, both Violence Against Children Study Group); The Violences of Men (1998); Gender, Sexuality and Violence in Organizations (2001); Sex, Violence and the Body (2008); Revenge Pornography (2017); Knowledge, Power and Young Sexualities (2022); Digital Gender-Sexual Violations (2023). Policy reports on violence include those for EU, Council of Europe, SIDA, Sexual Violence Research Initiative, along with long involvement in profeminist activism. He is current part of the EU project UniSAFE on gender-based violence in higher education.

12th South Australian Women’s and Gender Studies Annual Public Lecture – Working in Challenging Environments: What is the Work?

12^t^h South Australian Women’s and Gender Studies Annual Public Lecture – Working in Challenging Environments: What is the Work?

This public event was a panel conversation with Professor Donna Baines, University of British Columbia, and leading experts from SWIRLS and Flinders University discussing the ways in which people navigate work environments where risk is seemingly inherent in the role. Specifically, we explore what it means to work in a role where managing verbal violence and intimidation, witnessing violence and/or its victims is considered simply a part of the job. By focusing on workplaces where workers are required to manage their own and other people’s safety - both physically and psychologically - the panel explored how we define work, the narratives that workers use to manage challenging work environments and how organisations support or diminish workers ability to manage these environments.

Hosts:

Associate Professor Barbara Baird, Women’s and Gender Studies, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Flinders University, South Australia
Dr Ben Lohmeyer, College of Education, Psychology and Social Work, and member of the Social Work Innovation Research Living Space (SWIRLS), Flinders University, South Australia

Panellists

Professor Donna Baines, School of Social Work, University of British Colombia, Canada
Professor Sarah Wendt, Matthew Flinders Fellow, College of Education, Psychology and Social Work, and Director of the Social Work Innovation Research Living Space (SWIRLS), Flinders University, South Australia
Dr Kate Seymour, Senior Lecturer, College of Education, Psychology and Social Work, and member of the Social Work Innovation Research Living Space (SWIRLS), Flinders University, South Australia
Professor Sharyn Roach-Anleu, Matthew Flinders Distinguished Professor, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Flinders University, South Australia

Uncertainty and Child Protection - International Public Lecture by CSWIR and SWIRLS

SWIRLS AND CSWIR international public lecture – Uncertainty and child protection

This public lecture, presented by the Centre for Social Work Innovation and Research (CSWIR) at the University of Sussex in the UK and the Social Work Innovation Research Living Space (SWIRLS) at Flinders University in South Australia, is an ‘in conversation with’ presentation, where academics, and practitioners discuss how practice has adapted to the heightened sense of uncertainty engendered by the pandemic in everyday child protection social work. The unique perspectives of social work practitioners and managers from Australian and UK practice contexts are brought together in conversation with academic colleagues from SWIRLS and CSWIR.

Hosts:

Professor Gillian Ruch, Professor of Social Work in the Department of Social Work and Social Care and Co-Director of the Centre for Social Work Innovation and Research (CSWIR), University of Sussex
Dr Carmela Bastian, Senior Lecturer, College of Education, Psychology and Social Work, and member of the Social Work Innovation Research Living Space (SWIRLS), Flinders University, South Australia

Panellists

Lorna Miller-Cooper, Social Worker, Brighton and Hove City Council
Jody Satala, Principal Aboriginal Consultant, Southern Region, Department for Child Protection, South Australia
Julie Powell, Manager at Department for Child Protection, South Australia

Watch the lecture - Uncertainty and child protection

SWIRLS and CSWIR lecture - Social Work Registration: Changes, Challenges and Opportunities

SWIRLS and CSWIR lecture - Social Work Registration: Changes, Challenges and Opportunities

On World Social Work Day (Tuesday, 15 March 2022) SWIRLS and the University of Sussex's Centre for Social Work Innovation and Research (CSWIR) hosted an online event to discuss what the registration of Social Work means for values, principles and identity.

Investigator lecture - Challenging structures and changing policies to drive inclusion, diversity, equal rights and a voice for all

In this public lecture a discussion with industry leaders examines how innovation can drive diversity and equal rights for all.

Professor Sally Robinson, Professor in Disability and Community Inclusion at Flinders University (SWIRLS) is joined by Professor Richard Bruggemann, disability advocate and SA Senior Australian of the Year 2021; Tanya Hosch, Executive General Manager Inclusion & Social Policy with the AFL, and Helen Connolly, South Australian Commissioner for Children and Young People.

SWIRLS lecture - hands upraised: can social work activism help reduce violence against women?

SWIRLS lecture - Hands upraised: can social work activism help reduce violence against women?

Hosted by Professor Sarah Wendt, this public lecture aligned with the annual global 16 days of activism against gender-based violence. The lecture explores the relationship between activism and social work, recognising the critical role of activism in naming and responding to violence.

The event is presented as an in conversation with panellists Dr Kate Seymour, Senior Lecturer, Flinders University, Kimberley Wanganeen, Principle Aboriginal Consultant, Anglicare, and Maria Hagias, CEO, Women’s Safety Services South Australia.

Watch this lecture

BRAVE Flinders Research & Innovation Series - No where to call home

Watch Professor Sarah Wendt and Associate Professor Kristin Natalier discuss the social issues that lead women and children to experience homelessness and disadvantage.

You’ll hear more about their research conducted in partnership with Housing SA (Department of Human Services, South Australia), and their evidence-informed safety-first, housing-first approach for service system response.

Social transformation lecture - Service chaos amplifies family chaos

Every year South Australia welcomes about 20,000 newborn children into the world and around 3,700 of these children are in and out of home care, experiencing prolonged stress, neglect and trauma, and need service responses from multiple agencies and professions.

In this public lecture, Hosted by Professor Sarah Wendt, CEO of Relationships Australia Dr Claire Ralfs explores how family services may be professionally organised and clinically coherent, but vulnerable families still find family services chaotic, confusing, unresponsive and not integrated. Dr Ralfs presents on the need to identify and remove roadblocks to improve collaboration between services. She discusses how more holistic and standardised screening processes need to map strengths and vulnerabilities. Examples of restorative practices introduced in the UK are explored, including how ‘high challenge – high support’ strategies can shape services in the future.

She is joined by a panel of leaders from the sector to discuss ways to build a more integrated family service system in South Australia including Ms Ann-Marie Hayes, Executive Director, Early Years and Child Development at the Department of Human Services, Mr Craig Rigney, Chief Executive Officer, KWY and Ms Cathy Taylor, Chief Executive of the Department for Child Protection.

Social transformation lecture - Navigating complexity

Social transformation lecture - Service chaos amplifies family chaos

World renowned social work expert Emeritus Professor Eileen Munro of the London School of Economics visited the SWIRLS Research Centre to lead informative discussions about the changing context of social work and increasing demands of accountability and professional excellence experienced in the UK.

Professor Munro has written extensively on how best to combine intuitive and analytic reasoning in child protection risk assessment and decision-making, and the importance of understanding how systems’ factors influence workers’ actions. In 2011, she completed the Munro Review of the English Child Protection System.

In this public lecture, hosted by SWIRLS, Professor Munro, in partnership with the Department for Child Protection and Uniting Communities, presents on “Social Work with Children and Families”, explaining how complexity can be managed but not controlled. She explores the implications for social work in relation to its practice, and the limited predictability of human behaviour, along with outlining research into developing knowledge of universal applicability.

Symposium - Engaging men who use violence: invitational narrative approaches

The ANROWS qualitative study engaging men who use violence: invitational narrative practice explored how invitational narrative ways of working successfully engage men and enable behavioural and attitudinal change. The study explored the historical and philosophical foundations of invitational narrative practice, and the principles and skills that practitioners use in their work.

As an outcome of this project, ANROWS, in partnership with Flinders University and Uniting Communities, hosted a symposium for policy-makers and practitioners on invitational narrative approaches to engaging men who use violence. The symposium, led by Professor Sarah Wendt, explores the key findings of the research project.

To read the research report visit our Reports and publications section here.

To listen to the ANROWS Insights podcast episode - How do we engage men who use violence? - visit our Podcasts and webinars section here.

Download the presentation slides

BRAVE - Flinders Research & Innovation Series - Beyond the Bruise

Little is known about how social and geographical isolation shape women’s coping abilities and domestic violence service provision.

Domestic and family violence is more than just a headline; the actual work involved in responding to this complex issue is largely invisible and unknown. How can we best support the sector and workforce to tackle domestic and family violence to ensure the best outcomes for families as well as maintain a sustainable workforce?

In this lecture, Professor Sarah Wendt explores domestic and family violence, raising questions about the future of the domestic and family violence workforce and what we expect, as part of the BRAVE Flinders Research & Innovation Series.

ANROWS lecture – Seeking help for domestic violence: exploring rural women’s coping experiences

Little is known about how social and geographical isolation shape women’s coping abilities and domestic violence service provision.

This study engaged with five different types of social and geographical locations at sites in South Australia and Western Australia to explore how isolation impacts on different women’s abilities to seek assistance and cope with experiences of domestic violence.

Principle Chief Investigator, Professor Sarah Wendt presents at the ANROWS Inaugural National Research Conference.

Read the research report by visiting out Reports and publications section here.

For further information on this study please consult ANROWS website.