Policy, research and submissions
Ensuring the voices of children, young people and their families are represented at all levels of government.
Last updated: 19 Sep 2025
Our commitment to representation and evidence-based solutions
We are dedicated to ensuring the voices of children, young people and their families are represented at all levels of government.
We are proactive in preparing submissions to governmental bodies and other relevant stakeholders. These submissions serve as powerful advocacy tools, highlighting the needs and concerns of children, families and the workforce that supports them.
Our research initiatives generate valuable insights into the challenges faced by children and families and potential solutions to address these challenges. With a firm commitment to evidence-based practices, our research not only informs our own work but also contributes to broader discussions and policymaking processes.
Our latest submissions
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Submission
Supports Not Funded by the NDIS
A guide to understanding the services, items. and equipment that don't qualify for NDIS funding.
Submission
NDIS Early Intervention Requirements
A guide to understanding the requirements needed to access NDIS early intervention services
Submission
Victoria State Budget Submission 2025-26
The Centre submitted recommendations for the Victorian State Budget 2025-26, advocating targeted investments in children, families and frontline services. We called for expanded affordable housing, bolstered early years support, and sustainable funding for family violence prevention and crisis systems. The submission emphasised closing service gaps in outer suburbs and regional areas, strengthening workforce capacity, and improving integrated support across health, education and social services. We urged greater attention to child and family wellbeing in Victoria’s fiscal settings. The aim is to ensure that the budget supports safe, stable futures for children and families experiencing vulnerability.
Submission
Child Safety Review
The Centre responded to the Federal Government’s National Child Safety Review, supporting stronger protections for children in early childhood education and care. We endorsed reforms to restrict use of personal digital devices, introduce mandatory child safety training, and expand regulatory powers to address misconduct. Our submission backed a nationally consistent Working with Children Check system, improved information sharing between regulators, and safer service design standards. We also highlighted the need to protect vulnerable children from enrolment cancellations. These reforms, if implemented, will strengthen accountability, build workforce capability, and create safer learning environments for all children.
Treating Families Fairly
Treating Families Fairly is an alliance of child and family service organisations, peak bodies, and academic experts advocating for fair and respectful social policy.
Formed in 2017, the alliance emerged in response to concerns about the impact of conditional welfare policies on families and the services that support them. Our work highlights the critical link between poverty, social security systems, and child and family wellbeing. We call for policy reform upholding dignity, reducing harm, and building a more equitable future for all families.
Latest policy and research news from the Centre
The Centre shares report on AI in the social work profession
06 Nov 2025
The report responds to the sector's call for guidance on AI and sets out to explore how AI can support social work practice while highlighting the need for ethical, human-centred use.
August Research Review
28 Aug 2025
August's Research Review explores research on children’s participation in child protection processes, the economic case for Aboriginal-led child and family services, as well as factors preventing disclosures of child sexual abuse.
July Research Review
28 Jul 2025
July's Research Review features research on basic income for care leavers, experiences of students with disability in Australian universities and effective supports for first-time fathers.The latest Research Review
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External Link
The radicalisation of boys – Jess Hill, George Megalogenis, Thomas Mayo with Natasha Mitchell at Byron Writers Festival
This panel discussion from ABC’s Big Ideas podcast explores the radicalisation of boys through misogynist online subcultures. Recorded live at the 2025 Byron Writers Festival, host Natasha Mitchell speaks with Jess Hill, Thomas Mayo and George Megalogenis about the rise of the 'manosphere' and 'incel' communities, and their impact on boys’ wellbeing, identity and relationships. Drawing on journalism, activism and lived experience, the speakers unpack how these ideologies spread, why they resonate and what parents, educators and communities can do to respond.
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Include me, don’t exclude me: The experiences of children and young people who have been suspended or excluded from Queensland state schools
This report by the Queensland Family and Child Commission captures the lived experiences of children and young people suspended or excluded from Queensland state schools. Drawing on interviews with 34 children and young people and four of their parents or carers as well as departmental data, the report finds that School Disciplinary Absences (SDAs) disproportionately affect First Nations children, children with disability and those in OOHC. Participants reported feeling unheard, unsupported and disconnected from learning. The report recommends embedding child rights education, improving teacher capability and expanding restorative practices to ensure inclusive, high-quality education for all.
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Freeing teachers to teach: Unlocking productivity through classroom support
This paper from the McKell Institute critiques national education reform proposals and calls for targeted investment in classroom support to improve teacher retention. Drawing on sector analysis and teacher feedback, the report argues that administrative overload, not lesson planning, is the key driver of burnout with up to 106 million hours annually lost to non-teaching tasks. It warns that centralised lesson banks and AI tools risk deskilling teachers and undermining their professional autonomy, especially in disadvantaged schools. The authors advocate for specially resourced administrative staff and caution against reforms that treat teaching as content delivery rather than skilled, relational work.
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Equity insights 2025: Policy, power, and practice for a fairer Australian tertiary education system
This report from the Australian Centre for Student Equity and Success brings together 22 contributors to assess equity challenges and opportunities in Australian higher education. Cost-of-living pressures, disability exclusion and the divide between vocational and university pathways are just some of the persistent barriers highlighted in the report. Contributors call for systemic reform, such as needs-based funding, inclusive design, student voice and Indigenous-led governance, and argue that equity must be embedded in institutional culture, not treated as an add-on.
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The Centre’s membership benefits build collaboration, advocacy, and capacity within the child and family services sector, ensuring a more resilient and supportive environment that provides better outcomes for children and families.
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