Respect and listening

Podcast: Voices in Action: Journeys in Care
Voices in Action: Journeys in care is a podcast by CREATE Foundation, giving a platform to children and young people with a care experience to talk about a range of issues that are important to them. Prepare to hear directly from young people as they share their views and provide insights for reforms to the care system. More >

Climate Action and the UNCRC: A ‘Postpaternalist’ World Where Children Claim Their Own Rightsr
Traditionally, it is assumed that children are ‘given’ rights by adults, such as the right to be heard, but youth climate activists are taking control of their own rights, becoming active participants in a way never seen before. More >

WHO Youth Council: ‘Our voices are vital for the future world’
A global alliance of young people has developed the Youth Declaration on Creating Healthy Societies, aimed at ensuring youth plays a central role in creating a healthier world. More >

Yarning to save lives
Project Yarn Circle, a school-based initiative for First Nations students, has reduced suicidal ideation by using traditional yarn circles to share cultural knowledge, involving Elders and artists to teach storytelling, bush tucker, dance, and Indigenous languages, helping students feel connected to their heritage and future. More >

Enjoying and achieving

Thinking about ‘travel schooling’? These Aussie families say it’s been life-changing
Education department data shows there’s been a steep increase in the number of children being homeschooled across Australia. Families say their children often receive more support and stability than in mainstream classrooms. More >

Autistic students often confront challenges in class. Could ‘more creativity in the curriculum’ change that?
Former students are calling for more flexible learning, and say a revised approach would have helped them when they were at school. Recommendations include allowing students to pick their topics and assessment formats, and a holistic re-imagining of the education system where teachers are supported to allow that to occur. More >

AERO’s trajectories can support educators to better understand children’s development
AERO’s Early Childhood Learning Trajectories guide helps educators assess children’s learning progression in five key domains: executive functions, social-emotional learning, mathematical thinking, language and communication, and physical development. More >

Participation

Empowering Aboriginal youth: The Young, Strong, & Deadly program’s impact on health and wellbeing
This program offers a culturally appropriate solution to address the many challenges faced by Aboriginal youth, including economic hardship, lack of transportation, and social isolation. More >

Banning kids from social media? There’s a better way
Teaching children to use technology appropriately is not a new challenge but the government believes the danger is so acute that it is proposing drastic measures: social media platforms would be banned from serving children and must use ‘age-assurance’ technologies to keep kids out. However, computer scientists have yet to develop any age assurance technology that is simultaneously private, accurate and reliable. More >

Youth program engaging thousands of young people after dark
The PCYC After Dark ‘Drop In’ program allows young people, aged 12 to 18, to participate in free, weekly sports sessions to improve their physical and mental health, while fostering positive relationships with police. More >

Open letter regarding proposed social media bans for children
This open letter, signed by over 140 Australian academics, international experts, and civil society organisations, argues a ‘ban’ is too blunt an instrument to address risks effectively and any restrictions must be designed with care. More >

The digital lives of young LGBTIQ+ people
This report found that young LGBTIQ+ people use the internet to express themselves creatively, access support and connect with others, highlighting how important it is for them to have access the internet to learn about the world and communicate with like-minded people. More >

Prepared for adult life

It’s Not Love: teaching resources about positive relationships
It’s Not Love explores the themes of healthy and unhealthy relationships, including behaviours relating to interpersonal relationship abuse (peer on peer and familial). The resources seek to prevent harmful sexual behaviours and coercive control that may lead to adult domestic violence and abuse in intimate partner relationships. More >

Youth workforce participation hindered by mental health crisis in spotlight this Mental Health Month
Through their specialised programs, atWork Australia offers tailored support, including career counselling, mental health resources and workplace accommodations to help young people overcome mental health challenges. More >

Health and wellbeing

Gambling and teens: Concern among parents
The latest National Child Health Poll from The Royal Children’s Hospital investigated the level of concern that Australian parents have about gambling for their teens as well as the rates at which they are discussing this topic at home. More >

Only 1 in 7 children meet global health guidelines, researchers discover
Exercise, sleep well, don’t spend too much time on screens. New research shows only 14 per cent of children aged three to four years old meet the global recommendations for physical activity, sedentary screen time, and sleep. More >

Harnessing the feed: social media for mental health information and support
This study finds while young people are using their favourite social platforms for mental health information, they often approach them with scepticism and clear awareness of their limitations and point to shortcomings in design and content quality, proposing initiatives to combat addiction, filter harmful content and promote credible information. More >

ABC Soundwalks
Soundwalks paint rich, audio landscapes for children to explore, using different guided relaxations. From working through big feelings and letting go of stress, to finding joy or getting ready for the day, Soundwalks uses the soothing sounds of Australian nature to help kids connect with the present, and themselves. More >

One in 10 Australian parents struggling to afford vaccinations for children
The national vaccination insights project surveyed 2,000 Australian parents of children under five and found the biggest barrier to turning declining vaccination rates around were the practical difficulties parents face. More >

Review of the Reconnect program
This review investigates the appropriateness, efficiency and effectiveness of the Reconnect program, which targets the early intervention and prevention of child and youth homelessness, finding Reconnect is effective but would benefit from stronger integration with other systems and enhanced data reporting and monitoring. More >

Climate change-related worry in children and young people: What does the research evidence say?
This article provides a summary of how climate change-related worry is described in research, how it is experienced and its mental health effects on children and young people. More >

Safe and nurtured

Out-of-home care for Indigenous children to be all Aboriginal-controlled
Australia’s child protection system will be transformed with a commitment from major non government organisations to let Aboriginal community controlled organisations take the lead with Indigenous children in out-of-home care. More >

The popularity of Temu continues to skyrocket, but its products may be putting customers at risk — and Australia has no laws to limit that
A CHOICE investigation into online retailer Temu found a number of its products were dangerous for use. All 15 Temu toys purchased at random failed testing against Australian safety regulations. More >

National review of child sexual abuse and sexual assault legislation in Australia
The review includes an analysis of Commonwealth, state and territory legislation, a review of national and international research, reviews and inquiries, and consultations with victims and survivors and expert stakeholders. It explores gaps and inconsistencies in the legislative landscape and their implications for victims and survivors. More >

Australia’s most common form of child abuse is on the rise, but isn’t being reported
Emotional abuse, a pattern of behaviours that damage a child’s sense of self-worth, impacting their emotional development, is now the most common form of child abuse in Australia, but is underreported. More >

Poverty and children in care
This UK report explores links between poverty and children entering the care system in research, and examines how abuse, neglect, deprivation, education, race, health, and welfare policies are intertwined. More >

Oversight Framework for children in care and youth detention
The SA Guardian for Children and Young People has developed an Oversight Framework to bring about greater accountability, transparency, and consistency in the care provided to children and young people in out-of-home care and youth detention, and to ensure their voices are heard and considered in decision-making processes. More >

Too many kids face bullying rooted in social power imbalances – and educators can help prevent this
Being at school among peers and friends can be exciting and positive for many children and youth but too many kids face the reality of being bullied because of some aspect of who they are. More >

Podcast: How domestic abuse affects children
Being exposed to domestic abuse is a form of child abuse and children don’t need to be directly involved for this to be the case. They may have seen, heard or experienced the effects of domestic abuse in the family and this can have a big impact on their behaviour, development, education and wellbeing. More >