Our research strengths

Our research strengths include:

• Promoting children's participation: Eliciting the views and experiences of children and young people, and advocating for their meaningful participation, to enhance policy, practice, theory and research.
• Strengthening service systems and informing practice: Building knowledge and enhancing capacity to improve the safety and wellbeing of children, young people and families.
• Supporting child-safe communities: Promoting the safety of children and young people in policies, practice, organisations, families and communities.

The Institute of Child Protection Studies is committed to ensuring that our knowledge and research is accessible to those who support children, young people, families and their communities.

This page provides information on current and completed projects, and includes accompanying reports. To view all ICPS publications (including reports, journal articles, papers and other resources), visit publications.

Current research and other projects

• ACU Safeguarding children and young people portal
• A safeguarding system for Catholic Church communities in Australia
• Australian Child Maltreatment Study
• Beyond safety: Ethical practice with children
• Children and Young People’s Safety Project
• Children’s Safety in Tasmanian organisations
• Child-safe practices using contextual safeguarding strategies
• Corporal punishment: changing legislation and supporting parents
• Effective teaching strategies for child sexual abuse prevention
• Gambling: lived experience of help-seeking in the presence of gambling-related harms and co-existing mental health conditions
• Gambling harm experienced by children of gamblers: the hidden voices
• Kids Central Toolkit: resources to support child-centred practice
• Mental ill-health: stigma and discrimination in family court or child protection
• Patterns of family contact for children in care
• Practices that build trusting relationships, recognition and positive social connections in therapeutic residential care
• Preservation and restoration services in the ACT
• Public health approach to protecting children
• Queensland Intermediary Scheme evaluation
• Safeguarding children at Carelink
• Service system responses and culturally designed practice frameworks to address needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children exposed to domestic and family violence
• State intervention with babies study
• Suicidal behaviour in children in child protection and out-of-home care - a review of effective interventions
• Young South Australians aspirations for parenting

Completed projects

• View our completed projects from 2010 - 2022
• View our completed projects from 2005 - 2009

About our research and services

ICPS provides a range of services, including small and large-scale research projects, designing research methodologies for partners, developing evaluation frameworks, providing consultancy support, and delivering training and professional development opportunities.

Collaborative research

ICPS undertakes research in collaboration with other community and research-based organisations that are interested in inquiry into the care and protection and general well-being of children and young people. We have worked with a number of programs and organisations that develop innovative programs.

Project design

ICPS designs individual research methodologies for research partners. Qualitative and quantitative methodologies are employed. Research tasks may include: literature reviews; design and analysis of surveys; interviews with key stakeholders, including service users; facilitation of focus groups and workshops; and document analysis.

Evaluation research

A key activity of ICPS is to provide evaluation research services. For further information about the types of evaluations that ICPS staff have undertaken, see Current and Previous Work.

Training and professional development services

ICPS can provide training and professional development opportunities to a range of stakeholder groups, including those who support children, young people and families. ICPS staff have expertise in the following areas:

• Action research
• Child-centred practice
• Research with children about sensitive issues
• Evaluation - developing an evaluation framework: process and outcome evaluations, developing program logics, what constitutes evidence