Institute of Child Protection Studies

Children and young people do best when they live and grow in safe and thriving families and communities. Their safety and wellbeing are central to our work. Understanding their experiences and providing them opportunities to inform our work helps us create evidence-informed solutions for services, systems, policies and practices. Together we can play a part in fostering thriving communities.

Institute of Child Protection Studies

Our research themes

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Approaches to child maltreatment

Understanding the nature and extent of child abuse and neglect at personal, societal and systems levels to help organisations and governments prevent and respond to maltreatment.

More on maltreatment
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Safeguarding children in institutions

Understanding effective safeguarding practices that build child-safe cultures and environments, and helping institutions understand how to apply the evidence

More on institutions
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Informing service provision

Identifying ways to support educators, policy makers, and practitioners in community services with initiatives that are focused on the child, youth and family.

More on services
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Child protection systems, services and practice

Focusing on the needs and experiences of children in statutory care and ways to strengthen services and processes.

More on protection systems
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Research about children and families

Working with children, young people and families to inform policies, practices and programs.

More on children and families
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Child-centred and child-informed research

Shaping policies, programs and practices through child-centred research and practice

More on child-centred research

Our news and events

News
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Our partnership with ACT HCSD

The Institute of Child Protection Studies at Australian Catholic University was established in January 2005 to carry out high quality practice research, evaluation and professional development to enhance outcomes for children, young people and their families. It was established as a partnership between the then ACT Department of Disability, Housing and Community Services (DHCS) now known as HCSD and the University. The Directorate also contracts the Institute to carry out various projects.

More about our work

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Advocating for change

Our work is informed by research and driven by a passion to improve the lives of children and young people.

More on change
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Our expertise

The ICPS aims to influence policy and practice to achieve positive social change, enhancement of the common good, and improved outcomes for children, young people and families.

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Safeguarding children portal

The Safeguarding Children and Young People portal links organisations to resources, training and up-to-date research, helping them create an environment that’s transparent and accountable for keeping children safe.

Visit our Safeguarding children portal

Talk to our team about your research

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