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ACU child protection institute celebrates 20 years of safeguarding

Australian Catholic University’s Institute of Child Protection Studies (ICPS) is celebrating 20 years at the forefront of efforts to safeguard children, support families, advocate for positive change, and improve child protection systems.

From conducting industry-leading studies, using evidence-based findings to inform policy and practices, educating the community and child-serving organisations, and amplifying voices and research through the media, ICPS has remained driven by its vision to champion children.

ICPS Director Professor Daryl Higgins described the milestone as a significant and proud time for former and current academics and support staff including Deputy Director Associate Professor Tim Moore and inaugural director, Emeritus Professor Morag McArthur.

“This is an important anniversary and opportunity to reflect on the vital research and advocacy work we have achieved as a team united by the mission to safeguard children,” he said. “But we know there is still so much more to be done and that we owe it to children everywhere to be as prolific in our investigations and calls for action during the next 20 years and beyond.”

ACU interim Executive Dean of Education and Arts Professor Phil Parker paid tribute to the efforts of ICPS staff since it was established in partnership with the ACT Government in 2005.

“Their work is a testament to what can be achieved when research is driven by compassion, rigour, and a deep commitment to the common good,” he said.

Among its achievements, the ICPS has:

• Completed more than 120 research projects and partnered with bodies including other universities, faith-based and secular non-government agencies, government departments, and statutory authorities.
• Published more than 329 papers in leading national and international journals.
• Hosted, addressed and attended hundreds of conferences and workshops with diverse stakeholders.
• Developed widely adopted child safeguarding tools and resources including the Keeping Kids Central toolkit, Protective Participation, the Safeguarding Children and Young People Portal, and the Tuned In online modules with the National Association for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect.
• Provided expert advice to multiple royal commissions and inquiries including the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, the Board of Inquiry into historical sexual abuse in Beaumaris Primary School and certain other government schools, and the Inquiry into responses to historical forced adoptions in Victoria.
• Helped shape the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations.
• Trained hundreds of safeguarding staff and supervised dozens of postgraduate students.
• Played a key role in the landmark Australian Child Maltreatment Study, which continues to provide Australian-first data on the prevalence and health impacts of single and multi-type maltreatment.
• Informed national policy, legislation, and practice across education, faith-based settings, disability services, and youth justice organisations.
• Worked on the international Data for a Safer Church project with Gallup to develop and pilot a global safeguarding survey to support the work of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.
• Amplified child safeguarding messages in the media to the wider community across traditional and new mediums, reaching hundreds of millions of readers, listeners, and viewers across the world.

The Institute will celebrate the 20-year milestone with a Learning, Listening, Leading conference co-hosted with the ACT Health and Community Services Directorate at ACU’s Canberra campus on November 18 to 19.

Professor Higgins said bringing researchers, practitioners, and policymakers together would be an ideal way to continue to build on the ICPS’s vital work and widespread impact well into the future.