Kinship Carers Victoria podcast series

In this podcast, KCV speaks with researcher, writer and educator Dr Emma Goodall, the inaugural Director of South Australia’s Office for Autism. Dr Goodall, who is the parent of an autistic adult, has worked extensively in the area of autism, education, research and public policy, and teacher training. Dr Goodall defines autism and neurodiversity, explains how autism can present

The effects of loneliness have been studied extensively worldwide, with experts agreeing on the importance of social interaction for our wellbeing.The research shows that being socially isolated or lonely is as bad for your health as smoking, obesity, substance abuse and other mental health issues.In previous studies by Kinship Carers Victoria, some carers have described feeling al

In this podcast, director of Grandparents Victoria and Kinship Carers Victoria Ann McLeish speaks with Trevor Cobbold, national convener of Save our Schools. Before retiring, Trevor was an economist with the Australian Government’s Productivity Commission and its predecessors for over 30 years. Trevor talks us through the economic and structural inequality in our education syste

In this video/podcast Director of Kinship Carers Victoria, Anne McLeish, and lawyer Fleur Ward talk about the complex and vexed issue of family reunification for carer families. They speak in detail about the reunification provisions in the Children, Youth and Families Act (Vic) and how the current one-size-fits-all foundation of these provisions could mean that they are not servin

Children and young people spend significant amounts of their lives online in the cyber world, but how do we ensure that their online experiences are safe? There are so many issues to consider: how do you tackle cyber bullying, deal with the threat of grooming of children, what is the right amount of screen time, how do you create a safe gaming environment? In this podcast Susan McL

What is neurodiversity? This is a term describing the idea that people experience and interact with the world in many varied ways but there is no one ‘right’ way of thinking, learning, or behaving, with these differences not viewed as deficits. Nikki Valentini, Clinical Nutritionist, functional medicine practitioner, and director of SuperNature Nutrition, joined Kinship Carers

In this podcast we speak with Victoria’s Commissioner for Children and Young People, Liana Buchanan, about the Commission’s ‘Let Us Learn’ inquiry report, tabled in the Victorian parliament in November 2023. The report shows that the education engagement and outcomes for children and young people in out-of-home care trail significantly behind those of their peers. Liana exp

Throughout our lives, grief is an unavoidable and essential part of what it is to be human. When individuals and families experience a loss, every member of the family can feel and process their grief in different ways. Grandparents, parents or carers face the difficulty of managing their caring role while knowing how to help children understand their grief – all whilst also tryi

Access or contact visits are where children in kinship care can spend time and engage with members of their biological or extended family. The visits can be formal or informal, and sometimes they are supervised by a professional, such as a child protection worker or agency worker, or even by the kinship carer themselves. In this podcast, we spoke with Adam Lyons, Managing Director

What does the latest research tell us about the benefits of play for the wellbeing of children and young people? The February 2023 edition of the Royal Children’s Hospital National Child Health Poll – Australian Families: How we play – has produced some findings of great interest to kinship carers.In this podcast we speak with paediatrician, researcher and child health advoca