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Family Inclusive Child Protection Practice: The History of the Family Inclusion Network and Beyond

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 May 2014

Frank Ainsworth  and
John Berger
Frank Ainsworth*
Affiliation:
School of Social Work and Community Welfare, James Cook University, Townsville campus, Queensland 4811, Australia
John Berger
Affiliation:
Chief Executive Officer, St Bartholomew House, East Perth, Western Australia 6004, Australia
*
address for correspondence: Dr Frank Ainsworth, PhD, Senior Principal Research Fellow (Adjunct), School of Social Work and Community Welfare, James Cook University, Townsville campus, Queensland 4811. E-mail: frankainsworth@hotmail.com
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Abstract

This article records briefly the history of the Family Inclusion Network as an organisation that promotes family inclusive child protection practice. Since its inception in Queensland in 2006, Family Inclusion Network organisations have been formed elsewhere and now exist in Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania, Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales. In 2010, developments at a national level saw the formation of the Family Inclusion Network Australia. Most organisations are incorporated and some have achieved charitable status. Each organisation endorses a common set of aims and objectives. There are, however, differences in terms of whether state or territory organisations accept government funding or not, are staffed by professionals or rely entirely on volunteer personnel, and have a capacity or otherwise to provide direct casework services to parents. Some state organisations focus on information and advice services, and legislative and policy reform efforts. All have telephone advice lines and a webpage presence. This article also focuses on a code of ethics for child protection practice and on the contribution parents can make to child protection services, and their rights to do so.

Keywords

family inclusivecode of ethicsparental rights
Type
Special Section: Moving beyond protection: Inclusiveness and families
Information
Children Australia , Volume 39 , Issue 2 , June 2014 , pp. 60 - 64
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2014 

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