Unit Outline

This unit engages students in a multi-disciplinary Community of Practice focused on understanding how children and young people become involved with statutory service systems, what their experiences of these systems are, and current directions for system reform and service improvement. The unit confronts the foundational impacts of poverty, trauma and violence in the lives of children and explores the difficult realities of mobilising complex care within and across community and government services. Adopting a child-centered, trauma-transformative approach, the unit unpacks the operation of Australian child protection and youth justice systems and services, children’s pathways through these, and foregrounds the different perspectives of children, families, practitioners, advocates, policy-makers and researchers. A public health lens is mobilised to highlight the positive role of prevention and early intervention in transforming child and family welfare policy and practice and minimising the traumatising impacts of children’s contact with statutory systems.

Intended Learning Outcomes

As per the Assessment and Results Policy 1.3, your results will reflect your achievement against specified learning outcomes.

On completion of this unit, you will be able to:


1	Explain the causes and nature of children’s involvement in child protection and youth justice systems
2	Evaluate the operations and effectiveness of child protection and youth justice systems
3	Engage with contemporary debates on child welfare policy, research, advocacy, practice and lived experience
4	Communicate your ideas clearly in written and verbal form

Requisites


REQUISITE TYPE	REQUISITES
Anti-requisite (mutual excl)	HGA237 and HGA437

Alterations as a result of student feedback

This unit has been substantially revised since 2025, including new unit coordinator and re-developed content with a focus on work-integrated learning across policy, research, advocacy and practice.

How will I be Assessed?

For more detailed assessment information please see MyLO.

Assessment schedule


ASSESSMENT TASK #	ASSESSMENT TASK NAME	DATE DUE	WEIGHT	LINKS TO INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES
Assessment Task 1:	Individual Reflection	Week 6	40 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4
Assessment Task 2:	Issues Pitch	Week 8	20 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4
Assessment Task 3:	Issues Briefing - Group Presentation	Week 12	30 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4
Assessment Task 4:	Engagement activities	Refer to Assessment Description	10 %	LO3

Assessment details

Assessment Task 1: Individual Reflection

Task Description:

With specific reference to the unit material Weeks 1-6 (essential readings and professional practice interviews), critically reflect on what you have learned about the strengths and weaknesses of contemporary child protection practice in Australia. This should include consideration of the tensions between system-produced protection and harm which both accompany child protection practice.

Task Length:

1500 words + references

Due Date:

Week 6

Weight:

40 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Identify and explain the strengths of child protection practice, with direct reference to unit materials	LO1, LO2, LO3
2	Identify and explain the weaknesses of child protection practice, with direct reference to unit materials	LO1, LO2, LO3
3	Communicate effectively in written academic work	LO4

Assessment Task 2: Issues Pitch

Task Description:

For AT3 you will adopt the perspective of a community sector Policy and Research Officer. Your task is to create an ‘Issues Pitch’ outlining a policy/practice problem in the delivery of child protection or youth justice services in Australia that you think your Policy and Research Team need to investigate further.

You may choose to focus on a very specific or broad problem. Regardless, your goal is to be clear about the importance of the problem and the need to solve it. You need to convince your team that further exploring this problem, and its solutions, should become priority work.

Your summary should include:
• Issues pitch title
• Clear statement identifying and defining the key policy/practice problem you are focusing on (50 words)
• Summary discussion of the policy/practice problem and its significance, drawing on relevant data sources which evidence the existence/nature/scale/impact of the problem (200 words)
• Summary discussion of solutions/responses drawing on relevant data sources which evidence the effectiveness of the solution/response proposed (200 words)
• References

Task Length:

450 words + references

Due Date:

Week 8

Weight:

20 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Clarity of child protection/youth justice policy/practice problem identification and definition	LO1, LO2, LO3
2	Effective synthesis of evidence of policy/practice problem	LO1, LO2, LO3
3	Effective synthesis of evidence of the policy/practice solution	LO1, LO2, LO3
4	Communicate succinctly in written academic work	LO4

Assessment Task 3: Issues Briefing - Group Presentation

Task Description:

For AT4 you will adopt the perspective of a community sector Policy and Research Team. Drawing from your individual ‘pitch’ work, your Community of Practice team’s task is to agree on a single policy/practice problem to further develop into a full Issues Briefing which:
• identifies and evidences (through reference to research and data) an existing policy/practice problem in the delivery of child protection and youth justice services in Australia
• proposes and justifies a policy/practice reform/intervention to address the identified problem
For the purposes of this task, an Issues Briefing from a community sector Policy and Research Team is a succinct and compelling presentation which describes, explains and evidences a policy/practice problem in a way which justifies the need and suggested pathway for solving this problem, whether through prevention, early intervention, response or tertiary prevention (or all of these!).

You may choose to focus on a very specific or broad problem. Regardless, the key is to consider how well your recommended solutions are matched to the problem you define as your goal is to convince State Government of the necessity and urgency of resource allocation to fix it.

As a team, prepare a jointly delivered presentation which includes the following:
• Clear identification and definition of the key policy/practice problem you are focusing on
• Explanation of the policy/practice problem and its significance, drawing on relevant data sources, quantitative and qualitative, which evidence the existence/nature/scale/impact of the problem.
• Explanation of solutions/responses drawing on relevant data sources, quantitative and qualitative, which evidence the effectiveness of the solution/response proposed
• Summary with 3-5 recommendations for action

Following the group presentation, students will have the opportunity to review the contribution of the other group members and provide feedback (via the Feedback Fruits Group Member Evaluation tool) and this will determine 30% of the overall grade for this assessment task.

Task Length:

10 minute group presentation during workshops (on campus and online) + submission of powerpoint presentation slides + Feedback Fruits Group Member Evaluation (1500 words + references equivalent)

Due Date:

Week 12

Weight:

30 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Evidenced evaluation of child protection/youth justice policy and operations	LO1, LO2, LO3
2	Alignment and justification of policy/practice solutions with problems identified	LO1, LO2, LO3
3	Effective public visual presentation	LO4
4	Effective public verbal communication	LO4

Assessment Task 4: Engagement activities

Task Description:

Undertake 10 (out of 12) weekly asynchronous online activities (e.g. Padlet boards, Feedback Fruits interactive materials, H5P objects, or discussion boards)

Task Length:

Various, refer to weekly activity descriptions

Due Date:

Refer to Assessment Description

Weight:

10 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Actively engage with weekly unit content	LO3

How your final result is determined

To pass this unit, you need to demonstrate your attainment of each of the Intended Learning Outcomes, achieve a final unit grade of 50% or greater, and pass any hurdle tasks.

Academic progress review

The results for this unit may be included in a review of your academic progress. For information about progress reviews and what they mean for all students, see Academic Progress Review in the Student Portal.

Submission of assignments

Where practicable, assignments should be submitted to an assignment submission folder in MYLO. You must submit assignments by the due date or receive a penalty (unless an extension of time has been approved by the Unit Coordinator). Students submitting any assignment in hard copy, or because of a practicum finalisation, must attach a student cover sheet and signed declaration for the submission to be accepted for marking.

Academic integrity

Academic integrity is about acting responsibly, honestly, ethically, and collegially when using, producing, and communicating information with other students and staff members.

In written work, you must correctly reference the work of others to maintain academic integrity. To find out the referencing style for this unit, see the assessment information in the MyLO site, or contact your teaching staff. For more detail about Academic Integrity, see Important Guidelines & Support.

Requests for extensions

If you are unable to submit an assessment task by the due date, you should apply for an extension.

A request for an extension should first be discussed with your Unit Coordinator or teaching support team where possible. A request for an extension must be submitted by the assessment due date, except where you can provide evidence it was not possible to do so. Typically, an application for an extension will be supported by documentary evidence: however, where it is not possible for you to provide evidence please contact your Unit Coordinator.

The Unit Coordinator must notify you of the outcome of an extension request within 3 working days of receiving the request.

Late penalties

Assignments submitted after the deadline will receive a late penalty of 5% of the original available mark for each calendar day (or part day) that the assignment is late. Late submissions will not be accepted more than 10 calendar days after the due date, or after assignments have been returned to other students on a scheduled date, whichever occurs first. Further information on Late Penalties can be found on the Assessments and Results Procedure.