A scoping review of 31 studies (2013–2023) examined why children and young people in out-of-home care in Australia spend unauthorised time away from placements. Findings show these absences often reflect efforts to seek safety, stability, connection, autonomy, and belonging, highlighting systemic shortcomings and the need for youth-informed practices that address needs both in care and while away.

After last year’s budget cuts to social services, including a NZ$14 million cut to early home visits, social services providers in New Zealand raised concerns about what the move would mean for children and families needing support.

The 2025 State of Care report by VOYCE – Whakarongo Mai shares the experiences of children and young people in care in New Zealand, focusing on whether they feel truly cared for rather than just how the system performs. Co-written with care-experienced youth, the report amplifies their voices to highlight what is working, what needs to change, and their hopes and recommendations for improving the care system.

Historic apology by PM Christopher Luxon comes after landmark report that exposed decades of abuse in state and faith-based care institutions.

This paper reports on a national policy analysis in Australia exploring how therapeutic residential care (TRC) is constructed in policy documents. One hundred and thirty-two relevant policy documents were analysed to identify the practices and the conditions that facilitate the development of relationships and connections.

Despite Indigenous, legal, children's and human rights advocates pointing out that harsher penalties for kids don't make the community safer, the Liberal National Party says it will follow through on its election promises about youth justice.

Samoa, a member of the Commonwealth, announced that it will host the 2024 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in October 2024 on the theme "One Resilient Common Future: Transforming our Common Wealth".

Children in residential care often have complex trauma histories and face significant placement instability, contributing to their overrepresentation in youth justice systems, where their experiences are not consistently understood or considered by legal decision-makers. This cross-national study in England, Wales, and Australia finds that systemic issues—such as lack of therapeutic support, punitive responses to behavior, and misuse of custody—continue to criminalize trauma and lead to long-term negative outcomes for children in care.

This paper draws on the experiences of children and young people (CYP) who have self-placed in out-of-home care (OOHC) in Queensland (Australia) and the impact of that choice on their participation in decision-making.

The objective of this study was to identify additional mental and neurodevelopmental health needs of Aboriginal children born in Western Australia, who are placed in out-of-home care (OOHC), relative to Aboriginal children born in Western Australia who were not placed.