Children Australia is entering a new and exciting era in its development. After some 35 years as an academic and practice-oriented publication, the Journal is now set to continue this tradition, but also to broaden its scope in response to the increasing complexity of working with children, young people and their families and carers.

Over nearly four decades, we have enjoyed the support of a number of organisations, key activists in the field and practitioners. Established in 1976 under the title of Australian Child and Family Welfare, the Journal was published by the Children's Welfare Association in Victoria as the quarterly journal of the Child and Family Welfare Council of Australia and funded by the Children's Welfare Foundation. Publication of the journal coincided with a number of key policy changes through the 1970s, and in 1979, during the International Year of the Child, it addressed a range of themes that were paramount in the minds of academics and practitioners both in Australia and overseas. The 1980s saw new challenges in the sector, computerisation, the amalgamations of a range of children's agencies, and devolution of services from government in to the non-Government sector, together with major economic change. By the late 1980s, Australia was in recession and many in the sector were facing major organisational changes, particularly in Victoria under the Kennett government.

Each year many families relocate to live in new places, but disputes will not usually arise over this when the family is intact because the two parents, and perhaps the children, will reach the decision about shifting together. Nevertheless the move will mean these children are likely to experience the loss of familiar surroundings and close friendships, need to change (pre)schools and start afresh with many aspects of their lives. It is when the parents are already living apart that a proposed relocation by one of them might mean the Courts are called upon to examine the interests at stake and determine the outcome. Relocation in this context has particular poignancy for the children involved because, if their parent's application to relocate is approved by the Court, this might marginalise the role of their other parent in their life.

It is not, of course, uncommon for separated parents to have to move in the aftermath of their relationship breakdown as they re-establish themselves in separate households and negotiate their children's care and contact arrangements. However, when the proposed relocation by the resident parent involves moving such a distance from the non-resident parent that contact visits become problematic, then the potential for a major dispute exists. This is particularly so when there has been a pattern of frequent contact and the non-resident parent refuses to acquiesce in the move. While these cases can be very difficult to resolve by agreement, some separated parents are able to negotiate the relocation without seeking recourse to the legal system.

This paper reports on research investigating the educational status and needs of school-aged children in foster care placements. Using clinical data mining, data were collected about school experiences, attendance, educational achievements and needs, health needs and supports provided. The study found children faced enormous barriers to satisfactory participation and attainment at school. Improving educational outcomes depends upon successful linkages between the child protection, education and health care systems.

Young people leaving state care are undoubtedly among the most vulnerable groups in society. Despite their susceptibility to a range of problems in young adulthood, few Australian studies have examined how young people feel about leaving care and the supports they feel they - will need. This paper presents selected findings from the Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian's third survey of children and young people in foster and kinship care conducted in Queensland in 2009 which attracted 2727 responses. The paper focuses specifically on the views of 124 young people aged 16 to 18 years. Young people were surveyed on a range of issues including: leaving care, their health and wellbeing, education, placement histories, and perceptions of both their current placement and the care system in general. Findings indicate that most are optimistic about managing independent living but anticipate needing a range of supports, especially financial assistance and help finding accommodation. Over half would prefer to continue living with their foster or kinship care family and more than three-quarters would like ongoing contact with the family after they leave care.

Existing research findings indicate that young people from state care backgrounds experience higher rates of substance use and misuse than the general population. This study explored the nature of this relationship via semi-structured, qualitative interviews with four young people who had recently transitioned from state care and three workers in the out-of-home care field, plus a focus group with seven out-of-home care and leaving care workers. The findings suggest that a range of individual, interpersonal and systematic factors contribute to problematic substance use. They include the use of self-medication to address past and present trauma, a lack of meaningful and stable relationships, and state care policies and practices that lead to young people experiencing premature and unplanned exits from state care. Some significant implications for policy and practice are identified.

Becoming a parent and mother is ‘the irreversible crossing of the boundary from being someone's (daughter) to becoming someone's mother’ (Schmidt Neven 1996) and what we know of this transition for adopted women is still primarily anecdotal. Many women adopted during and after the 1970s in Victoria are still in the parenting life stage, and this paper describes the experiences of three of them. The women participated in qualitative, in-depth interviews that were part of a Master of Social Work research study

This article primarily takes a life course approach in eliciting themes of normative family experiences, delay of identity consolidation until the time of childbearing, the impact of search, reunion and divided loyalties, and the negotiation of multiple family systems (adoptive, in-law and birth). The management of these complex phenomena have demanded a high level of skill and effort by these women as they cope with their own emotional reactions, continue to be responsive mothers and assist their children and partners to negotiate new, extended, family relationships.

The study draws attention to and provides insight for practitioners in this hidden area of welfare and indicates the need for further research.

Child protection is a specialised field but it appears that few studies have attempted to define and explain the competencies, such as self-awareness, self-management and relationship-building, that are fundamental to child protection work. This paper suggests that the construct of emotional intelligence provides a useful framework for articulating these key areas of competence in child protection. To this end, a model of emotional intelligence competencies and associated skills is proposed. Workplace strategies for developing emotional intelligence in the context of child protection are then explored. These include reflective supervision, with its emphasis on thinking, feeling and doing, and interactive training exercises.