Speech and language impairment in the context of children who have experienced abuse and neglect is not well documented, with only a handful of controlled studies and research reviews on the relationships between maltreatment and children's communication development. More prevalent in the literature are reports on the deleterious effects of child abuse and neglect on overall childhood development, purporting effects on cognitive, affective, social and neurological development. However, the growth of communication skills is integral to a child's early development and is closely related to cognitive and social-emotional development. The experience of abuse and/or neglect has profound implications for a child's developing communication, supporting the inclusion of speech pathology in approaches to working with children and families in abusive and neglectful environments. This article reviews the literature on the relationship between communication development and childhood abuse and neglect. Data collected during the course of speech pathology intervention for abused and neglected children attending the Abused Child Trust's (Queensland) counselling service is also presented in order to highlight the need for the inclusion of this therapeutic modality in managing the developmental needs of this population of children.

Kinship care as a formal placement option has been steadily increasing over recent years, particularly in New South Wales. This paper draws on a report of research on kinship care in New South Wales, in which the two authors participated (Mason et al, 2002). In conducting the research, qualitative and quantitative methods were used to explore both ‘top down’ perspectives (from policy documents and statistics) and ‘bottom up’ perspectives (from child protection practitioners and those who experience policy as service recipients – kinship carers, young people in kinship care and parents of children in kinship care).

In this paper we briefly outline the research and discuss findings relating to definitions of kinship care, the extent of kinship care in NSW, decision making around the placement of children in kinship care, reasons given by participants for kinship care, and support for carers.

This paper reviews the introduction of the UK Looking After Children practice and management materials in a number of Australian States and Territories against the background of a comparative analysis of UK central government systems to prescribe standards of service and to monitor outcomes for children in care. The writer argues that the UK Labour government commitment to a ‘whole of government’ interventionist set of activities and processes is significantly more successful in driving child welfare initiatives than the more fragmented and secretive systems in Australian States. Finally, the writer reflects on the central influence of commissioned research in informing needs and service outcomes for vulnerable children and their families.

Placement breakdown has long been recognised as a serious problem in foster care, particularly for young people whose behaviour is seen as disruptive. This qualitative study conducted in South Australia examined recent unplanned placement changes (n=14) from the perspective of the young people involved Participants were eligible for the study if their social worker attributed their most recent placement move to carer request on the grounds of problem behaviour. There was a high level of agreement between participants and social workers on the problem behaviours, but a divergence of views on the reasons for the move. Participants' contextualising of their behaviour highlighted the complexity of the processes underlying placement disruption. The dominant theme to emerge from this study was the unhappiness of participants. Other problem areas noted were apparent lack of placement options, and exclusion of young people from placement decisions.

Family law in Australia is an important and unique jurisdiction that directly impacts upon the well-being and future family relationships of children whose families are in dispute over post separation parenting arrangements. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child states that children have the right to participate in decisions that directly affect them. But there are many barriers and tensions to children's participation in the jurisdiction of family law in Australia. Decisions said to be in the child's ‘best interests’ are influenced by value judgments and beliefs that are informed by dominant western discourses on the needs and competencies of children. In practice under the Family Law Reform Act 1995 children remain marginalised without an effective voice. Failure to hear the voice of the child is of special concern for children who have been traumatised by exposure to family violence and ongoing conflict. It is important to develop new understandings about children and the importance of giving children a voice.