References

50 entries

Academic and Government References

• Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2023). Personal safety, Australia, 2021–22. abs.gov.au
• Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2025). Marriages and divorces, Australia. abs.gov.au
• Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2026). General social survey: Summary results, Australia, 2025. abs.gov.au
• Australian Council of Social Service, & UNSW Sydney. (2025). Poverty in Australia 2025: Overview. ACOSS/UNSW Poverty and Inequality Partnership. povertyandinequality.acoss.org.au
• Australian Disaster Resilience Knowledge Hub. (n.d.). Helping Hands: Disaster resilience curriculum for early childhood educators. schools.aidr.org.au
• Australian Human Rights Commission. (2026). Children's rights: Maltreatment, justice and safety. humanrights.gov.au
• Australian Institute of Family Studies. (2023). Families and family composition. aifs.gov.au
• Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2022). Australia's children: Children with mental illness. aihw.gov.au
• Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2025). Closing the Gap targets: Key findings and implications — Early childhood education. doi.org/10.25816/gqtf-2k57
• Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2026). Australia's health 2026. Australian Government. aihw.gov.au
• Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre. (2024). Child poverty in Australia 2024: The lifelong impacts of financial deprivation and poor-quality housing on child development. Curtin University. bcec.edu.au
• Bourdieu, P. (1986). The forms of capital. In J. Richardson (Ed.), Handbook of theory and research for the sociology of education (pp. 241–258). Greenwood.
• Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment and loss: Vol. 1. Attachment. Basic Books.
• Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Harvard University Press.
• Department of Education. (2024). Cheaper Child Care continues to deliver cost of living relief for families [Media release]. Australian Government. ministers.education.gov.au
• Department of Education. (2025). More than $7,000 cut in child care costs as cheaper child care delivers cost of living relief [Media release]. Australian Government. ministers.education.gov.au
• Department of Education. (2026). Closing the Gap in early childhood. Australian Government. education.gov.au
• Department of Health, Disability and Ageing. (2026). National Child and Adolescent Mental Health and Wellbeing Study. Australian Government. health.gov.au
• Department of Social Services. (2022). National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022–2032. Australian Government. dss.gov.au
• Department of Social Services. (n.d.). Growing up in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. Australian Government. dss.gov.au
• Grace, R., Bowes, J., & Woodrow, C. (2022). Children, families and communities (6th ed.). Oxford University Press Australia.
• Karst, P. (2000). The invisible string. DeVorss & Company.
• Masurel, C. (2001). Two homes. Candlewick Press.
• Minuchin, S. (1974). Families and family therapy. Harvard University Press.
• Mission Australia. (2025). Youth survey 2025: Cost of living and mental health top concerns. missionaustralia.com.au
• Muir, A. F., & Lawson, S. (2020). Family. Magabala Books.
• National Mental Health Commission. (2021). National Children's Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy. Australian Government. mentalhealthcommission.gov.au
• O'Donnell, J., Falkiner, A., & Szachna, K. (2026). Mapping social cohesion 2025: Social connections through troubled times. Scanlon Foundation Research Institute. scanloninstitute.org.au
• Percival, T. (2019). Ruby's worry. Bloomsbury Children's Books.
• PS News. (2026, July). Government celebrates gap being closed on First Nations children enrolled in preschool. psnews.com.au
• Putnam, R. D. (2000). Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of American community. Simon & Schuster.
• Roberts, J. (2016). Why do families change? Orca Book Publishers.
• Robertson, C. (2015). Just the way we are. New Frontier Publishing.
• Salvation Army Australia. (n.d.). Poverty in Australia: Statistics & facts. salvationarmy.org.au
• Sturgis, B. R. (2015). Still a family: A story about homelessness. Albert Whitman & Company.
• UNICEF Australia. (2024). Three ways climate change is changing childhood in Australia. unicef.org.au

Image Sources (Figures)

• Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2023). Childhood abuse, 2021–22 financial year. abs.gov.au — Figure 5a
• Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2026). General social survey: Summary results, Australia, 2025. abs.gov.au — Figures 1a, 2a, 3a and 4a
• Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre. (2024). Child poverty in Australia 2024. Curtin University. bcec.edu.au — Figure 1c
• Mission Australia. (2025). Youth survey 2025. missionaustralia.com.au — Figure 4b
• O'Donnell, J., Falkiner, A., & Szachna, K. (2026). Mapping social cohesion 2025. Scanlon Foundation Research Institute. scanloninstitute.org.au — Figures 1b, 2b and 3b

Photography Credits

• Radic, I. (2019). Little girl playing with wooden blocks [Photograph, cropped]. Flickr. Licensed under CC BY 2.0. flickr.com
• Rawpixel. (n.d.). Several children's books on a shelf [Photograph]. Public domain (CC0). rawpixel.com
• McKinney, C. (2013). Wheel of colors [Photograph]. Flickr. Licensed under CC BY 2.0. flickr.com
• LeMay, W. (2018). Queen City Avenue, South Fairmount [Photograph]. Wikimedia Commons. Public domain (CC0). commons.wikimedia.org
• Argall, M. P. (2014). Playground swings [Photograph]. Flickr. Licensed under CC BY 2.0. flickr.com
• Seita, J. (2013). Eucalyptus tree [Photograph]. Flickr. Licensed under CC BY 2.0. flickr.com
• Pardo, M. (2015). The reading corner [Photograph]. Flickr. Licensed under CC BY 2.0. flickr.com
• National Park Service. (n.d.). Storm over Twentynine Palms [Photograph]. Public domain (CC0). rawpixel.com

Generative AI Bibliography

• OpenAI. (2026). ChatGPT (GPT-4o) [Large language model]. OpenAI. chat.openai.com