Social welfare framework: System design and service system requirements for a holistic child protection system

Brief No. 1 referred to the trend of Australian State and Territory child protection systems to shift the balance from a ‘forensic’ investigation of suspected child maltreatment to one where a greater emphasis was placed on family support and the promotion of a ‘needs’ approach to the management of suspected child maltreatment cases. As Tomison notes (1998a), much of this change in practice systems came from the United Kingdom: an Audit Commission report (1994), and a research program implemented by the Department of Health and coordinated by the Dartington Social Research Unit, University of Bristol (Messages from Research).