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Research

The relationship between physical activity and child health and development is well-documented, yet the extant literature provides limited causal insight into the amount of physical activity considered optimal for improving any given health or developmental outcome.

Research

Father-child attachment during the first five years of life plays a vital role in child health and wellbeing but remains an under-researched area. Recently, self-compassion has emerged as a mechanism through which parent–child attachment may be optimized via its capacity to promote parental mental health and wellbeing, yet little is known about self-compassion among fathers specifically.

Research

Residents of rural areas internationally typically experience chronic disease risk profiles worse than city dwellers. Poor diet, a key driver of chronic disease, has been associated with unhealthy food environments, and rural areas often experience limited access to healthy, fresh and affordable food.

Research

Loneliness, a negative emotion stemming from the perception of unmet social needs, is a major public health concern. Current interventions often target social domains but produce small effects and are not as effective as established emotion regulation (ER)-based interventions for general psychological distress (i.e., depression/anxiety).

Research

In Australia, the health and education sectors provide universal early childhood services for the same population of children. Therefore, there is a strong imperative to view service use and outcomes through a cross-sectoral lens to better understand and address the service needs of young children and their families.

Research

School readiness is a construct used by educators and policy makers to describe a range of abilities that are beneficial for children transitioning to school. The association of socioeconomic disadvantage with developmental vulnerability when children start school is well established. Parents play a crucial role in supporting children’s transition to school and are acknowledged as their child’s first and foremost teacher.

Research

Strong evidence supports our current understandings of student bullying behaviours and ways schools can prevent and respond effectively to bullying behaviour. In the late 1990’s, however, little was understood about the most effective ways to reduce bullying in Australian schools. In response to schools’ need for evidence-informed action, a pipeline of research called Friendly Schools was initiated in 1999 which for the past twenty years, has provided robust whole-school evidence-based knowledge and skills to support policy makers, school staff and other practitioners working in schools and families across Australia.

Research

Australia likes to call itself the land of the "Fair Go". But what does a Fair Go mean for students from backgrounds of deep disadvantage? The UN Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 aim to ensure "inclusive and equitable quality education and [to promote] lifelong learning opportunities for all" (United Nations, 2015).

Research

Australians who are Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET) and receive income support span a wide spectrum of working ages. Australian research has concentrated on NEETs aged 15-29 years, in line with international standards. This paper investigates extending the NEET concept to include all working age persons 15-64 years and the value added to welfare policy through analysis of a new linked dataset.

Research

Childhood obesity is one of the most serious public health challenges of the 21st century and is affected not only by individual choice but also by societal and environmental influences. Childhood obesity is higher in children living in regional and remote compared with major cities, in one-parent families and for those with a disability.