Children and the Law: Contemporary Approaches to Children and Vulnerability

This special issue of Australian Social Work explores “Children and the law: Contemporary approaches to children and vulnerability”, canvassing such issues as the protection of children under the law, child welfare and family law, and the vulnerability of specific groups of children. The issue examines the intersection between child welfare and the law in policy agendas, and the effectiveness of systems designed to respond to children’s vulnerability, as well as their rights.

The rapid growth of the reach of child protection services and the need for legal interventions challenges policymakers, professionals, and governments. While there has been recent attention paid to responding to specific groups of children, negligible attention has been paid, for example, to children in the justice system, the exploitation of children, and gaps in child advocacy. There is still much more research required about the intersection of the law with children’s lives and the breadth of concerns associated with this, ranging from education, health services, and recreation, to the media.

Articles included in this Issue address themes such as the ambiguity and ambivalence about what constitutes child maltreatment and what ought to be statutory intervention (Sheehan, 2019; Shlonsky, Ma, Jeffreys, Parolini, & Katz, 2019); changes in family formation and relationship structures (Brandon, Philip, & Clifton, 2019; Luu, Wright, & Cashmore, 2019; Mackieson, Schlonsky, & Connolly, 2019); the increased role of legal institutions in children’s lives, often with uncertain consequences (Goodman-Delahunty, Martschuk, Powell, & Westera, 2019; Villeneuve, Dufour, & Turcotte, 2019); and the alignment of interventions and policy with national obligations under the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child (Brandon et al., 2019; Saunders, 2019; United Nations, 1989); and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (Tilbury, 2019; United Nations, 2008).

We believe this special issue offers a cohesive presentation of important topics in this field. The articles are from both international and national authors. They address both emerging issues and longstanding problems recast within contemporary discourses. There are a mix of research papers providing a vital empirical foundation for action, and commentary papers that analyse and explain the effects of current approaches on children. They also show up some gaps in protections, such as the lack of children’s voice in decisions about adoption and permanent care, and the lack of attention to the specific rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. In the field of child rights and welfare, there are many rhetorical commitments in legislation and policy that are not followed through with tangible action.

The papers in the special issue all highlight an important challenge for social work, with its linkage or intermediary role—we are part of the system while at the same time seeking to change it to better protect the least powerful. Social workers are frequently standing at the intersection between the rights of adults and children in decision-making; they are aiming to address the gaps between the codified law and its implementation; and they negotiate and advocate for child citizens within social institutions. We hope the special issue provides insights and information to stimulate social work theorising about new ways to frame problems and design solutions that improve the protection of children in law, policy and practice.