Studies show that aspirations for young people in care to go onto university are generally low, and that less than 6 per cent of care leavers attend university. Young people who have been in care are capable of achieving a higher education; however, often lack the support to do so. Care leavers should have access to the same higher education opportunities as their peers who have not been in care to set them up for a happy and fulfilling life.
Raising Expectations is a 3-year project funded by the Sidney Myer Fund. The project involves a cross-sectoral partnership between the child and family services sector – led by the Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare – Federation University Australia and La Trobe University. The aim of the initiative is to encourage young people in care, and those who support them, to recognise university as an education pathway.
The project team has developed a range of tools, resources, supports and services to support care leavers at university and to better inform and support carers, practitioners and educators working with young people in and who have left care.
The initiative is breaking new ground and will potentially lead to better informed and more effective policy and program responses to the educational challenges faced by young people in care. Care leavers, carers, OOHC workforce and educators are all likely to benefit and the project team is expecting that more care leavers will go on to university.

There are no set standards for child visitation. Child visitation generally requires that parents and children meet in a welfare or social service setting to interact while under supervision. Minimal research has explored the effectiveness of the approach and some research in the area has characterised the approach as ineffective in meeting the requirements of both children and parents. Further, limited research has explored the effectiveness of alternative forms of child visitation. One emerging alternative form of child visitation is visitation that takes place within a playgroup setting. Consequently, in this study five parents and a child protection worker were interviewed to ascertain their perspectives about their participation in a playgroup used for child visitation. Findings were populated into three themes including: socialisation for children and parents, learning opportunities for parents, and community resource access. Additionally, participants provided their opinions of how the approach differed from traditional visitation methods. It is apparent that child visitation through a playgroup setting may provide benefits for children and families which not experienced through traditional methods. It is important that research explores alternative methods as they may contribute towards child and parent reunification. Further research will also contribute to an evidence base to inform the playgroup approach.

For young people in out-of-home care, education is integral to their overall development and wellbeing, providing a gateway to future employment and life opportunities. Lost educational opportunities can have a cumulative negative effect on young people, and those in care are an ‘at risk’ group with demonstrated poorer educational results than other children.

This presentation highlights key findings from a large scale data linkage study which examined the academic performance of children and young people in care, as assessed by National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) test results. The study linked administrative data across multiple state and territories to compare the academic performance of children in care to that of other children sitting the NAPLAN tests. For those in care, the study also explored the influence on academic performance of factors such as Indigenous status, sex, language background, geographic location, living arrangements (e.g. foster care) and length of time in care.

The findings from this study have been used as a baseline measure for indicator reporting under the National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children. Continued monitoring will build the evidence base, informing policy, practice and support to help improve the outcomes for these young people into adulthood.