Stabilities Amendment & Supporting Stronger Stable Families Amendment

In March 2026 the Victorian parliament passed two pieces of legislation that bring important changes to Victoria’s Child Protection system. The Children, Youth and Families – Amendment Stabilities Act came into effect on 12 May 2026, and the Amendment Supporting Strong Stable Families Act is due to commence later in 2026. These reforms are some of the most substantial reforms to the Victorian Child Protection System in more than a decade. In this episode Fleur Ward and Sarah Masters - Accredited Children's Law Specialists and Special Counsel at Coulter Legal - take us through the impact the changes will have of children and families in out of home care. 

Loneliness is rapidly becoming a serious problem right around the world.  For many years we have been hearing about the loneliness that many people feel. This podcast features Assoc. Professor Michelle Lim, who chairs the Ending Loneliness Together project funded by the Australian Government.

In 2024, GPV/KCV developed a statement reflecting its views. At its heart is a simple but powerful principle - that every child and young person has the right to know as much as possible about their biological family and personal history.

Supporting children and young people through this journey - with honesty, care and emotional safety - is an important part of the role many kinship carers hold.

In this episode, we speak with Dr Michelle Blanchard, CEO of VANISH, an organisation that supports people affected by past adoption practices, as well as care leavers and donor-conceived individuals.

Kinship carers play a vital role in nurturing children and young people who cannot live with their parents. Every child deserves to grow up in a loving and culturally connected home – and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child helps make sure of this. Australia has committing to upholding children’s rights. What does this mean for kinship carers? How do these international principles connect to the laws and systems that carers deal with every day?

In this podcast we speak with lawyer Fleur Ward, special counsel at Coulter Legal, and her colleague lawyer Molly Quinlan, who explore how the rights of the child apply in Victoria and show how knowing these rights can empower carers to advocate for the children in their care.

For many kinship carers, one of the biggest challenges is supporting a child’s education. Navigating enrolments, dealing with schools or early childhood services, managing tricky transitions and making sure the right supports are in place can feel overwhelming.

In this episode, we speak with Murray Geddes, Executive Principal of the South-East Victoria LOOKOUT Centre. LOOKOUT Centres were established by the Victorian Government to improve educational outcomes for children and young people in out-of-home care.

Murray explains how the centres work and what support they can offer kinship carers.

Kinship carers sometimes find themselves in complex situations. Consequently, they might be involved in challenging conversations with schools, case managers, family members and the children in their care. Knowing how to handle these conversations calmly and effectively is a key to making sure a child’s needs are understood and that carers feel respected, supported and empowered. 

Liana Buchanan has been a tireless advocate for children and young people. Appointed Principal Commissioner for the Commission for Children and Young People in Victoria in 2016, Liana was responsible for key initiatives like the Reportable Conduct Scheme and Child Safe Standards.

In March 2025 she was appointed Deputy Commissioner of the Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission (IBAC).

On her last day as Children's Commissioner, Liana spoke with KCV about the work of kinship carers and about the challenges and successes in her nine years in the role.

The Client Incident Management System (CIMS) is the program that investigates reports of incidents made against carers who may have mistreated children in their care.  There are reports made against kinship carers, but this does not happen very often.  Over the years, KCV has witnessed some serious breaches of carers' rights, particularly when a report is not upheld. Carers and children have been seriously affected by the unfairness of the processes over the years and are not compensated for years of trauma when a report is not upheld.

Evidence indicates that physical punishment can lead to increased anxiety or depression in adulthood, and the likelihood of people engaging in violence in later life.

In this podcast we speak with Professor Daryl Higgins, director of the Institute of Child Protection Studies at Australian Catholic University (ACU) and member of Ending Physical Punishment of Australian Children (EPPAC) advocacy campaign.

In this podcast, KCV speaks with researcher, writer and educator Dr Emma Goodall, the inaugural Director of South Australia’s Office for Autism. Dr Goodall, who is the parent of an autistic adult, has worked extensively in the area of autism, education, research and public policy, and teacher training.

Dr Goodall defines autism and neurodiversity, explains how autism can present differently in different genders, and outlines key things carers need to understand about neurodivergence in order to better support the children and young people in their care. She also offers some approaches to help autistic and neurodiverse children develop the skills to self –regulate their feelings and emotions to help with everyday tasks and situations.