Findings from the Centre of Research Excellence in Childhood Adversity and Mental Health

Published

Wednesday, March 12, 2025 - 9:32 AM

The Centre of Research Excellence in Childhood Adversity and Mental Health (CRE) was a five-year research program (2019- 2023) led by Professor Harriet Hiscock and co-funded by Beyond Blue and the National Health and Medical Research Council. The CRE brought together families with lived experience of adversity, practitioners, researchers and policymakers from health, education, social care, and legal sectors to prevent the mental health burden experienced by children and families.

The CRE began by searching the literature to identify practices and programs to prevent adversities and their effects. The CRE then codesigned, implemented, and evaluated two Child and Family Hubs to bring these practices to life. The Hubs co-locate health, social care and legal practitioners to create a ‘one stop shop’ to better detect and respond to child and family adversity. CRE research teams in VIC and NSW supported Hub practitioners to assist families experiencing adversity. CRE evaluations showed that families attending the Hubs experienced fewer adversities, fewer child mental health problems, warmer parenting and increased support to manage adversities, especially those requiring legal, financial or social supports.

The CRE scoped the Australian policy environment to identify policies on childhood and family adversities. The CRE used this and other evidence to inform a national symposium on "What should Australia do about Childhood Adversity?" generating and then prioritising policy, practice and research ideas including with consumers.

The CRE supported 4 PhD students, published/in press 28 papers, 6 policy briefs and secured an extra $5.8M in funding. It also set up the following initiatives over its five-year lifespan.

• The National Child and Family Hubs Network (Network)
  • Arising from the CRE, the Network includes 1150 individuals and organisations and provides a collective voice to government to support the work of Hubs. Through the Network, the value of Hubs is recognised within key policy documents including the federal Early Years Strategy, Productivity Commission Inquiry into the ECEC as well as Head to-Health Kids Hubs, NSW Brighter Beginnings, and the South Australian Royal Commission into ECEC recognising the value of integrated Hubs. The Network, Beyond Blue, Social Ventures Australia and Prevention United are calling for integrated Hubs as a solution to address child and family adversity in Australia.
• Researcher-in-Residence (RiR) program
  • The CRE attracted $500,000 in philanthropic and community health funding to establish a RiR program across 4 Child and Family Hubs in metro and rural Victoria and Norfolk Island. The RiR built capacity in community health staff in evaluation and monitoring, reduced the gap between research and practice, and increased use of knowledge translation practices.
• eHubs
  • Building on the work of physical hubs developed through the CRE, the Child and Family eHub (NHMRC Partnership grant APP2010493) offered a comprehensive digital solution to connect families with trusted information, programs, and services in their local area. Integrating these services, supports and information helps families overcome the navigational barriers and burden for, improving access and use. A minimum viable product for the eHub has been developed with families and evaluated in 3 sites. Results are being analysed. Additionally, two PhD students have co-designed technology-assisted parenting programs for parents (i) with mental health problems and (2) facing adversity - which are now being trialled.

The (CRE) produced a suite of policy briefs summarising key information and findings from the five year initiative. The policy briefs cover:

• Minimising the effect of adverse childhood experiences
• How can we support practitioners to ask about and respond to family adversity?
• Health justice partnerships as early intervention in child and family service settings
• Can social prescribing and care coordination support families who experience adversity?
• Lived experience researcher involvement in Child and Family Hubs; and a
• Project Summary.

Congratulations to Professor Hiscock and the CRE team for their impressive work leading research and evidence to make a positive difference for children and families facing adversity.