Introduction

This book is volume one in a series of four volumes. The purpose of the four volumes is to introduce readers to psycho-legal concepts that are used in Australia’s twin court systems that manage child custody and child protection matters, with an overall aim of improving communication between the various stakeholders who participate in hearings in the court systems. The hope is that improved communication will lead to discussion about how systems should operate to meet the needs and best interests of vulnerable children, and especially to reduce mental health issues in vulnerable children. Ensuring the best interests of children is a complex matter, and requires input from different academic disciplines. It is considered essential that policies introduced by governments through legislation are based on sound information, remain updated, and lead to interventions that are practical and effective. This volume addresses policies used in Australia to meet the best interests of children. The volume is written from an Australian perspective as the Australian Government has taken many initiatives this century to improve the welfare of vulnerable children. The volume describes the administrative context in Australia, including policy principles that are used at a national level to guide the conduct of professionals. Volume 2 describes the ethical and legal issues for mental health professionals who work with vulnerable families. Volume 3 addresses the need for high-quality assessment instruments when assessing distressed families, to ensure that reports provided by assessors to court are as objective as possible. Volume 4 summarises international research about therapy interventions that have been shown to be effective with vulnerable families.