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Liana Buchanan – A legacy of advocacy for children & young people
Podcast 38
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.
KCV Thanks Liana
Anne McLeish
Director
GPV/KCV
New rules governing the CIMS
Podcast 37
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.
In this podcast, lawyer Fleur Ward talks about how the DFFH has undertaken a review of CIMS procedures and has released a new set of guidelines. Carers need to be aware that it is quite easy for a report to be made and that if one is made, they need to listen to this podcast and contact their support agency immediately.
Physical punishment is harmful to Australian children
Podcast 36
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.
There are alternative effective discipline practices that don’t involve physical punishment. These evidence-based practices can help increase children’s understanding of why they are being helped to recognise that certain behaviours are not desirable.
Sixty-six countries have legislated against the use of physical punishment on children and a further 27 countries have committed to doing so. Why is Australia not one of them?
In this podcast KCV speaks with Professor Daryl Higgins, Director of the Institute of Child Protection Studies at Australian Catholic University (ACU) and member of the Ending Physical Punishment of Australian Children (EPPAC) advocacy campaign.
GPV/KCV Positive Discipline video
GPV/KCV is pleased to launch its video on positive discipline. It is a feature in the GPV/KCV campaign to ensure that physical punishment of children is made illegal across Australia.
The video is recommended as a gentle reminder that positive discipline can work. The video should be viewed in conjunction with reading written materials on positive discipline.
Non-physical types of discipline for children and young people (booklet)
Reasons not to hit children (article)
Physical punishment in Australia (video)
GPV/KCV commends signing the petition to have physical punishment made illegal across Australia.
https://www.change.org/p/end-physical-punishment-of-children-protect-australian-children
Family reunification and the law
Podcast 32
In this video/podcast Director of Kinship Carers Victoria, Anne McLeish, and lawyer Fleur Ward talk about the complex and vexed issue of family reunification for carer families.
They speak in detail about the reunification provisions in the Children, Youth and Families Act (Vic) and how the current one-size-fits-all foundation of these provisions could mean that they are not serving their intended purpose. The rights of carers to access information contained in children’s court orders is also clarified.
MORE INFORMATION
This video was developed and is owned by End Physical Punishment of Australian Children working group (EPPAC) & Parenting and Families Research Alliance (PAFRA ). The video is part of the national campaign to abolish physical punishment of children in Australia.
Cyber safety for children and young people
Podcast 31
In this podcast Susan McLean of Cybersafety Solutions answers many questions around helping children and young people to navigate the online world safely. Susan is acknowledged as Australia’s foremost expert in the area of cyber safety and young people.
MORE INFORMATIONIssues with Education for Children and Young People in Out-of-Home Care
Podcast 29
Victoria’s Commissioner for Children and Young People, Liana Buchanan, talks about her report ‘Let Us Learn’, tabled in the Victorian parliament in November 2023. The report shows that the education engagement and outcomes for children and young people in out-of-home care trail significantly behind those of their peers. Liana outlines reaction to the findings and discusses the recommendations.
Preparing for Access Visits
Podcast 27
Access or contact visits with biological family can be challenging and may produce a range of emotions in children in kinship care families. In this podcast, Adam Lyons, Managing Director of Lancaster Consulting, addresses the more common issues carers face in preparing the children in their care for access visits and outlines strategies for debriefing children afterwards.