Child inclusive practice is founded on recognising children and young people as individuals with their own experiences, perspectives, and agency. While creating opportunities for children to express their views is an essential part of practice, listening is only the beginning. The real challenge lies in how practitioners respond to and meaningfully incorporate children’s views and perspectives into assessment, decision making, and therapeutic work. This year’s forum explores the principles and practice of working with children and young people in ways that genuinely recognise them as active participants, in their own right.

Child Inclusive Practice is the foundation for working with families accessing family dispute resolution services to ensure that children’s views and perspectives are actively heard and considered in determining parenting arrangements.  As family circumstances become increasingly complex and service systems continue to evolve, practice across a range of services, beyond family law, strive to ensure that children’s and young people’s views and experiences remain central while balancing safety, broader family needs, and the child’s best interests.

The forum will showcase innovative approaches, emerging evidence, and reflective practice from across the family and relationship services sector, providing opportunities to strengthen capability, share practical strategies and explore how child inclusive practice can continue to evolve across a range of service settings.

FRSA invites abstracts for presentations from all professional domains that promote the genuine participation of children and young people and ensure their experiences and views are central in practice. The content will have a focus on research and practice presentations that incorporate the views and experiences of children and young people. How can we engage ethically and meaningfully with children and young people in their own right?

A limited number of concurrent sessions will be offered for a 30 or 60 minute verbal presentation (including question time).

Please consider and select one of the following sub-themes for your abstract:

1. Children’s Participation and Voice in Family Dispute Resolution and other family and relationship services

Exploring meaningful ways to hear and incorporate children’s experiences, views and perspectives in family services.

Possible topics:

• Children’s rights and participation
• Ethical engagement with children
• Hearing children’s voices safely
• Child-focused versus child-inclusive approaches
• Working with children of different ages and developmental stages
• Responding to children’s expressed wishes and views
• Practice Challenges and lessons learned

2. First Nations and Cultural and Diverse Perspectives

Exploring culturally responsive child-inclusive approaches.

Possible topics:

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives
• Culturally safe practice
• CALD communities
• Migrant and refugee families
• Faith and community considerations
• Children’s identity, belonging and connection

3. Innovation and Emerging Practice

Showcasing new models, tools and approaches.

Possible topics:

• Digital and online engagement methods
• Creative and arts-based approaches
• Innovations in child consultation
• Technology and ethical practice
• New service models
• Evaluation of pilot programs

4. Workforce Capability and Professional Development

Building practitioner confidence and competence.

Possible topics:

• Practitioner skills and supervision
• Workforce development
• Reflective practice
• Managing vicarious trauma
• Interdisciplinary approaches
• Quality assurance and fidelity in CIP
• Funding and sustainability

Your proposal must include the following:

1. Title
2. Abstract of no more than 250 words summarising your topic
3. Methods: what are you basing your talk on (a case, your collective experience, data)? if your paper is data based, you must include details of the sample, measures and results. If it concerns a case, ensure all identifying details are removed.
4. Intended contribution of your paper (what is the main question or message for your audience)
5. Your preference for a time allocation: 30 or 60 minutes (includes question time)
6. Author list, and name of intended presenter/s.
7. Presenter contact details.

Submissions close 9:00pm AEDT, Friday, 23 October 2026.

Applicants will be advised of acceptance in late November 2026.

Please call the FRSA office if you would like to discuss further:  events@frsa.org.au or via phone (02) 6162 1811.

IMPORTANT DATES

Friday 23 October 2026 – Call for abstracts closes

Monday 23 November 2026– Notification of acceptance begins

Friday 18 December 2026 – Speaker registrations close – after this date speakers will need to pay the Standard rate.

Friday 18 December 2026 – Early bird registrations close.

GENERAL POLICIES AND REQUIREMENTS

• All abstracts must contain original work of the presenting author(s).
• A presenting author must submit the abstract.
• Abstracts must be submitted online by 9.00pm AEDT Friday 23 October 2026.
• Abstracts will not be accepted via mail, email or USB/CD.
• All required fields on the online abstract submission form must be completed.
• Those submitting abstracts must ensure that they have the support of their organisation/employer, and must ensure that their abstract has been approved by their manager prior to submitting.
• Acceptance of papers will be on the basis of blind peer review (i.e. your name and organisation will not be known to assessors).
• The Conference Managers will not be held responsible for abstract submissions not received via the website or for submission errors caused by Internet service outages, hardware or software delays, power outages or unforeseen events.
• Abstracts CANNOT be amended or replaced once submitted. The review process will commence as soon as the abstract is received.
• Ensure that you DO NOT leave any abstracts in the Draft stage by the close date, abstracts left in the ‘Draft’ stage will not be reviewed.

Note: all presentations must be delivered in person. Online presentations cannot be accommodated.