Kinship Carers Victoria podcast series

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. 

In this episode KCV speaks with educator and wellb...

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 Commis...

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 unfairnes...

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 countr...

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 th...

The effects of loneliness have been studied extensively worldwide, with experts agreeing on the importance of social interaction for our wellbeing. The research shows that being socially isolated or lonely is as bad for your health as smoking, obesity, substance abuse and other mental health issues. In previous studies by Kinship Carers Victoria, some carers have described feeling almost complete isolation from their former social ...

In this podcast, director of Grandparents Victoria and Kinship Carers Victoria Ann McLeish speaks with Trevor Cobbold, national convener of Save our Schools. Before retiring, Trevor was an economist with the Australian Government’s Productivity Commission and its predecessors for over 30 years.

Trevor talks us through the economic and structural inequality in our education system, in particular the under-funding of public schools ...

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 o...

Children and young people spend significant amounts of their lives online in the cyber world, but how do we ensure that their online experiences are safe? There are so many issues to consider: how do you tackle cyber bullying, deal with the threat of grooming of children, what is the right amount of screen time, how do you create a safe gaming environment?

In this podcast Susan McLean of Cybersafety Solutions answers these and many...

What is neurodiversity? This is a term describing the idea that people experience and interact with the world in many varied ways but there is no one ‘right’ way of thinking, learning, or behaving, with these differences not viewed as deficits.

Nikki Valentini, Clinical Nutritionist, functional medicine practitioner, and director of SuperNature Nutrition, joined Kinship Carers Victoria again to speak in depth about the effect of di...

In this podcast we speak with Victoria’s Commissioner for Children and Young People, Liana Buchanan, about the Commission’s ‘Let Us Learn’ inquiry report, 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 explains why the Commission conducted the report and outlines ...

Throughout our lives, grief is an unavoidable and essential part of what it is to be human. When individuals and families experience a loss, every member of the family can feel and process their grief in different ways. Grandparents, parents or carers face the difficulty of managing their caring role while knowing how to help children understand their grief – all whilst also trying to accept and deal with their own feelings.

In thi...

Access or contact visits are where children in kinship care can spend time and engage with members of their biological or extended family. The visits can be formal or informal, and sometimes they are supervised by a professional, such as a child protection worker or agency worker, or even by the kinship carer themselves.

In this podcast, we spoke with Adam Lyons, Managing Director of Lancaster Consulting, who addressed some of the ...

What does the latest research tell us about the benefits of play for the wellbeing of children and young people? The February 2023 edition of the Royal Children’s Hospital National Child Health Poll – Australian Families: How we play – has produced some findings of great interest to kinship carers. In this podcast we speak with paediatrician, researcher and child health advocate Dr Anthea Rhodes, the founding director of the poll....

What are the latest trends in nutrition? What does recent research say about what and how we should eat? And what the children in our care, in particular those children with neurodevelopmental disorders, should eat?

In this podcast we speak again with Nikki Valentini, Clinical Nutritionist, functional medicine practitioner and director of SuperNature Nutrition on a broad range of current topics regarding nutrition. Nikki answers so...

In this podcast we speak with Director of Kinship Carers Victoria, Anne McLeish, who explains the importance of learning and development for kinship carers.

We also interview one Victorian carer, who tells us about the types of things she realised she needed to learn and the support she sought out once she became a kinship carer.

And we hear from Adam Lyons, Managing Director of Lancaster Consulting, who have been providing special...

Sleep plays a vital part in our wellbeing - so how do we get the right amount of it?

Clinical psychologist Dr Damon Ashworth, author of Deliberately Better Sleep, talks with KCV about the three major factors affecting our sleep and issues such as waking up at night, napping, the right amount of sleep and the long-term effects of not getting enough sleep. This podcast also includes interviews with two carers, who share their person...

In a recent survey on stress and wellbeing conducted by the Australian Psychological Society, four in five participants found activities like listening to music and spending time on a hobby were effective ways of managing stress. Finding an enjoyable pastime can also enhance wellbeing, improve social connections, and even stave off depression or anxiety. 

In this latest carer wellbeing podcast, KCV spoke with two carers about thei...