The Meaning of Home for Children and Young People
Authors: Professor Belinda Fehlberg, Professor Bruce M. Smyth, Dr Monica Campo and Professor Kristin Natalier
This webinar draws on our recent study of the meaning of home for children and young people after parental separation to show how the concept of home may provide a way of shifting adult attention beyond focus on the amount of parenting time towards a greater attentiveness to children and young people’s views on how their living arrangements look and can work effectively for them.
Face-to-face, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 68 children and young people aged 8–18 years, and 39 of their parents, living mostly in cities in Victoria, South Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory.
Separated parents and their children were recruited mainly through social media, family and relationship support services, and professional networks.
Viewed overall, we found that children and young people’s, and parent’s, descriptions of what home meant to them and how they sought to make a home conveyed the centrality of relationships, safety and economic resources to shaping home.
After outlining key project findings, we consider how family law system professionals might use them in their work with families to support a more meaningful discussions about post separation parenting.
Thursday 12 July 2024 5:00 PM – 6:30 PM (UTC+11)
Online event access details will be provided by the event organiser
Pacifica Congress Members free
Non Members $10
Professor Belinda Fehlberg is a professor of law at the Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne. She specialises in family law, with a particular interest in how laws are understood, applied, and experienced by professionals and families. Her research spans various family law issues, including spousal guarantees, pre-nuptial agreements, and post-separation parenting and financial arrangements.
Professor Bruce M. Smyth is a professor of family studies at the Australian National University (ANU). He has been a social scientist in family law for nearly three decades, focusing on post-separation parenting, high-conflict divorce, and child support. He has received several awards for his research, including the Stanley Cohen Distinguished Research Award.
Dr. Monica Campo is a senior research fellow and project manager at the University of Melbourne. Her research focuses on domestic and family violence, particularly its impact on children. She has conducted extensive research on the meaning of home for children after parental separation and has contributed to various studies on family violence prevention and intervention.
Professor Kristin Natalier is a professor at Flinders University, specialising in sociology. Her work centres on familial and intimate relationships, particularly how people navigate these relationships during personal and social changes. She has been involved in numerous research projects, including studies on children’s understandings of home after parental separation and the support needs of domestic violence survivors.
Newsletter June 2026 begins with a recap of our highly successful Leaders in Practice Family Law Forum in Perth, where judicial officers, lawyers, psychologists and family law professionals came together to discuss practitioner wellbeing, coercive control, expert evidence, no-contact cases and the growing importance of neurodiversity in family law matters.
Newsletter June 2026 begins with a recap of our highly successful Leaders in Practice Family Law Forum in Perth, where judicial officers, lawyers, psychologists and family law professionals came together to discuss practitioner wellbeing, coercive control, expert evidence, no-contact cases and the growing importance of neurodiversity in family law matters.
Newsletter June 2026 begins with a recap of our highly successful Leaders in Practice Family Law Forum in Perth, where judicial officers, lawyers, psychologists and family law professionals came together to discuss practitioner wellbeing, coercive control, expert evidence, no-contact cases and the growing importance of neurodiversity in family law matters.
