In March 2026 the Victorian parliament passed two pieces of legislation that bring important changes to Victoria’s Child Protection system. The Children, Youth and Families – Amendment Stabilities Act came into effect on 12 May 2026, and the Amendment Supporting Strong Stable Families Act is due to commence later in 2026. These reforms are some of the most substantial reforms to the Victorian Child Protection System in more than a decade. In this episode Fleur Ward and Sarah Masters - Accredited Children's Law Specialists and Special Counsel at Coulter Legal - take us through the impact the changes will have of children and families in out of home care. 

Supporting children and young people through this journey - with honesty, care and emotional safety - is an important part of the role many kinship carers hold.

In this episode, we speak with Dr Michelle Blanchard, CEO of VANISH, an organisation that supports people affected by past adoption practices, as well as care leavers and donor-conceived individuals.

In this podcast we speak with lawyer Fleur Ward, special counsel at Coulter Legal, and her colleague lawyer Molly Quinlan, who explore how the rights of the child apply in Victoria and show how knowing these rights can empower carers to advocate for the children in their care.

In this episode, we speak with Murray Geddes, Executive Principal of the South-East Victoria LOOKOUT Centre. LOOKOUT Centres were established by the Victorian Government to improve educational outcomes for children and young people in out-of-home care.

Murray explains how the centres work and what support they can offer kinship carers.

In this episode KCV speaks with educator and wellbeing consultant Megan Corcoran, Director of the Wagtail Institute, about how kinship carers can approach difficult conversations with clarity and confidence. Megan brings expertise and lived understanding to her work in education, psychology and emotional safety and has a deep understanding of the pressures kinship carers face.

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.

In this podcast we speak with Professor Daryl Higgins, director of the Institute of Child Protection Studies at Australian Catholic University (ACU) and member of Ending Physical Punishment of Australian Children (EPPAC) advocacy campaign.

Dr Goodall defines autism and neurodiversity, explains how autism can present differently in different genders, and outlines key things carers need to understand about neurodivergence in order to better support the children and young people in their care. She also offers some approaches to help autistic and neurodiverse children develop the skills to self –regulate their feelings and emotions to help with everyday tasks and situations.

Dr Lim discusses the physical and psychological effects of loneliness, the stigma around speaking about it and what carers can do to deal with their own social isolation. She mentions solutions such as community programs and also talks about what she would like to see governments do about this widespread social issue.

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

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.

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

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 diet and nutrition on children with autism, ADHD, OCD and other manifestations of neurodiversity.

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 its reaction to the findings. She also discusses some of the Commission’s most pressing recommendations resulting from the inquiry.

In this podcast we speak with Janice Butera, specialist grief practitioner with Grief Australia, who shares with us her knowledge about grief and loss and the challenges that can occur for families when faced with loss. Janice also offers some strategies for families to use in navigating their way through these difficult periods.

In this podcast, we spoke with Adam Lyons, Managing Director of Lancaster Consulting, who addressed some of the more common issues carers face in preparing the children in their care for access visits and outlined strategies for debriefing children afterwards.

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 some of the more common questions from carers and others regarding this topic.

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 specialised support services and training for kinship and foster carers for well over a decade. Adam describes the program they run through Carer KaFE and the workshops and training they provide for carers.

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 personal stories around their sleeping patterns and how they manage this whilst dealing with their kinship carer responsibilities.

In this latest carer wellbeing podcast, KCV spoke with two carers about their carer situations and what part hobbies and other meaningful pursuits played in their lives and learned about the benefits these activities bring them.

In this podcast Kinship Carers Victoria speaks with clinical nutritionist and functional medicine practitioner Nikki Valentini, director of SuperNature Nutrition https://supernature.com.au/. Nikki explains how certain foods and nutrients have been shown to help us deal better with stress and anxiety while other types of foods and eating patterns have been linked to increases in these feelings - and even to other psychological issues and illness. The podcast also includes interviews with carers who share their relationship to food and some of their dietary patterns.

This podcast - as part of Kinship Care Week 2022 - provides suggestions for kinship carers on how they can form meaningful connections with friends, family, neighbours and the community to help them support their own physical and psychological wellbeing.