Understanding the Context

Health and wellbeing contexts significantly influence children's experiences within their families and early childhood environments. Two family types are central: families experiencing parental mental health difficulties, and families experiencing parental substance use. These circumstances are complex and diverse: a parent experiencing mental health difficulty is not necessarily unable to provide safe, nurturing care, and children should not be defined by a parent's diagnosis. AIHW data shows around 16% of parents with children aged 0–14 report poor mental health, while 14% of adults with a child in this age range reported illicit substance use in the prior 12 months (AIHW, 2022a); a further 15% of children (approximately 669,000) live with a parent experiencing disability, often co-occurring with wellbeing strain more broadly.

Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory (1979, as cited in Grace & Baird, 2022) positions children's development within interconnected family, service, and community systems: a parent's wellbeing shapes the child's immediate microsystem, while employment, housing, and health-service access shape opportunity through wider systems. This shows health and wellbeing cannot be understood as purely individual or family issues. McMahon and Grace (2022) similarly frame family as the primary context of development, meaning parental wellbeing strain can affect a child's routines, emotional availability, and sense of safety — though educators must avoid deficit assumptions, since strong relationships with another caregiver, extended family, or educators can act as protective factors.

Cologon and Hayden (2017) extend this by noting children's wellbeing is significantly shaped by exposure to instability, whether through a parent's health condition or broader emergency contexts, arguing early childhood environments must be prepared to recognise trauma's effects rather than reading a child's presentation purely through developmental milestones. This connects to Chavez Marinkovic et al.'s (2022) discussion of climate change and disasters, which similarly shows destabilising events share common developmental impacts, reinforcing trauma-informed practice as a transferable skill rather than something narrow to one circumstance. Wong et al. (2017) add a further principle: because families in this context may experience stigma or fear of judgement, educators should work with families rather than researching or assuming about them.

This is a growing, increasingly visible area in Australian society: anxiety disorders affect 3.4 million Australians (17%), and substance use disorders affect around 650,000 people (3%) (AIHW, 2025). Outcomes for children are not uniform; Reupert et al. (2012, as cited in AIHW, 2022a) note severity, co-occurring conditions, and available social support all shape whether a child experiences adverse effects — a reminder against assuming poor outcomes are automatic.

Impact on Children and Families

 

Where there are concerns regarding the mental wellbeing of the parent(s), children could experience uncertainty and limited emotional availability at times when they become ill, and where there is need to fulfill roles beyond the developmental age, but stability within the caregiver-child relationship and positive supportive relationships increase resiliency to a great extent. Health impact on children of parents with substance use problems includes lack of consistency and exposure to unreliable caregiving which affects attachment and regulation of emotions (Cologon & Hayden, 2017). According to Grace and Baird (2022), it should be recognized that such health problems typically coexist with poverty, unstable housing and social isolation, therefore the outcome will largely be dependent on the availability of service rather than the condition. Services would have to consider inconsistent attendance as a sign of trauma, communicate in a non-judgmental manner due to the risk of stigma and involvement with child protection, and increase capacity to identify signs of family distress.

Social Policy and Australian Responses

 

Wellbeing, secure relationships, and belonging form the central focus of the EYLF V2.0, facilitating safe and predictable learning experiences. The NQF mandates that services maintain practices aimed at ensuring the health, safety, and family partnerships of children. The National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Agreement and Better Access (psychological support subsidised through Medicare) determine the national mental health priorities, although there is still poor access for people from regional areas and low socio-economic status. State/Commonwealth AOD sector funding provides resources for substance use and family service programs.

Despite all of this infrastructure, less than half of the children with known mental health difficulties receive professional assistance as indicated by AIHW (2022a), suggesting a true disconnection between policy and practice, especially for disadvantaged families (Grace & Baird, 2022).

Strategies for Practice

  1. Establish predictable, emotionally safe environments — consistent routines and familiar relationships help children under stress feel secure.
  2. Use trauma-informed, strengths-based practice — considering what behaviour communicates rather than labelling it "difficult" (Cologon & Hayden, 2017).
  3. Develop respectful, non-judgemental family partnerships — letting families identify their own priorities and support needs (Wong et al., 2017).
  4. Establish clear referral pathways — maintaining warm, personal connections to AOD, mental health, and family services.
  5. Support children's emotional literacy — through storytelling, puppets and play, without requiring disclosure of personal experience.

Community and Professional Partnerships

Beyond Blue, offering help with mental health resources; CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services), for children who seem to be experiencing trouble; Alcohol and Drug Foundation/ local AOD service, for help regarding alcohol/drug issues; COPMI (Children of Parents with a Mental Illness), a national resource for such families; and social workers/psychologists, offering assistance in complex situations with permission.

Resources for Educators and Children

Projects/Programs: Be You, which promotes whole-of-service wellbeing; COPMI (copmi.net.au), which addresses concerns of children of parents with mental illness; Emerging Minds, which provides advice on trauma-informed practice; Raising Children Network, which provides evidence-based information about mental health and substance use.

Story books (Birth - 5): The Colour Monster (Llenas), helps children expand their emotional vocabulary; Ruby's Worry (Percival), helps model the process of communicating to a trusted person; The Huge Bag of Worries (Ironside), externalises anxiety; In My Heart (Witek), helps build feelings vocabulary.

Videos: Sesame Street emotional wellbeing videos; Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, models emotional regulation; Play School wellbeing videos; Be You video resources for professional development of educators.

These resources develop children’s understanding by giving children accessible language for complex family situations, empathy by showing that emotional difficulty is part of being human, and resilience by confirming that the illness of the parent is not the child’s fault and support is available.