Understanding the Context

Social environments impact children’s experience of relationship, sense of belonging, and participation in their families, ECE environments, and community groups. These two types of family environments are considered: families undergoing separation/divorce and children in out-of-home care (OOHC). These family environments can also be associated with social and geographic isolation in those cases when there is a lack of extended family and community environments available for these families. In 2025, there were 49,148 divorces registered in Australia with about 47% of these being families with children under 18 (ABS, 2026); the crude divorce rate reached its lowest point during the last 50 years, which indicates that family breakdown has not increased but rather cohabitation and late marriages became more common. OOHC implies situations when children are taken away from parents’ care for their safety reasons; according to the statistics, as on 30 June 2024, 44,900 children were in OOHC (AIHW, 2025) and the number of indigenous children in OOHC was much higher (50 per 1,000 versus 4.6 per 1,000) (AIHW, 2025).

According to McMahon & Grace (2022), the family is seen as the main developmental context of children, whereby early relationships create the basis for their identity, safety, and wellbeing. It follows that changes in family structures affect children's experiences although this impact is not always negative. Children can do well in situations of separation where they keep their secure relationships and stable routines; children from kinship or foster care settings can also have a good experience if their caring is consistent and culturally safe. In this regard, Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory (1979, cited in Grace & Baird, 2022) can be helpful: in this theory, the change in the microsystem (separation or a new carer) is accompanied by the interactions between the microsystem and the mesosystem (home and ECE services) while broader systems (law, child protection, housing etc.) influence daily life.

Social isolation also becomes another layer: families can be socially isolated due to geographic location, migration, disability, or broken relationships. According to Wyver et al. (2017), access to opportunities for active outdoor play – which is important for the development of relationships with peers – can become limited because of social isolation or events like separation or OOHC. Digital technology can facilitate connections; however, according to Warburton and Highfield (2022), digital access alone will not bring about genuine social connections.

Impact on Children and Families

 

The effects differ according to age, temperament, and protective factors that are present. After separation, a child may feel sad or their behaviour may be altered especially when there is disruption in routine or conflicts among parents, where supportive parenting and regular routine serve as protective factors. The children in OOHC may have gone through disrupted relationships or any adverse experiences prior to being placed in OOHC; changes in placement would further influence the sense of attachment and identity, especially for First Nations children who are disconnected from their culture and Country (AIHW, 2025). Another aspect that is often overlooked is the peer relationships that are adversely affected by the separation from peers due to OOHC placement or the change in placement itself, along with lack of opportunity to play outdoors (Neilsen-Hewett et al., 2017; Wyver et al., 2017). In socially disadvantaged areas, there are almost twice as many instances of multiple chronic diseases compared to the socially advantaged areas (28.4% vs 16.1%) (ABS, 2023); therefore, social disruption occurs in connection with stress experienced by parents.

Social Policy and Australian Responses

 

Frameworks that are important include the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF V2.0), which focuses on belonging, secure relationships, and partnerships with families, which help children undergoing family changes to maintain continuity; and the National Quality Framework (NQF), which requires family partnerships with respect, especially in cases where care arrangements have several adults or agencies involved. Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) addresses parenting arrangements in a no-fault situation; child protection frameworks in states cover OOHC, and 87% of children who are reunited in 2022-2023 will not be in care again in the next 12 months (AIHW, 2025), which indicates an improvement in stability of reunification. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle requires priority placement with family members or cultural carers; nevertheless, there is a crucial issue, as the rate of Indigenous children on care and protection orders is around ten times higher than that of non-Indigenous children (AIHW, 2025), demonstrating that policy intention did not close the gap yet.

Strategies for Practice

 

  1. Establish predictable, secure relationships — consistent routines and familiar key-educators help children experiencing transition develop safety and belonging.
  2. Use strengths-based, non-judgemental family partnerships — asking families what support is useful, rather than assuming based on separation or care status, respects family expertise (Murray & Harrison, 2022).
  3. Support emotional expression through play — dramatic play, storytelling and puppets let children process change without requiring disclosure.
  4. Strengthen social and peer connection — intentionally protecting peer groupings and prioritising outdoor play supports incidental relationship-building (Neilsen-Hewett et al., 2017; Wyver et al., 2017).
  5. Use digital technologies intentionally — supporting connection for isolated families while balancing face-to-face relationships (Warburton & Highfield, 2022).

Community and Professional Partnerships

 

Relationships Australia, providing separation and family support services; Family Relationship Centres, offering free government-funded mediation; Child protection caseworkers, the primary OOHC contact point; Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations, ensuring culturally safe Placement Principle compliance; and social workers/psychologists, supporting complex family needs through consent-based collaboration.

Resources for Educators and Children

 

Programs: Raising Children Network (raisingchildren.net.au) for evidence-based separation advice; CREATE Foundation for OOHC lived-experience information; SNAICC for culturally-safe care advice; Family Relationships Online (familyrelationships.gov.au) for referral resources.

Picture books (0–5 years): Two Homes (Masurel), where children move between two loving homes is normalised; The Invisible String (Karst), where reassurance is provided about maintaining connections even when physically separated; The Family Book (Parr), celebration of varied family compositions; A Family Is a Family Is a Family (O'Leary), developing peer empathy through family composition stories.

Video clips: Play School's "Through the Windows" series normalising family diversity; CREATE Foundation videos for building educator empathy for OOHC children; Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, building emotional literacy about change; Raising Children Network video guides for educator understanding.

These resources foster empathy by normalising various family arrangements, understanding by providing language to describe their experience for children, and resilience through demonstrating the possibility of stability despite change. There are considerably fewer OOHC resources than separation advice, and an even smaller number representing First Nations children's experience of culturally-safe care - educators should be seeking SNAICC-approved materials instead of mainstream publications.

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