Families Under Pressure podcast series

These are unprecedented times for families. COVID-19 represents a severe life course shock with long-term impacts in areas such as employment, household finances, education, welfare, poverty, well-being and mental health. When there is a large-scale shock like this, the risk is that social, economic and health disadvantage can become further entrenched for those families already struggling, and those facing new unexpected pressures.

The Life Course Centre is well placed to identify the risks of deep and persistent disadvantage for Australian children and families, and to develop innovative solutions to address its intergenerational impact. The Centre’s life course approach observes people’s life trajectories, not just a single point in time, and examines the influence of key life events and transitions such as childhood, adolescence and parenthood. This framework brings together a diversity of researchers, with a shared collaborative focus on tackling disadvantage and better equipping children and families to overcome it.

In this episode of ‘Families Under Pressure’, Life Course Centre Chief Investigator Professor Matt Sanders speaks with Centre Director Professor Janeen Baxter, a leading sociologist at the forefront of research on family dynamics. They discuss the unique pressures facing families today, the important role of family structures, parenting, relationships and other supports, and what can be done to best support those experiencing, or at high risk of, the negative effects of disadvantage in these uncertain times.

In this episode of Families Under Pressure, Professor Matt Sanders speaks to Professor Steve Zubrick.

Prof Zubrick is a Senior Principal Research Fellow based at the Telethon Kids Institute, and Deputy Director (Research) for the ARC Centre of Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course.

More details at the Life Course Centre website.

Prior to joining the University of Western Australia, he spent 12 years as Head of the Division of Population Science at the Telethon Kids Institute. His qualifications are in the fields of psychology, and speech and hearing science.

In this episode of Families Under Pressure, Professor Matt Sanders speaks to Professor Lorraine Mazerolle.

Prof. Mazerolle is Professor of Criminology in the School of Social Sciences at The University of Queensland, and leads the Social Transformations program at the Life Course Centre, and the Social Interventions Portfolio in the Life Course Centre. She is an experimental criminologist with more than 20 years’ experience in Australia and the US running large, randomised field trials evaluating the effectiveness of various crime prevention and crime control interventions.

Her research appears in the world’s top criminological journals, and has been instrumental in changing police practice. Recognised as an international leader in policing and crime control, she was the Foundation Director and a Chief Investigator in the ARC Centre of Excellence in Policing and Security and a Chief Investigator in the Drug Policy Modelling Program.

More details at the Life Course Centre website.

In this episode of Families Under Pressure, Professor Matt Sanders speaks to Professor Deborah Cobb-Clark.

Prof. Cobb-Clark is Professor of Economics at the University of Sydney. She leads the Human Capabilities Program in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course and is an elected Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia.

More details at the Life Course Centre website.

In this episode of Families Under Pressure, Professor Matt Sanders speaks to Dr Jenna McWilliam - the Head of Organisational Development at Triple P International.

Dr McWilliam is an organisational psychologist with extensive international experience, with a strong focus on enhancing social impact for children, families and communities, through the implementation and scale-up of evidenced-based programs.

More details at the Life Course Centre website.

In this episode of Families Under Pressure, Professor Matt Sanders speaks to Dr Kylie Burke.

Dr Burke's work focuses on supporting parents and children experiencing adversity, including parenting adolescents, supporting parents of children with life-threatening childhood illnesses and the intergenerational effects of social disadvantage.

She is currently the Director of a population-based trial of the Triple P – Positive Parenting Program, a multi-level system of evidence-based parenting support.

More details at the Life Course Centre website.