Reports
The Commissioner produces reports based on projects linked to key focus areas of her work as set out in her Strategic Framework (2022+). The reports below all relate to children’s safety. They reflect what South Australian children and young people have told the Commissioner matters most to them about their safety, including what changes they would like to see made. The Commissioner also produces a series of annual statutory publications which report on how South Australia is performing against international standards set out in the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights (UNCRC) of the Child, many of which relate to child safety and child safe environments.
Unseen and Unheard
The National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children 2022-2032 recognises children and young people as victims of gender-based violence in their own right. However, children and young people’s unique perspectives and experiences continue to be overlooked in...
Teenagers and Safety
Achieving systemic change around safety means addressing the underlying social drivers that relate to children and young people’s experiences of feeling unsafe. Teenagers are particularly prone to issues around safety for a range of reasons. These relate in part to...
Postcards snapshot for South Australia’s Royal Commission into Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence
The Commissioner has designed a postcard for South Australia’s Royal Commission into Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence to engage with children and young people who may not otherwise be heard. The postcard asked children and young people about when they feel...
A 6-Point Plan to Make SA a Better Place for Kids
Whilst the full Things That Matter 5 report is a delightful read for those who want to drill down into responses to the questions children have supplied, this snapshot summary of what kids have told the Commissioner will make South Australia better from their point...
The Things That Matter 5
This fifth report from the Commissioner's Student Voice Postcards initiative reflects responses from 18,328 South Australian children who completed postcards in 2023 - up from 16,007 in 2022. Children told their Commissioner they want more time with the parents,...
Everyday Racism
Everyday Racism outlines the experiences of racism South Australian refugee and migrant young people have explicitly raised with with the Commissioner in conversations and direct engagement with them. It also highlights young people’s ideas for preventing and...
Early Years Postcards
Being able to speak up and express their opinions is a core right of children, as stated in Article 12 in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. In 2023, the Commissioner extended her postcards initiative to be inclusive of preschool aged children so that...
Teenagers and Work
Young people’s experiences of work impact their lives in many ways – not only in terms of their present and future workforce participation, but also in relation to their health, safety, wellbeing and education outcomes. For teenagers, having a paid job during high...
Safe and Sound: views and experiences of SA young people on public transport
This report from 2023 have been gathered directly from young people across the state. It includes both positive and negative experiences of public transport, along with suggestions about what needs improving. Although many of the issues are shared by adults, young...
Best Interests
This report from 2022 explores what children and young people experience within the child protection system. The systemic safety and wellbeing of children depends on them having opportunities to be included in the processes that affect their lives. When children...
Join the Dots | The impact of parental incarceration on children and young people
This report from 2022 provides a summary of what the Commissioner heardduring consultations with children, young people, and parents. Viewing adult systems through children’s eyes requires a shift in thinking that is future-focused and grounded in child rights. It...
Trust is a Must: What Does it Take to Be Child Friendly and Child Safe?
This report from 2020, contains recommendations on how to be a child friendly and child safe organisation made by children and young people themselves, based on their own life experiences. Safe environments are found in those organisations that demonstrate values...
Making Change in Youth Justice: A User’s Guide
A User's Guide developed by the Commissioner in 2020 to building a better South Australian youth justice system.
Children and the Family Law System | What children think should happen when families separate
The Australian Law Reform Commission’s ‘ALRC’ Review of the Family Law System provided the SA Commissioner for Children and Young People ‘Commissioner’ an opportunity to carry out focused consultations with children and young people about the Family Law system. The...
The Bullying Project
Bullying has been recognised by The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child as a form of ‘mental violence’. This type of ‘mental violence’ can significantly affect children’s health, wellbeing, safety and security. In the Commissioner’s work she listens...
Listening Tour: Reflections | Hearing the Voices of South Australia’s Children and Young People
The Listening Tour was launched on 15 June 2017. Its aim was to provide the Commissioner the opportunity to meet with as many children and young people across the state as possible. The purpose was to find out what matters to them and how they think their lives can...
