Trajectories of Change in Child Protection Systems DE

Marie Connolly, PhD has had professional, academic and consulting experience in child and family welfare, spanning over 40 years and extending across international jurisdictions. She has undertaken a number of strategic reviews of child welfare and child protection systems and has provided advice to governments with respect to the development and maintenance of sustainable systems of protection for women, children and vulnerable families. Beginning her career as a social worker in child welfare in 1978, she moved into academia at the University of Canterbury, Aotearoa New Zealand, in 1990 where she focused her research on child protection systems and family group conferencing in child protection. In 2005 she took up the role of Chief Social Worker within the New Zealand government, spearheading practice reforms and providing ministerial advice. Returning to academia in 2010, she was appointed to the Chair in Social Work at the University of Melbourne, Australia. She retired formally from this position in 2019, upon which she was awarded the Hyslop Medal for services to research and practice development. She continues to be affiliated with the University of Melbourne as professor.  

Ilan Katz, PhD trained as a social worker in South Africa and has had many years of policy, practice and research experience in children and family services in the United Kingdom and Australia. He started his career as a social worker and manager, working in several local authorities and NGOs in London.  He was head of Evaluation, Practice Development and Research at the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children in the UK. After spending some time as a civil servant in the Department for Education and Skills, he returned to research to become Deputy Director of the Policy Research Bureau.  He joined the Social Policy Research Centre at UNSW Sydney, Australia, in January 2005 and directed the Centre from 2005-2011. He researches in a wide range of social policy areas including child protection, disability, age care, multiculturalism and First Nations policy, Chinese social policy and comparative social policy. His research focuses on understanding effective systems of human service policy and delivery.