Dr Nicola Ross

Highlights

Including children, parents and families in decisions

Hon. Associate Professor Nicola Ross is one of a few legal academics in NSW with expertise in child protection. She is interested in how children, parents and families are included in decisions made about their lives, in child protection, family and criminal processes - and the implications for their wellbeing.

Hon. Associate Professor Nicola Ross’s has been undertaking socio-legal research for over 20 years, following a career as a social worker and lawyer. She has a long-term interest in equity and inclusion for children, young people, parents, and families in decisions made about them in public and private systems and law. She believes that people who are affected by decisions must be included in processes used to make decisions. She recognises that when those people are children, or are not in positions of power, their perspectives may not be heard or may be marginalised, even though decisions have a profound impact on their lives.

Her research asks how legal professionals and systems support children, young people and parents to participate in decision processes and legal proceedings.

Children’s participation in legal decisions through lawyers

Hon. Associate Professor Nicola Ross’s initial research looked at children and young people’s participation in decisions. She says: “An empirical study of NSW children’s lawyers in family law, child protection and crime, was incorporated in my PhD to understand how children participate in decision making through their lawyers. I argued that relationality is key to how lawyers represent children, and that we need to do more to support children’s lawyers relating to the children they represent. Since this time, we have seen initiatives to ensure that lawyers who represent children or their best interests must meet with children, and specialist lawyers now receive more training to support their communication and relationships with children."

Parents’ Perspectives on their inclusion in child protection processes

Recent research has included research with parents who have lived experience of the child protection system. This research was undertaken with practitioners and researchers, working in partnership with parents with lived experience as consultants. It elicits and helps to better appreciate the perspectives of parents caught up in child protection processes to better support their inclusion in these processes.

Peer Support for Parents in the Children’s Court

The Parents Perspectives research led to an application for funding to trial an action project in the Broadmeadow Children’s Court to support parents whose children had been removed. It utilised a 'family inclusion' lens.  Family inclusion is defined as the active and meaningful participation by parents and family in child protection processes at a policy and practice level. Family inclusion is linked to improved outcomes for children, including prevention, restoration, and relational permanence.

“This project enabled parents with lived experience of the child protection system to support other parents whose children were the subjects of proceedings at the Children’s Court. This was important as our prior research showed how difficult parents found it to understand and engage with the legal process, due to its complexity and the social stigma they experienced. The trial was a success. Today this service continues to be run by a parent-led organisation, Family Inclusion Strategies in the Hunter (FISH), with support from a philanthropic foundation.

Family Inclusion: Parent, practitioner and carers perspectives

Associate Professor Nicola Ross’s most recent research takes a broad look at what gets in the way of family inclusion in child protection and out-of-home care processes, from the perspectives of not only parents, but practitioners (from the Department of communities and Justice, out of home care agencies, family support) legal practitioners and foster and kinship carers. She says: “The team who collaborated on this research are proud of this report as it gathers the perspectives of multiple stakeholders. It grapples with and sheds light on what helps and what gets in the way of family inclusion for those who work in or are involved in the child protection sector. We are following this report up with a Family Inclusion Research to Practice Roundtable to assist us to implement some of our research findings in policy and practice.”

Biography

I have a PhD in law from the University of Sydney, and degrees in law (Mq) and social work (UNSW). My research looks at how the law and legal practice affect children and their families. 

Background and Research

A strong interest in social justice guided my early career as a lawyer, social worker, manager and government policy consultant. My PhD from Sydney University incorporated an empirical study of children’s lawyers in New South Wales in family law, child protection and crime, with a focus on how children participate in decision making through lawyers. 

My research concerns how lawyers and systems support children, young people and parents to participate in legal processes and proceedings. Current research interests include how we can enhance the participation of children, young people, families and communities in child protection processes through a 'family inclusion' lens. I have also published articles on adoption, family violence, how children are heard in Hague Child Abduction Convention matters, child representation, restorative cities and international study opportunities for law students. 

Teaching: I taught and coordinated Family Law, Child Law, Criminal Law and Legal System and Method for JD and LLB students. I took  students to Cambodia with the support of New Columbo Plan funding on two occasions. 

Past service roles:  Convener Juris Doctor Program, LLB Honours Program, Faculty research representative and School External Relations. 

Research Expertise and recent publications

In my PhD I considered how children’s lawyers in family law, child protection and crime understand the aspects of their role intended to facilitate children’s participation. I undertook an empirical study that explored lawyers' experience of representing children and revealed tensions that influencing their practice. This qualitative research involved interviews with 35 children’s lawyers who practiced in one, two or all three of these jurisdictions in New South Wales. The study built upon existing research into children’s experiences of legal representation. It adopted a children’s rights approach, utilising relational and sociocultural theory and the sociology of childhood. The findings suggest that the nature of proceedings, discourse in the jurisdiction, the model of representation and individual factors relating to lawyers’ ethical orientations to practice influence lawyers’ approach to children’s participation. Lawyers’ relational approaches correlated most closely with children’s right to participation and expectations of legal representation. 

In 2013, I was a consultant to the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) Independent Children's Lawyers (ICL) Study funded by the Commonwealth Attorney-General's Department. My role included interviewing children about their experiences of having an ICL represent them. 

I have published recently on family inclusion in child protection and restorative cities (One article published, two under review).

Teaching Expertise: I was awarded the 2013 Faculty 'Excellence in Law Teaching" Award. I have supervised PhD and Honours students on family/child law topics. 

Collaborations

Recently, I have published three reports with other academics, practitioners and parent consultants in the area of child protection. These include (1) research into the experiences of parents who have had children removed from their care and placed in out-of-home care (2) A report of a Parent Peer Support Trial operated in the Children's Court, funded by the Law Foundation of NSW and auspiced by the Newcastle Law School, and (3) Research into the perspectives of parents, carers and practitioners on family inclusion.