The Meaning of Home for Children and Young People after Parental Separation

Melbourne Law School, along with Flinders University and Australian National University have been funded by the Australian Research Council to undertake a qualitative research project examining the meaning of home for children and young people after parental separation. Parental separation is likely to result in big changes in home arrangements for children and young people, yet so far, how children and young people think about ‘home’ after parental separation remains unexplored in research.

This project aims to explore the meaning of home for children and young people in separated families by interviewing children and parents about their experiences of home and homemaking. By talking with parents and children/ young people about what home means we aim to encourage and make it easier for parents and family law professionals (including courts, lawyers, and mediators) to think from a child’s or young person’s  perspective when living arrangements are decided post-parental separation.

Data collection for this study has now been completed. Thank you to all our wonderful research participants for your valuable  contributions to the project.

Research Staff

The research is being conducted by:

• Professor Belinda Fehlberg (Responsible Researcher), University of Melbourne
• Associate Professor Kristin Natalier, Flinders University (Chief Investigator)
• Professor Bruce Smyth, Australian National University (Chief Investigator)
• Dr Monica Campo, University of Melbourne is the project manager and Senior Research Fellow.