South Australia plays host to world experts for landmark child protection forum 

Over 400 people gathered at Adelaide Oval earlier this month for the second South Australian Child Protection and Family Support Symposium, which featured keynote speaker presentations from the 2025 South Australian Australian of the Year Professor Leah Bromfield, and from Fiona Duncan, a world leader in child protection and family support reform.

The Symposium sought to discuss how child protection and family support for South Australian families might be reimagined.

Professor Bromfield was recognised as the 2025 South Australian of the Year for her extraordinary career dedicated to finding evidence-based solutions to child abuse and neglect and for her commitment to transformational change for children and families.

Ms Duncan, from Scotland, is best known in child protection circles for pioneering The Promise – a program that radically re-thought how governments care for children, incorporating their views along with those of family members, carers and communities.

The Promise Scotland was responsible for driving change following the Independent Care Review, which heard more than 5500 experiences of people associated with Scotland’s child protection and family support system.

Ashum Owen, the inaugural Chief Executive Officer of Wakwakurna Kanyini, was also involved in headlining the program. 

Recently funded by the SA Government, Wakwakurna Kanyini is the leading community voice for Aboriginal children in South Australia and was formed to ensure a clear focus on improving outcomes for Aboriginal children and young people and their families.

“Many children, young people and their families are grappling with complex and intergenerational issues, issues which demand new and collective thinking and action. The second of three symposia, this Symposium brings us together to tackle the most difficult of issues and to embrace an unprecedented opportunity to shape a brighter future for our next generation through collaborative expertise and a determined and relentless focus,” SA Minister for Child Protection Katrine Hildyard said. 

“To have this calibre of local and international experts in the same room working on the goal of improving outcomes for South Australian children and young people is something for which I am incredibly proud and grateful.”

Symposium attendees included hundreds of young people, families and carers, academics, Aboriginal organisations and staff from government and non-government agencies who came together to continue to create and drive change.

Throughout the day delegates heard about innovative programs and research from interstate and overseas that are making a big difference in the lives of children, young people, and their families and which encourage further thinking and action in pursuit of whole of government, whole of sector and whole of community efforts to advance change.

Following last year’s inaugural Symposium, several initiatives have progressed including strengthening partnership and peer support, the new online Carers Voice engagement platform and the expansion of Youth Advisory Groups across the state.

Image source: Department of Child Protection.