Growing up in a service family

While we see a typical Australian summer unfolding, including bushfires and floods, we are grateful for the first responders and Defence personnel who work hard to keep us safe. Little thought is often given to their children who might be missing their parent who is working away, or worried about the danger their parent is facing. 

Image: 'All the Great Things About being in a Service Family' is a story written by the UNE-led Child and Family Resilience Programs team. 

Despite these challenges, it is important to recognise the strengths of these families, and the benefits of growing up in them. Understanding this can assist their parents, educators, support workers and clinicians to draw on those strengths and coping strategies while supporting them. These are also called protective factors that can reduce the risk of poor outcomes and even mental illness.

The UNE-led Child and Family Resilience Programs team are an interdisciplinary group who co-create free, online resources with those from these families, along with service providers, clinicians, educators, international researchers and community organisations. The international team is made up of Australian, Canadian and UK members.

This team are co-creating a free online storybook to help children and families explore these protective factors and opportunities that come from growing up in these families. The book is suitable for all children and aimed at ages 5-8 and it builds a sense of belonging for children from service families.

The book weaves together lived experience narratives from family members, along with findings from the research. It explores benefits such as:

1. A steady income and employment,
2. Potential support with housing,
3. Opportunities to live in different communities,
4. Potential opportunities to live overseas and learn about new cultures and languages,
5. A sense of pride in their parent’s service roles,
6. A sense of community within the organisation,
7. Learning to rely on themselves and help out when their parents are unavailable,
8. Learning to use a range of digital communication tools to stay in touch with their parent when they work away.

Accompanying the resource will be a suite of free online modules for parents, educators and support workers to understand more about the benefits of service family life. The e-storybook is part of a partnership between UNE, Manna Institute, Central Queensland University, Kings College London, University of Bath, Combat Stress, UK Psychological Trauma Society, Canadian Institute of Military Veteran Health Research, Canadian Forces Morale Welfare Service, The Royal Canadian Legion, and Buds in Bloom (Canada).

The Canadian Institute of Military and Veteran Health Research are providing the funding to illustrate this resource so it can be made available online for families under a Creative Commons Licence. This means the e-storybook can be updated, adapted and translated freely to support children worldwide for years to come.

The e-storybook has been illustrated and is in it’s final draft stage. The team are now seeking anonymous feedback from community members to help them improve the resource before it is released freely online. Please test drive it here.

This article was written by Associate Professor in Early Childhood Education, Dr Marg Rogers (University of New England; Manna Institute).