Australia
The Commission has released the third in a series of reports detailing findings of its latest surveys of young people in residential care.
These are anonymous surveys of young people in residential care conducted across Queensland by the Commission on a regular basis as part of its Views survey series. The survey is one of the key mechanisms by which the Commission evaluates the effectiveness of the support and advocacy its Community Visitors (CVs) provide to young people in residential care.
The findings suggest a high level of support among young people in residential care for the current approach to individual advocacy being employed by CVs. Overwhelmingly, young people who participated in these surveys indicated that their CVs are accessible, helpful and provide much-valued advocacy and emotional support to them. The large number of young people indicating that their CV has advocated for them, and their descriptions of the advocacy undertaken on their behalf, suggest that CVs continue to play a vital role in ensuring the quality of care and protection provided by the state to young people in residential care.