Learn with the Foundation

Learn with Australian Childhood Foundation and access trusted training, resources and tools to support children and young people impacted by trauma. Our learning blends practice wisdom, research insights, and lived experience to strengthen the capability of carers, professionals, and services across child protection, education, out-of-home care, youth justice, and family support. Every time you learn with us, you’re also investing in services that help children and young people heal, thrive, and build safer, stronger futures.

SPECIALIST PROGRAMS

Out-of-home care & youth justice

CETC

Parenting & relationships

BUGK

Child safety & wellbeing

Safeguarding

Registered training organisation

Accredited training

Why learn with us?

Ongoing learning and professional development is essential for creating meaningful and lasting change in the lives of children and young people. At the Foundation, we do more than deliver training, we stand alongside professionals and carers to build knowledge, strengthen practice, and advocate for children’s rights to safety, healing, and care.

We stand by the principle that love is an action, a daily commitment to fostering positive, supportive relationships that keep children safe and help them heal. Our training is deeply practical. We don’t just teach best practices—we live them every day through our therapeutic programs and direct work with children, carers, and systems of care.

When you train with the Foundation, you’re learning from practitioners and carers who walk alongside children and young people every day. Our programs are shaped by decades of research and experience. Join us in building a future where every child feels safe, supported, and empowered to heal.

About the team

Meet the team

Janise Mitchell

DIRECTOR

Janise is the Director of the CETC and the Deputy CEO of the Australian Childhood Foundation. She completed a Master of Social Work in 2008 in which she researched the implementation of therapeutic foster care in Victoria. In doing so, she researched best practice elements in therapeutic models of care and looked at the change process required to move an existing way of delivering care to a therapeutic model of service delivery. Janise has 30 years’ experience in the field of child protection and therapeutic care. She has extensive experience providing consultancy to governments and organisations, policy analysis, program development and evaluation. Janise is the lead editor of a Handbook on Therapeutic Care to be published in September 2019 by Jessica Kingsley.

Noel Macnamara

DEPUTY DIRECTOR

Noel is the Deputy Director of the CETC, and the Executive Manager, Research and Policy at the Australian Childhood Foundation. Noel brings 30 years of experience to the Centre in therapeutic out of home care and child protection having worked in operational and senior management roles, policy and organisational consultancy. In 2013, Noel’s contribution to the field was acknowledged in his being awarded the Robin Clark Award in Victoria for his contribution to the field of child protection and out of home care. He has a particular interest in supervision and leadership and organisational development.

Glenys Bristow

Senior Residential Care Advisor

Glenys is a Senior Residential Care Advisor for the Centre for Excellence in Therapeutic Care in NSW and brings over 35 plus years experience in therapeutic residential care as a residential care worker, manager, trainer, and consultant. In 2003, Glenys was awarded the Robin Clark Award and later the Residential Care Learning & Development Strategy (RCLDS) Leadership Award in Residential Care for demonstrating achievement and innovation having significant impact on residential care systems and outcomes for children and young people. Glenys is passionate about providing relevant and up to date industry informed training and caring for the workers who care for the young people. Glenys recently completed her Doctor of Education researching what makes a good residential worker – Artistry Fact or Fiction?

Kelly Royds

Head of Knowledge Mobilisation & Innovation

Kelly Royds is the Head of Knowledge Mobilisation and Innovation with the Centre for Excellence in Therapeutic Care, where she works to mobilise practice and research knowledge into training, education and policy resources. Kelly works in close partnership with therapeutic care providers, practitioners and other key government and non-government stakeholders to progress the goals of the CETC. She has spent the past 15+ years developing child and youth-centred policies, evaluation systems and programs that lift up and respond to the voices of children and young people across human services and not-for-profit sectors in Australia, South-East Asia and the United States. Kelly has a particular interest in the power of storytelling to improve systems and outcomes for young people.

Dr Lynne McPherson (SCU)

Director of Research

Dr McPherson brings a strong professional and academic background in child protection and out of home care spanning more than 30 years in practice, management, training and research. She has considerable research and organisational consultancy experience, including but not limited to evaluation of therapeutic care programs, numerous organisational consultancy and development projects and leadership, supervision and change management. In 1997, she was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to examine international best practice in child protection. In 2017 Dr McPherson and Noel Macnamara released a book ‘Supervising Child Protection Practice: What Works?’ An Evidence Informed Approach. This book was published and distributed internationally by Springer Publishers. Alongside Dr Lynne McPherson is an SCU based Research Team: Kathomi Gatwiri – Senior Research Officer (SCU) Nadine Cameron – Research Officer (SCU) Natalie Parmenter – Research Assistant (SCU).

Pat Jewell

Manager - Parenting and Early Years

Pat has a background in early childhood development working in hospital, local government and not for profit settings specialising in supporting families where the children have experienced trauma.

Celina Sargent

Senior Business Development Consultant

Celina is a highly experienced social worker with over 30 years of working alongside children, young people, and their families. Her career has spanned direct service delivery, policy development, project work, and service management across Commonwealth and State governments as well as the community sector in both Tasmania and nationally.

Jen Knoll

Senior Education Consultant

With over a decade of experience working in the field of developmental trauma Jen Knoll’s work is informed by a strong understanding of the impacts of trauma on children, young people, and the systems that support them. She is known for her ability to translate complex trauma theory into practical, relevant approaches for educators, practitioners, and leaders.

Nina Moffatt

Senior Parenting & Early Years Consultant

Nina is a Senior Parenting & Early Years Consultant at the Australian Childhood Foundation. As a PACFA-registered counsellor, Nina has spent her career supporting children and families impacted by trauma. Nina has had the privilege of spending a large part of her career journeying with Aboriginal & Torre Strait Islander children and families, an experience that has taken her to both remote and urban locations across Australia.

Janise Mitchell

CEO of Australian Childhood Foundation

Janise the CEO of Australian Childhood Foundation.

Kelly Royds

Executive Director

Kelly is the Executive Director of Knowledge Mobilisation & Practice at the Australian Childhood Foundation. She leads efforts to equip organisations, practitioners, carers, and parents with the knowledge, skills, and networks needed to improve the lives of children and young people in out-of-home care, youth justice, education, parenting, and early years settings.

Noel Macnamara

Director

Noel is the Director of the Centre for Excellence in Therapeutic Care and informs and shapes the research, policy and education agenda of the CETC, with a current focus on evolving research and support for foster and kinship carers.

Lynne McPherson

Chair, Out-of-Home Care Research

Professor Lynne McPherson is the Chair of Out-of-Home Care Research, a pioneering role jointly held between the Centre for Excellence in Therapeutic Care and the Centre for Children and Young People, Faculty of Health, Southern Cross University.

Dan Howell

Assistant Director, Education, Parenting and Training

Dan is the Assistant Director, Education, Parenting and Training at the Australian Childhood Foundation, within the Knowledge Mobilisation & Practice division. They lead the design and delivery of education and training programs for professionals, carers, and parents, helping build the knowledge and skills needed to support children and young people who have experienced trauma.

Learn with us

Highlights

spotlighted stories

Secure care for children at risk – let’s start the conversation

When children or young people pose a serious risk of harm to themselves, how do we respond with care, not control? This article opens a conversation about secure care, safety, and compassion.

Why spit hoods don’t create safety in youth detention

The Northern Territory Government’s decision to reintroduce spit hoods in youth detention is a step backwards. These devices don’t create safety—they escalate harm, undermine trust, and make it harder for both young people and youth justice officers to feel safe.

Child Safeguarding accreditation – what does success for an organisation look like?

Explore what success looks like in child safeguarding accreditation, and learn how organisations can build a culture of safety, accountability, and continuous improvement.

jobs, research, writing

Working at the CETC

As a division of the Australian Childhood Foundation, the CETC primary aim is to mobilise knowledge to improve outcomes for children and young people in out-of-home care. If you have a commitment to hard work and would love the opportunity to support system change, we would love to hear from you.

Participate in research

Our research relies on strong partnerships with practitioners, organisations and those with lived experience of out-of-home care. If you would like be involved, please read more about our latest research project.

Share your knowledge

We believe in the common saying, “none of us is as smart as all of us”. If you are a carer, practitioner, policy maker or researcher with knowledge to share, we would love to hear from you.

Learn with the Foundation

SPECIALIST PROGRAMS

Why learn with us?