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The Human Development and Community Wellbeing Team conducts research across the lifespan from conception, childhood, and youth to adulthood and the social determinants that impact and influence outcomes. The team’s focus is on the broader life course of individuals and communities within the family, school, and online environments, and includes economic evaluation of programs and outcomes.
Research
The Wellbeing and Engagement Collection (WEC): Promoting the importance of students’ wellbeing and mental health in schoolso help raise the profile of student wellbeing in the education system in Australia, The Kids Research Institute Australia and SA Department for Education through the Fraser Mustard Centre, set out to adapt and trial a population-level student wellbeing measure that could be used across the entire public and p

The Early Years Systems Evidence (EYSE) team specialises in working in partnership with governments and service providers, with a distinct focus on improving the life chances of children in Australia.
Research
Evaluating the effectiveness of the Play Active policy intervention and implementation support in early childhood education and care: a pragmatic cluster randomised trial protocolDaily physical activity is critical during the early years of life for facilitating children's health and development. A large proportion of preschool children do not achieve the recommended 3 h of daily physical activity. Early childhood education and care (ECEC) services are a key setting to intervene to increase physical activity. There is a significant need for ECEC specific physical activity policy, including clearer guidelines on the amount of physical activity children should do during care, and strategies for implementation of these guidelines.
Research
Status epilepticus following vaccination in children aged ≤24 months: A five-year retrospective observational studyStatus epilepticus is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. While vaccine-proximate status epilepticus (VP-SE) has rarely been associated with cases of Dravet syndrome, it is not known whether VP-SE differs clinically from non-vaccine proximate status epilepticus (NVP-SE).
Research
Traffic exposure, air pollution and children's physical activity at early childhood education and careA significant number of children attend Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC). ECEC is an important environment and behaviour setting for young children. Time spent outdoors is positively associated with children's physical activity levels, yet increased time spent physically active outdoors may expose young children to traffic-related air pollution, particularly in ECEC centres located in high traffic areas.
Research
Global, regional, and national progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 for neonatal and child health: all-cause and cause-specific mortality findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 has targeted elimination of preventable child mortality, reduction of neonatal death to less than 12 per 1000 livebirths, and reduction of death of children younger than 5 years to less than 25 per 1000 livebirths, for each country by 2030.
Research
Early motor function of children with autism spectrum disorder: A systematic reviewEarly motor impairments have been reported in children with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD), but it is not clear if early detection of motor impairments can identify children at risk for NDD or how early such impairments might be detected. Our aim was to characterize early motor function in children later diagnosed with NDD relative to typically developing children or normative data.
Research
The Development and Feasibility of a Manualised Therapeutic Playgroup for Children with Developmental DelayPlaygroups are widely used throughout the Australian community yet understanding of their efficacy is hindered by inconsistent playgroup definitions and practice principles. This study aimed to develop, implement and evaluate the feasibility of a manualised therapeutic playgroup for children with developmental delay and their families using a three step process.
Research
The Human Phenotype Ontology in 2021The Human Phenotype Ontology was launched in 2008 to provide a comprehensive logical standard to describe and computationally analyze phenotypic abnormalities found in human disease. The HPO is now a worldwide standard for phenotype exchange. The HPO has grown steadily since its inception due to considerable contributions from clinical experts and researchers from a diverse range of disciplines. Here, we present recent major extensions of the HPO for neurology, nephrology, immunology, pulmonology, newborn screening, and other areas.