CBR Projects

Our Work

Here, you will find all of our current research, as well as our completed projects. Our goal is to enrich lives through meaningful research, knowledge transition and sharing our findings with a broad audience. Our work spans many different fields and demonstrates our commitment to ethically applied research and policy analysis towards the services of Better Place Australia. 

Current Projects

These are the projects that we are currently conducting research for.

Transitioning into Residential Aged Care

Better Place Australia services over 120 residential aged care facilities, providing counselling support for low to medium mental health interventions. We understand that in many circumstances older people are at a vulnerable stage in their lives as they adjust to residential care. We work with residents to improve their mental health and wellbeing.   This research

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Capturing children’s voice within a Children’s Contact Service

Capturing children’s voice within a Children’s Contact Service Children’s Contact Services (CCS) provide children with safe spaces to visit non-residential parents when parents cannot manage their own contact arrangements. Better Place Australia currently operates CCSs in Narre Warren and Sale.  Through this project, we aim to understand children’s perspectives about the CCS. We are trialling tools that create space

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Publications

These are the publications from work we have completed.

A Snapshot: Victorian’s attitudes towards love

A Snapshot: Victorian’s attitudes towards love  This work was undertaken by Better Place Australia prior to the establishment of the Centre for Better Relationships. The continued popularity of reality TV programs about love and romance suggests that traditional notions of romantic love remain deeply embedded in our culture. However, attitudes towards love, romance, and marriage

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HOPE – Functioning and Recovery

Evaluating HOPE: The impact of a suicide prevention program on client recovery Better Place Australia’s HOPE program is a community-based program which provides psychosocial support to people following a suicide attempt or serious ideation planning. It is a non-clinical approach to suicide aftercare and prevention which compliments clinical interventions. This brief report which was completed

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HOPE Workshop – Barriers for CALD clients

Barriers to accessing suicide prevention services for Australia’s multicultural communities Completed: October 2024  Better Place Australia’s Hospital Outreach Post-suicidal Engagement program (also known as HOPE Outreach Program) is a community-based program which provides psychosocial support to people following a suicide attempt or serious ideation planning. Supporting individuals recently discharged from an emergency department, HOPE provides

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Older Victorians’ preferences for elder abuse services

Better Place Australia has provided a specialist Elder Abuse Prevention Service since 2018. In this time, we have supported over 2,000 people experiencing elder abuse. We are the only specialist family violence service dedicated exclusively to working with older people. We conducted an online survey to explore what support older people would like to receive

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Suicidal behaviours across CALD communities

Suicidal behaviours amongst CALD communities Pathways for those with a lived experience of suicide behaviours across culturally & linguistically diverse (CALD) communities “Unique differences” With their being unique differences through multiculturalism, CALD populations have varied experiences of mental health adversities and suicidal ideations. Experiences of stigma, discrimination and trauma are key in underpinning suicide prevention

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From home life to institutional life

From home life to institutional life “Rates of depression found to be much higher for people living in residential aged care than those of the same age living at home…” Overview This opinion editorial explores how moving into residential aged care is often seen as a ‘normal’ phase of one’s life. Much is made of

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Mental health interventions for aged care

Mental health interventions for aged care This brief review provides an overview of academic and grey literature and provides suggestions for best practice in the field. Overview Little is known about the effectiveness of specialist mental health care interventions in aged care settings. This is predominantly due to the small number of initiatives in operation

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We all need social connections

We all need social connections “Community attitudes to social inclusion are creating a crisis of loneliness and isolation, exacerbated by the pandemic…”  Overview In this opinion editorial we argue that we are facing an increasingly fragmented social hierarchy. Older Australians are being left behind and we are at risk of losing the intergenerational connection that

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Collective prejudice

Collective prejudice Better Place Australia’s position paper on the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.  Published July 2021 Overview Most responses to the Australian Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety (2021) have characterised it as an important and ground-breaking publication with the potential to affect real change in the provision of

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Examination of financial hardship

Examination of financial hardship An examination of financial hardship, debt and poverty amongst 1900+ users of the Better Place Australia financial counselling services Overview This report describes the demographics and nature of debt for all clients who accessed our Financial Counselling and Capabilities (FCC) services in the 2017-18 financial year. There was a total of

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Rainbow Families Research

Rainbow Families Research The Rainbow Families project explored the formation and dissolution of rainbow families in Australia. Conducting a scoping review of existing literature, we explored rainbow families’ access to and experiences with family law services, including family dispute resolution, mediation, and counselling, as well as their experiences of family formation and dissolution in the

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Better research contributes to better relationships

Better research leads to better relationships The Centre for Better Relationships is the research, advocacy and policy arm of Better Place Australia, and serves as an invaluable resource for our many projects and initiatives. The Centre’s targeted and insightful research supports our commitment to helping Australians lead a better life through fostering stronger relationships. This

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Elder abuse discussion paper

Elder Abuse Discussion Paper A summary of experience and practice observations in responding to elder abuse through the Respecting Elders service Overview This discussion paper reports on the experience and practice observations of Better Place Australia in responding to elder abuse through the Respecting Elders service in 2017-18. Elder abuse may take the form of neglect, psychological,

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