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Dr Elspeth McInnes 

Position: Graduate Research Coordinator Dr Elspeth McInnes
Division/Portfolio: Division of Education, Arts and Social Sciences
School/Unit: School of Education
Campus: Magill Campus
Office: G1-19
Telephone: +61 8 830 24042
Fax: +61 8 830 24394
Email: Elspeth_dot_McInnes_at_unisa_dot_edu_dot_au
URL for Business Card: http://people.unisa.edu.au/Elspeth.McInnes


Welcome to my home page!


Links to other sites



Women Everywhere Advocating Violence Elimination


Australian Council of Social Services


National Council of Single Mothers and their Children


Teaching interests

  • Sociology
  • Gender Studies
  • Family Violence and Child Protection

I teach the following courses

EDUC 3001Children in Families and Communities
EDUC 1006Public Policy and Advocacy
(This course is not currently being taught)
EDUC 5095Investigating Privilege in Early Childhood Settings


Professional associations

The Australian Sociological Association


Qualifications

BA Hons 1 Flinders University of SA

PhD Flinders University of SA


Research interests

  • Social policy and social inequality
  • Families and Separation
  • Gender and Violence
  • Child abuse and child protection
  • Women in Small Business

Research publications

Green B, Hume M, McInnes E, Rendell K (2013) 'The Personal IS Political!Gender, Violence, Activism and Politics: Necessities for Change.' 7th Australian Women's Health Conference Sydney May 7-10.

Hume,M., McInnes,E., Rendell,K. & Green, B. (2013) How is a lack of feminist analysis within domestic violence and contemporary services contributing to a reproduction of women's and children's homelessness and continued risk of domestic violence victimisation?, Parity Vol. 26 No. 2, March pp. 24-26.

McInnes, E. 2013 Madness in Family Law: Mothers’ Mental Health in the Australian Family Law System, Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, March 14 DOI:10.1080/13218719.2013.774688 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13218719.2013.774688

McInnes, E., Whitington, V. & Diamond, A. (2012) Developing Trauma Informed Pedagogy in a year2/3 Classroom, Paper presented at the 3rd Interdisciplinary-net Conference on Trauma, Lisbon, March 19-22.

McInnes, E., Whitington, V. & Diamond, A. (2012) Supporting Well-being in a year2/3 Classroom, Paper presented at the Children Communities Connections Conference, Adelaide, November.

McInnes, E., Whitington, V. & Diamond, A. (2012) Supporting Well-being in a year2/3 Classroom, Paper presented at the 13th International Mental Health Conference, Gold Coast August 6-8.

Briggs, F., & McInnes, E. 2012 'Can Family Law Protect Young Children?, Children Australia Vol. 37 No. 2 pp 54-55.

McInnes E., Briggs, F. & Pragnell, C. 2012 'Flawed Family Law: Failing Sexually Abused Children' AIFS Conference Melbourne, July 25-27.http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aifs.gov.au%2Fconferences%2Faifs12%2Findex.html&h=9AQHH9r0iAQFXcEN5AhicgQeYWplErMkVsH9LFu06wvSM3A&s=1

McInnes E. 2012 'Maternal Madness: Accounting for Child Sexual Abuse Allegations in Australia's Family Law System'presented at 8th BASPCAN Congress on Child Abuse & Neglect, Belfast, Northern Ireland April 15-18.

McInnes E. 2012 'Maternal Madness in Family Law: What's Child Sexual Abuse Got to do with it? Invited Keynote presentation to the Albury Regional Family Law Pathways Network Conference, Albury March 23.

Hume, M., McInnes, E., Rendell, K. & Green, B. (2012). Women's services in the 21st century: Where are we heading? Rain and Thunder Issue 53, Spring pp. 9-11

Spears, B., McInnes, E., Lucas, B., Simons, M., McCallum, F & Price, D. (2012). Promoting student wellbeing through pre-service teachers: An integrated educative approach. Paper presented at the Positive Workplaces: The Science of Wellbeing: More than the absence of illness conference. Adelaide Hilton: February 24th.

McInnes E. & Nichols, S. 2012 'Practising Together: Implementing Professional and Parent Partnerships in Integrated Children’s Services' International Research in Early Childhood Education Conference, Cape Coast University, Ghana January 22-23.

McInnes, E. & Nichols, S. 2011. Partnerships in Integrated Early Childhood Centres: Getting from Policies to Practices. New Zealand Research in Early Childhood Education Journal, 14, 81-94.

Hume, M., McInnes, E., Rendell, K. & Green, B. (2011). Women's services in the 21st century: Where are we heading? Australian Domestic & Family Violence Newsletter, 46, pp.3-4.

McInnes, E. & Diamond, A. 2011. Child and family centres: How effective? In Building integrated connections for children, their families, and communities (pp. 52-72), K. Brettig & M. Sims (Eds). Newcastle-Upon-Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

McInnes E. 2011 ‘Madness in Family Law: Competing Discourses on Mothers' Mental Health in the Australian Family Law system’ Paper presented at the 12th International Mental Health Conference, Gold Coast August 24-26.

Walsh, K., Laskey, L., McInnes, E., Farrell, A., Mathews, B., Briggs, F., 2011. Locating Child Protection in Pre-service Teacher Education, Australian Journal of Teacher Education Vol. 36 Iss. 7 http://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol36/iss7/3/

McInnes, E. 2010 Family Law and Women's Homelessness. Parity ,Vol. 23 No. 10, Australian Council to Homeless Persons.p.11

Bagshaw, Dale; Brown, Thea; Wendt, Sarah; Campbell, Alan; McInnes, Elspeth; Tinning, Beth; Batagol, Becky; Sifris, Adiva; Tyson, Danielle; Baker, Joanne and Fernandez Arias, Paula. ‘The Effect of Family Violence on Post-Separation Parenting Arrangements’. Family Matters, 2010, No. 86, pages 35-47.

McInnes,E., Diamond,A., Brettig, K. 2010 'Child and family centres - how effective? Service redesign — The SA experience' Keynote Children Communities Connections Conference: Developing Effective Integrated Support for Children and their Families. Adelaide November 25-26.

Bagshaw, D., Brown, T. , Wendt, S., Campbell, A., McInnes, E., Tinning, B., Batagol, B., Sifris, A., Tyson, D., Baker, J., Fernandez Arias, P. 2010 'Family Violence: Parents' and Children's Experiences Before and After the 2006 Reforms' Australian Family Lawyer Vol. 21, No. 2 pp. 11-18.

McInnes, E., Ward, C. and Knight, D. 2010 Family Day Care Providers' Occupational Health and Safety, Journal of Health Safety and Environment December Vol. 26, No. 5 pp. 403-412.

McInnes E. 2010 Family Law and Homelessness 6th National Homelessness Conference, Brisbane September 1-3.

Bagshaw, D., Brown, T. , Wendt, S., Campbell, A., McInnes, E., Tinning, B., Batagol, B., Sifris, A., Tyson, D., Baker, J., Fernandez Arias, P. 2010 Family Violence and Family Law in Australia: The Experiences and Views of Children and Adults from Families who Separated Post-1995 and Post-2006, Attorney-General’s Department, Canberra. http://www.ag.gov.au/www/agd/agd.nsf/Page/Families_FamilyRelationshipServicesOverviewofPrograms_ResearchProjectsonSharedCareParentingandFamilyViolence

McInnes E. 2010 'Single parents & Children of Single Parents in Higher Education' presented at Managing Social Inclusion in Higher Education Forum Sydney, August 11.

McInnes E., 2009 Family Law and Death Review Processes, Keynote presentation to Domestic Violence Action Group Conference, Adelaide September 10-11.

McInnes, E. 2009 Mix and Match Age-Groups in Integrated Child Care: Learning from Family Models, Keynote Presentation to Working Together in Integrated Environments Conference, DECS, Adelaide September 7-8.

McInnes, E. 2009 'The impact of Violence on Children and Maternal Parenting' presented to Soroptimist United Against Domestic Violence conference , Mount Gambier South Australia, July 24.

McInnes, E. 2009 'Equity Matters',paper presented to the annual Queensland Independent Education Union Conference, Brisbane, March 28.

McInnes, E. and Power, C. 2008 Representing the Dead: Media Reports of Domestic Homicide, paper presented to the AIC International Conference on Domestic Homicide, Gold Coast December 3-5. http://www.aic.gov.au/conferences/2008-homicide/presentations.html

McInnes, E. & Nicholls, S. 2008 'Case Studies of Parent Partnerships in a New Service Landscape' presented to Children Communities Connections Conference, Mawson Lakes 13-14 November.

McInnes, E, 2008 Post Separation Violence and Children's Exposure, presented to the inaugural Family Relationships Services Association conference , Cairns Qld, November 4-6. http://www.frsa.org.au/site/pfrsaconference2008.php

Power, C. & McInnes, E., 2008 A Review of Domestic Violence Related Homicides in SA, presented to Victims of Crime conference , Adelaide September 23-24. http://www.victimsa.org/index.php?module=webpage&id=25

McInnes, E. 2008 Separated Resident Mothers’ Management of Contact With Fathers who have used Violence,paper presented to the Brisbane International Feminist Conference 3rd-5th September.

McInnes, E. 2008 Child Support Resistance and Abuse in Relationships, paper presented to the Gender, Family Responsibility and Legal Change: An International, Interdisciplinary Conference Sussex Law School, University of Sussex, 10th – 12th July.

McInnes, E. 2008 'The impact of Violence on Children and Maternal Parenting' presented to Soroptimist United Against Domestic Violence conference , Magill South Australia, July 4.

McInnes, E. 2008 'System Failure and Children at Risk: When Family Law, Mental Illness and Family ViolenceCome Together,'Paper given at the Shared Parental Responsibility in Australian Family Law and the Impact on Children Seminar, Centre for Peace, Conflict and Mediation, University of South Australia, April 13-15. http://www.unisa.edu.au/hawkeinstitute/cpcm/seminar-papers.asp

McInnes, E. 2007 Welfare to Work: Creating a new social security exclusion system, Grace Vaughan Memorial Lecture,Perth, Department for Communities WA, November 7.

McInnes, E. 2007 'Single Mothers Struggling with the System' Jobs Australia Conference , Adelaide, October.

McInnes, E. 2007, 'Child-halving in the Family Law System and the Links with Welfare and Child Support' Paper International Women's Conference, USQ Toowoomba, September 27-29.

McInnes, E. & Taylor, J. 2007, Single Mothers' Struggles for Survival in the Job Network System, Paper Our Work.. Our Lives: National Conference on Women and Industrial Relations Adelaide, September 20-21.

McInnes, E. 2007,'The attitudes of separated resident mothers in Australia to children spending time with fathers,' Australian Journal of Family Law, Vol. 21, No. 1, April, pp. 20-36.

McInnes, E., 2007 Shared Parental Responsibility in Australia's Family Law System and Mental Health, paper presented to the Altering States Creating Futures Conference of the Queensland Mental Health Alliance, Brisbane June 28-29.

McInnes E and Nichols, S. 2006 Parent Partnerships in Integrated Early Childhood Centres: Getting from Policies to Practices Presented to the New Zealand Early Childhood Research Conference, Wellington December 4-5 .

McInnes, E., 2006, The Literacy Gateway to Gaining and Maintaining Income Support, Australian Council of Adult Literacy Conference, Adelaide, October.

McInnes E., 2006 When Unpaid Care Work Doesn’t Count: The Commodification of Family Life in the new Welfare to Work Order, presented at Road to Where: The Politics and Practice of Implementing Welfare to Work, Brisbane 17-18 July.http://www.uq.edu.au/swahs/index.html?page=59124&pid=29079

McInnes, E, 2005, ‘Welfare to Work: Money and Mummy cuts for Single Parent Families’, Developing Practice: The Child Youth and Family Work Journal, No. 13, Winter pp.8-12.

McInnes, E. (2005) ‘Sole Parents and Welfare to Work’ Jobs Australia Conference, Melbourne, September 6.

McInnes, E. (2004) ‘Keeping Children Safe: The Links Between Violence and Poverty’, Paper National conference of the Uniting Church Missions Adelaide November 1-3 .

McInnes, E., (2004)The Challenges of Securing Human Rights to Safety in Australian Family Law Frameworks, paper presented at Home Truths Conference , Melbourne September 15-17.

McInnes, E. (2004)‘The Impact of Violence on Mothers and Children’s Needs during and after Parental Separation’ Early Childhood Development and Care, Vol 174, No. 4 pp.357-368.

McInnes, E., Glover, A. and Ikupu, A. (2004) Developing Early Childhood Child Protection in Papua New Guinea, Paper presented at the XXIV OMEP Congress, Melbourne, July 21-23.

McInnes, E., (2004) Fatherlessness, Joint Custody and Politics, Inner Voice: The journal of the Inner Sydney Regional Council for Social Development, Issue 98, pp 14-15.

McInnes, E., (2003) Compulsory Child Distribution and the Politics of Fatherlessness, Just Policy, 31, pp. 54-57.

McInnes, E., Orkin, G., Flood, M., and Swinbourne, K., (2003) 'What's Wrong with a Presumption of Joint Custody', Family Matters No. 65, pp. 65-67.

McInnes, E. (2003) 'Single Mothers, Social Policy and Gendered Violence', Women Against Violence , Issue 13, pp. 18-24.

McInnes E. (2003) ‘Child Care: Supporting Children’s Safety and Building Social Capital’.Our Children the Future 3 Early Childhood Conference Adelaide May 1-4.

McInnes E. (2003) Parental Alienation Syndrome: A Paradigm for Child Abuse, Child Sexual Abuse: Justice Response or Alternative Resolution, Australian Institute of Criminology Conference Adelaide May 1-2. http://www.aic.gov.au/conferences/2003-abuse/mcinnes.html

McInnes, E. and Swinbourne, K. (2003) 'Shared Parenting Presumption is a Risk: A response to the Inquiry into child custody arrangements in the event of family separation', Impact July.

McInnes, E., (2002),Supporting Mandatory Reporting in Schools,Crime Prevention in Schools Conference, Australian Institute of Criminology, Melbourne, 30th September–1st October. http://www.aic.gov.au/conferences/schools/mcinnes.html

McInnes, E., (2002), How Much Reform Do We Need: The Case of Lone Parents, Paper presented at Towards Opportunity and Prosperity Conference, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, Melbourne April 4-5.

McInnes E, (2002)‘Single Mothers’ Experiences of System Responses to Violence against themselves and their children by ex-partners.’STATEing Women's Health, June 2002 pp.23-28 "Violence Against Women".

McInnes, E. (2002) Family Policy and Future Trends, ACOSS Congress, Hobart, November 28.

McInnes, E., (2001), ‘Public Policy and Private Lives: Single Mothers, Social Policy and Gendered Violence’, Thesis Collection, Flinders University of SA.

Stanger, A., Roffey, B., Forsaith, D., McInnes, E., Petrone, F., Symes, C., Xydias, M., (2002) Gender Differences in Small Business Owner Managers: Implications for Accountants and other Providers of Assistance and Advice , University of Western Australia, Graduate School of Management Centre for Women and Business.

McInnes, E., (2001), Single Mothers, Social Policy and Gendered Violence, paper presented at Seeking Solutions, Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Conference , Gold Coast, September 6-7. http://www.austdvclearinghouse.unsw.edu.au/Conference%20papers/Seek-soln/McInnesElspeth17.5.02.pdf

McInnes, E. and Sacco, M. (2001) Family Tax Benefit fails to relive Child Poverty, Impact , August.

McInnes, E., (2000), ‘Welfare Reform: (Whose) Vision or Mirage?', ACOSS Congress, Canberra, November.

McInnes, E., (2000a), ‘Compulsory participation not the answer for lone parents’, Impact, December:12.

McInnes, E. (1999) ‘Gender Struggles over the Post Nuclear Family: Mapping the Terrain,’6th Interdisciplinary Gender Studies Conference, Newcastle University.

McInnes, E. 1998,Graduate Employers Survey, Adelaide, Flinders University Planning Unit. http://planning.reg.flinders.edu.au/downloads/surveys/1998GraduateEmployersSurveyReport.pdf

McInnes, E. 1997, Flinders as a Workplace: Report of the 1996 Staff Survey, Adelaide, Flinders University Standing Committee for Women.

McInnes, E. and Stanger, A. 1996 Women in Small Business in Targeted Rural Regions of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australian Women's Advisory Council.

Roffey, B., Forsaith, D., McInnes, E., Petrone, F., Stanger, A., Symes, C., Xydias, M. 1996 Women in Small Enterprise: A Review of Research ,Canberra, Department of Industry, Science and Technology.


Expertise for Media Contact

I am able to provide media comment in the following areas of expertise:

Discipline: Early childhood education/childcare

  • Child Abuse
  • Child Protection
  • Family Diversity
  • Gendered Violence
  • Single Mothers
  • Social Policy
  • Poverty and Inequality
  • Family Law

Community Service

Organisation Name:   WEAVE Inc. (Women Everywhere Advocating Violence Elimination)
Section:   National Committee
Type of Organisation:   Community organisation
Organisation URL:   http://weaveinc.org.au
Level of involvement:   Convenor
Year from:   2010
Year to:   2012

Organisation Name:   ACOSS
Section:   Board of Governors: Social Security Policy Adviser
Type of Organisation:   Community organisation
Organisation URL:   http://www.acoss.org.au
Level of involvement:   Deputy President & Board Member
Year from:   1999
Year to:   2005

Organisation Name:   National Council of Single Mothers and their Children
Section:   Secretariat
Type of Organisation:   Community organisation
Organisation URL:   http://www.ncsmc.org.au
Level of involvement:   President
Year from:   2003
Year to:   2007


Research Degree Supervisor

Research into family and society; sociology of interpersonal violence; child abuse and child protection; single parent familes; social policy; social welfare




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