Guest Speaker - Dr Joe Tucci
The Australian Childhood Foundation works to put a stop to child abuse and give children a life free from violence and trauma.
For the past 20 years the Australian Childhood Foundation has worked tirelessly to protect children's rights and to ensure their safety. It has implemented recognised programs that counsel and support children to recovery; help professionals who work with children to better support at risk children; raise awareness of the causes and consequences of abuse and what we can do as a community to help stop it before it starts; and help parents raise healthy and confident children.
The reality is, the whole community suffers the impact of child abuse and family violence. The financial cost alone is estimated to be $13 to $30 billion dollars per year to our community. The long-term social problems of crime, drug and alcohol abuse and violence are a burden for the whole community. This means all of us, including children, are directly and indirectly at risk of the impact of abuse, neglect and family violence.
Dr Joe Tucci is the Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Childhood Foundation.Joe is a registered psychologist and social worker with significant experience in child protection and working therapeutically with children. He has worked in the field of child abuse intervention for the past 18 years.
Joe graduated with Honours in Psychology (1986) and Honours in Social Work (1988) from Monash University. His experience includes child protection work, family counselling at the North Melbourne Community Health Centre, and child abuse research with the Department of Social Work at Monash University. He has been a guest lecturer in child abuse and family therapy at Monash, La Trobe and Deakin Universities.
He is an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow with the National Research Centre for the Prevention of Child Abuse at Monash University.
Joe completed his Doctorate into emotional child abuse at Monash University in 2005. He has presented at national and international conferences on family therapy and child abuse. His writing has been published in both Australian and international academic journals and the broader media.
He has served on a number of government advisory bodies including the Australian Council for Children and Parenting, an advisory body to the Commonwealth Government. He is currently a member of the National Common Approach to Assessment, Referral and Support (CAARS) Taskforce.