Tina Martin

Proposed Thesis Title

“Bridging the Gap: How Trauma-informed Care is Delivered in Training and Implemented in Statutory Child Protection Practice in New South Wales”

Supervisors

Principal Supervisor - Dr Alhassan Abdullah
Co-Supervisor - Prof. Suzanne Hodgkin

Research

This research explores how trauma-informed care (TIC) is translated from policy and practitioner training into frontline statutory child protection practice in New South Wales. Although TIC is widely recognised as best practice, there is limited understanding of how practitioners implement its principles within the complex realities of statutory child protection, where competing demands, organisational pressures, and risk-focused decision-making may influence practice. Using a qualitative, constructivist-interpretivist design, the study will combine policy and document analysis with Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) interviews with statutory child protection practitioners, followed by a stakeholder validation workshop to refine recommendations. The research aims to identify factors that support or hinder the implementation of TIC and to develop evidence-informed recommendations to strengthen practice, workforce capability, supervision, and organisational systems. By examining the relationship between policy, training, and everyday practice, the study seeks to contribute to improved trauma-informed service delivery and better outcomes for children, young people, families, and practitioners within the NSW statutory child protection system.

Why I chose Charles Sturt...

My original enrolment in Charles Sturt was in 1998 and I wanted to do this research online and CSU was the best place for me.