Kiraly, Meredith
Position: Research Fellow
Phone: +61 3 8344 9433
Email: mkiraly@unimelb.edu.au
Meredith Kiraly is a psychologist with over thirty years' experience in child and family welfare. Her Master of Behavioural Science was gained by major thesis on the topic of staff selection in residential child care. She has worked in community service organisations in casework and program management, and has specialised in out of home care.
Her numerous research projects have taken place in a range of human service areas. She has lectured at university and TAFE, and has provided field training in staff selection in several states of Australia. She has also made conference presentations on topics in child welfare both in Australia and overseas. In recent years, Meredith has been working in the Department of Human Services (DHS) in a range of policy, research and programmatic roles.
Meredith is currently developing the work of the Alfred Felton Child and Family Welfare Research Project in the area of Stability and Quality in Out of Home Care. DHS (Division of Children, Youth and Families) has made this possible by providing a secondment to the Alfred Felton Research Project.
Qualifications
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Bachelor of Arts (Honours), The University of Melbourne, 1972
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Master of Behavioural Science, La Trobe University, 1999
Awards
- Creswick Foundation Travelling Fellowship, 1993
Memberships
- Australian Psychological Society: member
- Victorian Psychological Council: registration
Selected publications and reports
Opinion Piece: Kinship care and well-being – children speak out Developing Practice (29) Winter 2011.
‘Sometimes you can find your family elsewhere’ Relationships that endure despite change: how families support children through divorce and re-formation In press 2011, to be published as a book chapter in Divorce, Remarriage and Stepfamilies by Asia Pacific Forum on Families, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Kiraly, M. (2011) Commentary - The Ties That Bind: Complexity and Challenges in the Kinship Care Family Children Australia, 36(2), 43-45. Also adapted and published in the UK Children Webmag August 2011
Cathy Humphreys and Meredith Kiraly (2011) High Frequency Family Contact: A Road to Nowhere for Infants in Care Child and Family Social Work, 16 (1).
Developmentally sensitive parental contact for infants when families are separated. Cathy Humphreys and Meredith Kiraly (2010), Family Matters, 85.
Humphreys, C. and Kiraly, M. (2009) Baby on Board: Report of the Infants in Care and Family Contact Research Project. ISBN 9780734040695
Kiraly, Meredith. Regional Flagship Project: Clients with Complex Needs. Report for Department of Human Services Eastern Metropolitan Region, 2003.
Residential child care staff selection: Choose with care. Binghamton, NY: Haworth Press, 2001. Republished in special journal edition of Child and Youth Services 23 (1/2) 2001.
“What's wrong with child and youth welfare.” Children and Young People November 2001. Republished in Children Australia, October 2002.
“Give everyone a say: the involvement of young people in selecting program staff.” Children and Young People August 2000. Republished in Children Australia, March 2001.
Choose with Care: A recruitment guide for organisations working with children. Jointly commissioned by ECPAT (End Child Prostitution, Pornography and Trafficking) Australia and MacKillop Family Services, July 1999.
“Residential child care - ensuring good care of children through effective staff recruitment.” Journal of the Asia Pacific Forum on Families, 1(1), July 1999. Republished in Children UK in 2000.
“Recruiting and Selecting Residential Child Care Workers” Kildonan Child and Family Services, July 1999.
“The problem of the paedophile: How to avoid recruiting a paedophile in positions of responsibility in child and youth care.” Children Australia, 21 (2), 1996.
“The Right To Be Heard, But Is Anyone Listening?” Children Australia, 19 (3), 1994.
Selected conference presentations and workshops
Upcoming invited presentation: It is the story of all of us – learning from Aboriginal communities about supporting family connection
To be presented at the New South Wales Kinship Care Research and Policy Forum Nov 2011
Don’t be pushy: the voices of children, young people and parents in kinship care.
Australian Social Policy Conference, University of New South Wales, July 2011
Kinship Care and Family Contact – Messages from Families
Presentation at University of Melbourne Social Work Colloquium, February 2011
Presentation at Kinship Care Forum, Melbourne, November 2010
Presentation at The Good, The Bad & the Ugly: Foster Care Conference Melbourne, October 2010
Family and Kin – relationships, roles and support in a changing society
Presentation at Divorce, Remarriage and Stepfamilies conference, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Oct 2010
Kinship care and family contact research project – early findings
Presentations at a number of Victorian conferences in 2010
Infants in care and family contact research project
Presentations at a number of Victorian conferences in 2008-9.
2009: A variety of presentations and conference papers based upon the Infants in Care and Family Contact Research Project.
Kiraly, Meredith. “Volunteers in children’s services - bringing out the best, avoiding abuse.” APFAM (Asia Pacific Forum on Families) Conference, Kuala Lumpur, June 2003.
“Leaving care with complex needs.” Scottish Institute of Residential Child Care Conference, Edinburgh, June 2003.
Kiraly, Meredith and Inspector Chris Cosgriff. “The Adolescents Assistance Program.” Eighth Australasian Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect, Melbourne, November 2001.
Kiraly, Meredith. “What’s wrong with child welfare: an examination of practices that harm children.” Eighth Australasian Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect, Melbourne, November 2001.
Kiraly, Meredith. “Recruiting for quality: Enhancing programs by utilising new practices in staff selection.” Jubilation Conference (Catholic Social Services) Melbourne, March 2000.
“Choosing with care: preventing children in care from abuse by effective staff recruitment.” Asia Pacific Forum on Families international conference, Kuala Lumpur, November 1999. (Presented by Margarita Frederico.)
“Creating an aware culture through recruitment practices.” Sexual Misconduct, Offending and Exploitation Conference, Melbourne, July 1998.
“Residential Child Care: Antipodean Initiatives.” Dreams and Realities International Conference on Residential Child Care, Glasgow, October 1996.