Professor Elspeth McInnes AM

Professor of Sociology in Education UniSA Education Futures

Magill Campus (G1-19)
tel +61 8 830 24042

email Elspeth.McInnes@unisa.edu.au

Available for media comment
Research Degree Supervisor

About me

child protection
family violence
family law and divorce social policies
early childhood education

My teaching and research provides expertise in two fields: child protection and wellbeing in early childhood education, and Australian family violence laws and policies impacting family safety. I have a strong research-teaching-engagement nexus. My program of research investigates ways in which educators can support young children’s wellbeing and learning and social policy impacts on vulnerable families.

UniSA Education Futures

Focused on developing education professionals, UniSA Education Futures contributes to innovation in education practice through quality teaching, learning and research excellence.

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Research

Research focus

Education Systems
Psychology
Social Work
Curriculum and Pedagogy
Law

Highlights

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

Research

Outputs

Research outputs for the last seven years are shown below. Some long-standing staff members may have older outputs included. To see earlier years visit ORCID, ResearcherID or Scopus

Open access indicates that an output is open access.

Highlights

Year	Output
2017	McInnes, E, Whitington, V, Colmer, K, Sisson, J & Scales, M 2017, 'A multi-dimensional approach to pedagogical development in long day care centres', New Zealand-International Research in Early Childhood Education Journal, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 46-58. Open access
2016	McInnes, E, Diamond, A & Whitington, V 2016, 'Developing trauma-informed pedagogy in a classroom with 6-8 children', in D Schaub & E McInnes (eds), Trauma and meaning making, Inter-Disciplinary Press, UK, ch. 10, pp. 209-231.
2016	Schaub, D & McInnes, E 2016, Trauma and meaning making, Inter-Disciplinary Press, UK.
2015	McInnes, E, Diamond, A & Whitington, V 2015, 'Embedding wellbeing and creating community in classrooms', in K Brettig (ed.), Building stronger communities with children and families, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, UK, ch. 7, pp. 104-127.
2011	Bagshaw, DM, Brown, T, Wendt, SC, Campbell, AD, McInnes, EM, Tinning, B, Batagol, B, Sifris, A, Tyson, D, Baker, J & Fernandez-Arias, P 2011, 'The effect of family violence on post-separation parenting arrangements: the experiences and views of children and adults from families who separated post-1995 and post-2006', Family Matters, no. 86, pp. 49-61. Open access

Books

Year	Output
2020	Ey, L-A & McInnes, E 2020, Harmful sexual behaviour in young children and pre-teens: an education issue, Routledge, UK. 5 12
2020	Harris, P, Brock, C, McInnes, E, Neill, B, Diamond, A, Carter, J, Camaitoga, U, Krishna, M & Giannakis, E 2020, Children's multilingual literacy: fostering childhood literacy in home and community settings, Springer, Singapore. 6
2019	McInnes, E & Mason, AD 2019, Where to from here? Examining conflict- related and relational interaction trauma, Brill, Netherlands.
2019	McInnes, E & Schaub, D 2019, What happened? Re-presenting traumas, uncovering recoveries: processing individual and collective trauma, Brill Publishers, Netherlands. 7
2016	Schaub, D & McInnes, E 2016, Trauma and meaning making, Inter-Disciplinary Press, UK.

Chapters

Year	Output
2023	Harris, P, Camaitoga, U, Krishna, M, Brock, C, McInnes, E, Diamond, A & Neill, B 2023, 'Co-constructing opportunities for shared, collective literacies learning in communities in Fiji', in C Brock, B Exley & L-I Rigney (eds), International Perspectives on Literacies, Diversities, and Opportunities for Learning: Critical Conversations, Routledge, UK, ch. 14, pp. 212-227.
2021	Harris, P, Diamond, A, Neill, B, McInnes, E, Brock, C & Camaitoga, U 2021, 'Fostering young children's literacy in home and community settings: a dialogic approach to developing culturally relevant and sustaining practices', in LA Henry & NA Stahl (eds), Literacy Across the Community: Research: Research, Praxis, and Trends, Routledge, UK, ch. 6, pp. 73-88. Open access 1
2020	McInnes, E, Whitington, V, Diamond, A & Neill, B 2020, 'Embedding wellbeing and creating community in classrooms', in K Brettig (ed.), Building Stronger Communities with Children and Families, 2nd ed., Cambridge Scholars Publishing, UK, ch. 7, pp. 123-149. Open access
2019	McInnes, E & Schaub, D 2019, 'Introduction', in Elspeth McInnes & Danielle Schaub (eds), What happened? Re-presenting traumas, uncovering recoveries: processing individual and collective trauma, Brill Publishers, Netherlands, pp. XI-XIII.
2019	McInnes, E 2019, 'Young children's drawings after sexual abuse: disclosure and recovery', in E McInnes & AD Mason (eds), Where to from Here? Examining Conflict- Related and Relational Interaction Trauma, Brill Publishers, Netherlands, ch. 3, pp. 47-69. Open access 8
2018	Harris, P, Brock, C, Diamond, A, McInnes, E, Neill, B, Camaitoga, U & Krishna, M 2018, '"You, us and a bus": exploring analysis as cross-cultural collaboration in Fiji', in S Madrid Akpovo, MJ Moran & R Brookshire (eds), Collaborative cross-cultural research methodologies in early care and education contexts, Routledge, US, ch. 11, pp. 169-186. Open access 3 1
2016	McInnes, E, Diamond, A & Whitington, V 2016, 'Developing trauma-informed pedagogy in a classroom with 6-8 children', in D Schaub & E McInnes (eds), Trauma and meaning making, Inter-Disciplinary Press, UK, ch. 10, pp. 209-231.
2015	McInnes, E, Diamond, A & Whitington, V 2015, 'Embedding wellbeing and creating community in classrooms', in K Brettig (ed.), Building stronger communities with children and families, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, UK, ch. 7, pp. 104-127.
2014	McInnes, EM 2014, 'A feminist perspective: system responses to Australian mothers exiting an abusive relationship', in M Taylor & JA Pooley (eds), Overcoming domestic violence: creating a dialogue round vulnerable populations, Nova Science Publishers Inc, New York, ch. 10, pp. 155-170. Open access
2014	McInnes, EM, Diamond, AK & Whitington, V 2014, 'Developing Trauma-Informed Pedagogy in a Year 2-3 Classroom', in M Callaghan (ed.), How Trauma Resonates: Art, Literature and Theoretical practice, 1, Inter-Disciplinary Press, UK, pp. 127-138.
2011	McInnes, E & Diamond, A 2011, 'Child and family centres: how effective?', in K Brettig & M Sims (eds), Building integrated connections for children, their families and communities, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom, ch. 4, pp. 52-72.

Journal Articles

Year	Output
2024	McInnes, E, Whitington, V, Neill, B & Farndale, A 2024, 'Professional learning supporting multilingual children's social and emotional development in diverse Australian early childhood education and care settings', Early Childhood Education Journal, online, pp. 1-12. Open access 54
2024	McLinton, SS, Menz, SN, Guerin, B & McInnes, E 2024, 'Evidence-based guidelines for low-risk ethics applicants: a qualitative analysis of the most frequent feedback made by human research ethics proposal reviewers', Journal of Academic Ethics, vol. 22, pp. 735-758. Open access 3
2022	Harris, P, Camaitoga, U, Brock, C, Diamond, A, McInnes, E & Neill, B 2022, 'Co-creating multilingual books with children to foster their literacies', Reading Teacher, vol. 75, no. 5, pp. 555-565. Open access 3 3
2022	McInnes, E 2022, 'Bystander attitudes to hearing family violence: an Australian survey', International Journal of Criminology and Sociology, vol. 11, pp. 48-54. Open access
2021	McInnes, E, Harris, P, Neill, B, Diamond, A, Brock, C & Camaitoga, U 2021, 'Supporting preschool age children's wellbeing through home-based literacy development in three Fijian communities', New Zealand-International Research in Early Childhood Education Journal, vol. 23, no. 2, pp. 36-51.
2020	Harris, P, Brock, CH, McInnes, E, Diamond, A, Neill, B, Carter, J & Giannakis, E 2020, 'Co-constructing culturally sustaining practices for fostering young children's literacy in Fiji', Journal of Research in Childhood Education, vol. 34, no. 1, pp. 127-152. Open access 4 3 4
2020	McInnes, E & Ey, L-A 2020, 'Responding to problematic sexual behaviours of primary school children: supporting care and education staff', Sex Education, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 75-89. Open access 13 11 4
2018	Ey, LA & McInnes, E 2018, 'Educators' observations of children's display of problematic sexual behaviors in educational settings', Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 88-105. Open access 21 14 3
2017	Ey, L-a, McInnes, E & Rigney, LI 2017, 'Educators' understanding of young children's typical and problematic sexual behaviour and their training in this area', Sex Education, vol. 17, no. 6, pp. 682-696. Open access 16 14 142
2017	McInnes, E, Whitington, V, Colmer, K, Sisson, J & Scales, M 2017, 'A multi-dimensional approach to pedagogical development in long day care centres', New Zealand-International Research in Early Childhood Education Journal, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 46-58. Open access
2017	Whitington, V & McInnes, E 2017, 'Developing a 'classroom as community' approach to supporting young children's wellbeing', Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, vol. 42, no. 4, pp. 22-29. Open access 1 3
2015	Ey, L-A & McInnes, E 2015, 'Sexualised music videos broadcast on Australian free-to-air television in child-friendly time periods', Children Australia, vol. 40, no. 1, pp. 58-68. Open access 9 4 1
2013	McInnes, E 2013, 'Madness in family law: mothers' mental health in the Australian family law system', Psychiatry Psychology and Law, vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 78-91. 16 13
2012	Briggs, F & McInnes, EM 2012, 'Commentary: Can family law protect young children?', Children Australia, vol. 37, no. 2, pp. 54-55.
2011	Bagshaw, DM, Brown, T, Wendt, SC, Campbell, AD, McInnes, EM, Tinning, B, Batagol, B, Sifris, A, Tyson, D, Baker, J & Fernandez-Arias, P 2011, 'The effect of family violence on post-separation parenting arrangements: the experiences and views of children and adults from families who separated post-1995 and post-2006', Family Matters, no. 86, pp. 49-61. Open access
2011	Hume, M, McInnes, EM, Rendell, K & Green, B 2011, 'Women's services in the twenty-first century: where are we heading?', Australian Domestic & Family Violence Clearinghouse, vol. 46, pp. 3-4.
2011	McInnes, E & Nichols, SM 2011, 'Partnerships in integrated early childhood centres: getting from policies to practices', New Zealand Research in Early Childhood Education, vol. 14, pp. 81-93.
2011	Walsh, K, Laskey, L, McInnes, E, Farrell, A, Matthews, B & Briggs, F 2011, 'Locating child protection in preservice teacher education', Australian Journal of Teacher Education, vol. 36, no. 7, pp. 31-58. Open access 53 16
2010	McInnes, EM 2010, 'Family Law and Women's Homelessness', vol. 23, no. 10, pp. 11-12.
2010	McInnes, EM, Knight, DF & Ward, LC 2010, 'Family day care providers' occupational health and safety', Journal of Health, Safety and Environment, vol. 26, no. 5, pp. 403-412. 3
2010	Sifris, A, Baker, J, Tinning, B, McInnes, EM, Brown, T, Campbell, AD, Bagshaw, DM, Tyson, D, Aries, PF, Wendt, SC & bATAGOL, B 2010, 'Family Violence Parent's and Children's Experiences before and after the 2006 reforms', Australian Family Lawyer, vol. 21, no. 2, pp. 11-18.

Conferences

Year	Output
2019	McInnes, E, Whitington, V & Neill, B 2019, 'A 'classroom as community' approach to supporting student well-being and reducing bullying in primary schools', 9th International Conference The Future of Education, Filodiritto, pp. 1-5.
2013	McInnes, E, Diamond, A & Whitington, V 2013, 'An inclusive classroom-based approach to improving student well-being', in J White (ed.), Australian Association for Research in Education Annual Conference 2013, Australian Association for Research in Education, pp. 1-13. Open access
2012	McInnes, E, Diamond, A & Whitington, V 2012, 'Supporting children's well-being in a year 2/3 classroom', 13th International Mental Health Conference POSITIVE CHANGE: Investing in Mental Health, AST Management, pp. 20-25. Open access
2008	McInnes, EM 2008, 'System Failure and Children at Risk: When Family Law, Mental Illness and Family Law Come Together', Centre for Peace, Conflict and Mediation, University of South Australia. Open access

Reports

Year	Output
2023	McInnes, E, Ey, L-A & Tippett, N 2023, Parents' knowledge, views and experiences of service responses to children's problematic and harmful sexual behaviours, University of South Australia, Australia. Open access
2023	McInnes, E, Ey, L-A, Tippett, N & Curry, M 2023, Responding to harmful sexual behaviours in Tasmania: review report on the Tasmanian prevention assessment support treatment [past] program, University of South Australia, Australia. Open access
2023	McInnes, E, Whitington, V, Neill, B & Farndale, A 2023, Wellbeing and emotional literacy in diverse early childhood services, University of South Australia, Australia. Open access
2020	McInnes, E, Whitington, V & Neill, B 2020, The wellbeing classroom as a whole school approach: impact evaluation, University of South Australia, Australia. Open access
2017	Harris, P, McInnes, E, Brock, C, Neill, B, Diamond, A, Carter, J & Camaitoga, U 2017, Fostering preschool literacy in Fiji's communities, University of South Australia, Australia. Open access
2014	McInnes, E, Diamond, A & Whitington, V 2014, The wellbeing classroom: embedding wellbeing, creating community report, Communities for Children Salisbury, the Salvation Army and the Schools Ministry Group, Australia. Open access
2013	Diamond, A, McInnes, E & Whitington, V 2013, Family services in suburbs; do they make a difference in children's development? What 2009 and 2012 Australian Early Development Index results reveal about the efficacy of Salisbury Communities for children., Salisbury Communities for Children, Australia. Open access
2011	McInnes, E & Diamond, A 2011, Evaluation of child and family centre: Family Zone Ingle Farm Hub, Salvation Army Ingle Farm, Australia. Open access
2010	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, Commonwealth of Australia, Australia. Open access

External engagement & recognition

Collaborations

External engagement & recognition

Collaborations

Organisation	Country
Deakin University	AUSTRALIA
Fiji Early Childhood Teachers Association	FIJI
Fiji Early Childhood Teachers' Association	FIJI
Fiji National University	FIJI
Flinders University	AUSTRALIA
Gowrie SA	AUSTRALIA
James Cook University	AUSTRALIA
Monash University	AUSTRALIA
National Council of Women Fiji	FIJI
Oranim Academic College of Education	ISRAEL
Private Individual	UNITED KINGDOM
Queensland University of Technology	AUSTRALIA
University of Alberta	CANADA
University of South Australia	AUSTRALIA
University of Wyoming	UNITED STATES

External engagement & recognition

Engagement/recognition	Year
Distinguished Alumni Award Flinders University	2021
Advisory Board Member Youth Aftercare Project (Youth Suicide Recovery) New Horizons Health	2020
Research Publication Excellence Awards Centre for Research in Education & Social Inclusion	2020
Member Expert Advisory Panel National Child Protection Alliance Inc	2018
Member Expert Research Advisory Panel Bravehearts Inc	2018
Inaugural President Parents Families Carers	2017
Member The Australian Sociological Association	2017
Member Expert Advisory Panel National Child Protection Alliance Inc	2017
Member Expert Research Advisory Panel Bravehearts Inc	2017
Member Expert Advisory Panel National Child Protection Alliance Inc	2016
Member Expert Research Advisory Panel Bravehearts Inc	2016
Honorary Membership Governor's Leadership Foundation Program	2015
Member Expert Advisory Panel National Child Protection Alliance Inc	2015
Member Expert Research Advisory Panel Bravehearts Inc	2015
Honorary Membership Governor's Leadership Foundation Program	2014
Member Expert Advisory Panel National Child Protection Alliance Inc	2014
Honorary Membership Governor's Leadership Foundation Program	2013
Member Child Support National Stakeholder Engagement Group, Australian Government	2013
Member Expert Advisory Panel National Child Protection Alliance Inc	2013
Deputy President and Board Member Women Everywhere Advocating Violence Elimination (WEAVE)	2012
Editorial Board Member New Zealand Journal of Research in Early Childhood Education	2012
Honorary Membership Governor's Leadership Foundation Program	2012
Keynote Albury Regional Family Law Pathways Network Conference, Albury	2012
Member Child Support National Stakeholder Engagement Group, Australian Government	2012
Member Expert Advisory Panel National Child Protection Alliance Inc	2012
Member, Ministerial Advisory Panel: 3 Year olds Mental Health Check Minister for Aging and Mental Health	2012
Deputy President and Board Member Women Everywhere Advocating Violence Elimination (WEAVE)	2011
Member Child Support National Stakeholder Engagement Group, Australian Government	2011
Member Expert Advisory Panel National Child Protection Alliance Inc	2011
Member, Ministerial Advisory Panel: 3 Year olds Mental Health Check Minister for Aging and Mental Health	2011
Citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning Office for Learning and Teaching, Department of Education and Training, Australian Government	2010
Deputy President and Board Member Women Everywhere Advocating Violence Elimination (WEAVE)	2010
Keynote Children Communities Connections Conference, Adelaide	2010
Member Child Support National Stakeholder Engagement Group, Australian Government	2010
Member Expert Advisory Panel National Child Protection Alliance Inc	2010
Keynote Domestic Violence Action Group Conference, Adelaide	2009
Keynote Presentation Working Together in Integrated Environments Conference, DECS, Adelaide	2009
Member Child Support National Stakeholder Engagement Group, Australian Government	2009

Other

ACOSS - Board of Governors: Social Security Policy Adviser, (Community organisation) , 1999 to 2005, President

National Council of Single Mothers and their Children - Secretariat, (Community organisation) , 2003 to 2007

Teaching & student supervision

Teaching strengths

Online courses
Early Childhood Education
Teaching emotionally 'difficult' content
Higher Degree Research supervision

Highlights

Sociology
Gender Studies
Family Violence and Child Protection

Teaching & student supervision

Research degree supervision

Supervisions from 2010 shown

Thesis title	Student status
A genealogical tracing of income management and the manifestation of ideological continuities of Settler-Colonialism and Neoliberalism - an examination of the impact on Aboriginal communities in twent	Current
Education policy and support for school students with a disability or chronic health condition	Current
Embedding the teaching and assessing of employability skills in the university curriculum	Current
Managing life in two homes: what are the routines, relationships and experience of primary school children from separated homes and their parents and teachers within the school environment	Current
Risks of harm and child sexual abuse in Australian family law cases: do judicial and legislative responses uphold a child¿s right to protection?	Current
The exploration of domestic violence within culturally and linguistically diverse multicultural communities and the intersectionality to accessing domestic violence services and the responses of cultu	Current
Activism in the academy: a study of activism in the South Australian higher education workforce 1998-2008	Completed
An exploration of children's expression of spirituality and the connection to the Reggio Emilia approach	Completed
Can emotional competence be 'caught' and 'taught' in OSHC programs? - skilling OSHC educators to develop children's emotional competence	Completed
Culturally responsive pedagogy on the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara lands	Completed
Fostering children¿s capacity for empathic reasoning: the role of community of inquiry in an empathic pedagogy	Completed
Literacy experiences of emergent bilingual preschool children from Afghan refugee families	Completed
Media representation of children in Singapore	Completed
Parental partnership in the learning of children with learning disabilities in inclusive classes in Malaysia	Completed
Revealing the real role of the 'un' real nurse: the professional constitution of the modern hospital based nurse educator role and the impact on hospital based nurse educator practice	Completed
Sankofa education: bridging the rural¿urban gap in Ghana¿s education outcomes through culturally responsive pedagogy to decolonise schooling and meet community needs	Completed
Student engagement: a useful quality concept in the Vietnamese higher education system	Completed
Supporting the development of written representations of mathematical thinking in the early years classroom	Completed
Talking with toddlers in childcare: making a difference to young children's vocabulary development	Completed
The ethics of care and justice in senior secondary education	Completed
The impact of crucible events on the development of female political leaders in Kenya	Completed
The tyranny of difference: an investigation into the construction and influences of working-class identities on the formal learning of white, baby-boomer males	Completed
Uptake and retention of (re)source-rich feedback on academic writing for adult learners of English	Completed
Value Guided Practice: the ethics of care and justice in early childhood education and care	Completed
Young children's engagement with contemporary music media and their gender-role and self-identity	Completed

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Professor Elspeth McInnes AM

About me

About me

UniSA Education Futures

About me

Professional Associations

Experience

Qualifications

Work history

Research

Research focus

Highlights

Projects

Outputs

Highlights

Books

Chapters

Journal Articles

Conferences

Reports

Current research & highlights

External engagement & recognition

Collaborations

Collaborations

External engagement & recognition

Distinguished Alumni Award

Advisory Board Member Youth Aftercare Project (Youth Suicide Recovery)

Research Publication Excellence Awards

Member Expert Advisory Panel

Member Expert Research Advisory Panel

Inaugural President

Member

Member Expert Advisory Panel

Member Expert Research Advisory Panel

Member Expert Advisory Panel

Member Expert Research Advisory Panel

Honorary Membership

Member Expert Advisory Panel

Member Expert Research Advisory Panel

Honorary Membership

Member Expert Advisory Panel

Honorary Membership

Member

Member Expert Advisory Panel

Deputy President and Board Member

Editorial Board Member

Honorary Membership

Keynote

Member

Member Expert Advisory Panel

Member, Ministerial Advisory Panel: 3 Year olds Mental Health Check

Deputy President and Board Member

Member

Member Expert Advisory Panel

Member, Ministerial Advisory Panel: 3 Year olds Mental Health Check

Citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning

Deputy President and Board Member

Keynote

Member

Member Expert Advisory Panel

Keynote

Keynote Presentation

Member

Other

Teaching & student supervision

Teaching strengths

Highlights

Courses and programs

Courses I teach

Research degree supervision

Gallery