Artificial intelligence in child and family services: measuring impact and strengthening early intervention systems

Presented By:

Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare

Anglicare Victoria

Today

AI is rapidly reshaping how organisations think about risk, prevention, service design and impact in child and family services. This panel will move beyond the promise of AI to ask what responsible use looks like in practice, particularly in sectors working with children, families and communities experiencing vulnerability.

The session will open a practical conversation about the risks, challenges and ethical considerations emerging across child protection and the broader child and family services sector. It will explore how organisations are approaching governance, guardrails, data maturity and responsible-use frameworks, while also identifying the opportunities AI may offer for earlier support, stronger outcomes measurement and better-informed investment decisions.

Drawing on perspectives from government, service delivery and human-centred design, the panel will invite participants to consider what is needed to ensure AI is used safely, ethically and equitably and how the sector can shape AI as a force for good for children and families.

Rise Up Session Date and Time:

August 27, 2026 1:30 pm

Country or Region Focus:

Australia & New Zealand

Type of Session:

Multi-sectoral panel presentation with structured audience deliberation

Public Health Pillar Focus:

Effective Governance and Multi-Sectoral Coordination, A National Action, Capacity Building, and Scaled Solutions, Data Driven and Evidence Based Solutions

Speakers

Dr Carmel Goulding, Senior Manager, Growth and Development, Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare

TBC, Government perspective, TBC

David Poynter, General Manager, Business Development & Research-Based Models, Anglicare Victoria

Mark Davis, Senior Leader, Today (Australian human-centred design and technology firm)

Session Aims

This session will provide participants with:

Lessons from human-centred design approaches to developing AI tools that are trusted and usable by frontline practitioners and families.
A set of transferable conditions and questions that countries and jurisdictions can use to assess their own readiness to apply AI tools responsibly in child protection and other sector settings.
A practical framework for responsible AI application in child protection contexts and other sector settings, including ethical guardrails, co-design principles, and governance requirements.

Session Format

Format

Multi-sectoral panel presentation with structured audience deliberation.

Minutes 0–5: Scene-setting. What does AI offer the child and family service sector, including child protection. What are the risks? Brief framing of the opportunity and the challenge. (Dr Carmel Goulding, facilitator)
Minutes 5–15: Government perspective. TBC — national AI policy context, responsible AI adoption, governance, risk, data maturity and trusted implementation.
Minutes 15–25: Service delivery perspective. How a community service organisation is applying AI tools in practice; lessons from implementation, impact measurement and working with families.
Minutes 25–35: Human-centred design perspective. What it takes to build AI tools that practitioners and families actually trust and use, co-design principles, ethics by design, and avoiding harm. (Mark Davis, Today — human-centred design firm)
Minutes 35–55: Structured audience deliberation. Facilitated small-group discussion - 'What would responsible AI in child protection look like in your context?' How is it / can be applied across the child and family services sector. Groups explore opportunities, risks, and conditions. Key themes harvested and shared with the room.
Minutes 55–60: Collective synthesis. Facilitator draws out 3–5 transferable insights to anchor the session policy brief.