Twilight Seminar/Webinar
Interviewing Children
Thursday, 13 March 2025
Interviews with children – what to expect when children are interviewed by Police and Child Safety, Family Report writers, and what happens when an ICL meets with a child
We bring together three very experienced practitioners with different professional backgrounds (Mary-Ann Huth, Independent Children’s Lawyer, Rebecca Foley, FDRP and Child Consultant with a background in Child Safety, and Dr Megan Morris, FDRP and psychologist with extensive experience as a family report writer) to address common questions for ICLs and practitioners representing parents, including:
1. what clients should expect when the ICL meets with children;
2. what clients should be told to tell children before interviews or meeting with the
ICL;
3. what may happen if allegations of abuse or violence arise;
4. parents influencing children before interviews or meeting with the ICL;
5. considerations for interviews and meetings (environment, types of questions, limits
of confidentiality, tools such as the 3 houses model, children with disabilities);
6. the differing purposes of interviews with Child Safety, interviews with the report
writer and meetings with the ICL;
7. when will it be appropriate that there be no interview or meeting with the ICL.
Mary-Ann Huth was admitted as a solicitor in 1994, has specialised in family law since 1996, and has worked at Legal Aid Queensland, including as an Independent Children’s Lawyer, since 1998. Mary-Ann has been a regular trainer for National ICL training since 2002 and has been a member of the Children’s Committee of the FCFCOA since February 2020.
Rebecca Foley is an FDRP and Child Consultant with a practice at Foley Family Mediation and Child Consultancy. Rebecca previously worked in statutory child protection roles for 23 years, including working for the Department of Family and Community Services NSW for 19 years. During that time Rebecca managed teams involved in joint investigations between child safety officers and police, and lead the execution and foundation of the Magellan Project, now known as the Magellan List. She has extensive experience interviewing children, training professionals who interview children, and assessing allegations involving children.
Dr Megan Morris is a psychologist and Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner who has worked in human relations and psychology for more than 20 years. She completed a PhD at the University of Queensland in 2016 comparing the benefit of motivational interviewing combined with family mediation. She is a very experienced family report writer for the FCFCOA, and continues a busy private psychology practice specialising in separated family issues.
When: 5.00 pm for a 5.30 pm start, Thursday 13 March 2025
Where: In person at Grant Thornton (Level 18, 145 Ann Street, Brisbane, QLD, 4000) or by webinar
Cost:
$25 for Independent Children’s Lawyers – in person
$50 for FLPA members - in person
$70 for non members - in person
$25 for FLPA members - via webinar
$50 for non members - via webinar
RSVP:
Please click here for the online form and make payment by 5 pm, Wednesday 5 March 2025.
CPD:
Rule 48(2) of the Queensland Law Society Administration Rule 2005 and the Bar Association of Queensland CPD Policy permit, on a self-assessment basis, the treatment of attendance at a conference as a CPD activity at the rate of 1 CPD point per 1 hour of attendance (excluding refreshment breaks).
More Info:
Contact membership@flpa.org.au
Cancellations non-refundable, substitute permitted.
FLPA may use photos of you at this event for marketing purposes.
If you do not wish for this to occur, please refrain from being involved in photos at the event.