Neil Barber
Lecturer
BA (Com.Soc.Serv.) RMIHE, M.Child and Adol’.Welf’. CSU
Neil Barber
Bio
I graduated from Riverina-Murray Institute of Higher Education in 1987 and later completed my Masters degree in Child and Adolescent Welfare at CSU in 1999.
I am currently undertaking professional doctoral studies through the Faculty of Science, School of Nursing and Midwifery at CSU, exploring vulnerability among young people in rural Australia. I am a key researcher and member of the management executive of the CSU Centre for Inland Health.
I am originally from Wagga Wagga and have worked in rural Tasmania, Victoria and New South Wales in child, youth and family health and welfare roles, including direct prractice, management and policy and planning roles. My community affiliations include consultant to Riverina headspace, Board membership of Campus Pre-schools, Parent education consultant to Shaw Street Children’s Services Centre (daycare). I am a past chairman of Wagga Youth Refuge Committee.
My partner and I share the care of 4 children and a labrador and Siamese Fighting Fish. My other interests include cooking and consuming, reading and writing, music and lots of other stuff including geography, astronomy and communication technologies. My sporting passion is membership of the South Sydney Rabbitohs Rugby League Member Company, but I try to maintain my life long affinity for water sports.
Teaching
Under graduate degree programs;
- HCS102 Communication and Human Services
- HCS205 Child Abuse and Child Protection
- HCS321 Welfare Practice with Children, Young People and their Carers
Post graduate coursework programs;
- HCS521 Practice Leadership in Human Services
- HCS531 Leading Service Development in Human Services
- WEL420 Working in Child Protection
- WEL423 Couselling Theory and Practice (trans-disciplinary)
Research
- Developing rural health and community service practice
- Role of men in community and social service work
- Youth experiences of personal and family violence in rural communities
- Men and effective parenting
- Effective use of web technologies in inter-professional communication and learning
Research projects
- Doctoral Research: Understanding Young Peoples concept of their vulnerabilities as a parameter of effective professional engagement. (2009 - 2011)
- Evaluation of Rural Beginnings Early Intervention Project for Kurrajong Early Intervention Service (KEIS) 2004 – 2008 (with M.Alston & S.Mlcek)
- Growing a Community Youth Services network responding to mental health and alcohol and other drug use for Riverina Division Of General Practice and Primary Health and Community Youth Services Consortia. 2005 - 2007 (with D.Maybery)
Recent publications
Barber, N (2009) (in Press) Child Abuse: A Guide for Australian General Practice, RDGP/Confluence Media. DVD
Alston M, Barber N, Mlcek S, & Whitney-Soanes K, (2008) Rural beginnings Evaluation of the Kurrajong Early Intervention Service/Department of Families and Community Services and Indigenous Affairs Stronger Families and Communities Invest to Grow Strategy project 2004-2008. Institute for Land, Water and Society, CSU.
Barber, N (2006) Child Abuse: A Child Protection Resource for Health Professionals in Private General Practice, RDGP/AGPN. CD
Barber, N. & Mlcek, S. (2005) Using the ‘nesting dolls’ analogy to reconceptualise communication for sustainability in the human services industry, in J. Searle, F. Beven and D. Roebuck, eds., Vocational Learning: Transitions, Interrelationships, Partnerships and Sustainable Futures, Proceedings of the 13th Annual International Conference on Post-compulsory Education and Training, Australian Academic Press, Brisbane.
Barber, N (2005) Risking optimism: practioner interpretations of strengths based practice in statutory child protection work, in Child Abuse Prevention Newsletter Vol. 13. No. 2 pp 10 -15. Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies
