Child Welfare and Rights

Kerry O’Halloran, a professionally qualified lawyer, social worker and academic, has recently retired from 13 years as Adjunct Professor to the Australian Centre for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies at QUT, Brisbane. In Northern Ireland, he served on the Social Care Tribunal and on a HSS Trust Adoption Panel, advised the Irish government on law reform matters and served in a consultancy capacity to government bodies such as Courts Services (Northern Ireland) and to the Open University in England. Previously employed as Assistant Director (Research) at the Centre for Voluntary Action, University of Ulster in Northern Ireland, his 30 books and many other publications include Conscientious Objection (Springer, 2022), The Politics of Adoption, 4th ed (Springer, 2021), Adoption Law and Human Rights: International Perspectives (Routledge, 2018), Religion, Charity and Human Rights (CUP, 2014) and Child Care and Protection: the Law & Practice in Northern Ireland (Thompson Reuters, 2003).

• IntroductionPart I: Family, the Law and the Welfare Rights of Children1. Family, the Law and Social ContextPart II: Children’s Welfare Interests and Rights in a Public Family Law Context – Civil and Criminal2. Prevention: Children and Families in Need3. Protection: Child Abuse and Neglect4. Control: Juvenile Justice and State CarePart III: Children’s Welfare Interests and Rights in a Private Family Law Context5. Reproductive Rights6. Founding Families and Family Life7. Adoption8. Family Breakdown and Parenting ArrangementsPart IV: Coherence – Balancing Welfare Interests and Rights9. Themes: Comparative Jurisdictional Analysis; Common Law and Civil Law DifferencesConclusion