The Trauma-Informed Practice Lab, based within the School of Education, works with educators and research colleagues across the university to complete trauma-informed practice research and education.
Trauma-informed practice is a way of working and relating with others which recognises how trauma and excessive stress impacts their learning, emotions, behaviour and wellbeing. By identifying the needs of children and young people who have been impacted by adversity and trauma and responding compassionately, their futures can be transformed.
Communities within Tasmania have experienced great adversity and trauma in the past which has impacted lifelong health and wellbeing of many children, young people and adults. The major challenges faced by children and young people in these communities is issue for all sectors to address. There is increasing science which highlights the role that trauma-informed practice can have in transforming schools and communities to help those most disadvantaged children and young people and change their future for the better.
The OASIS database makes research accessible to non-researchers. You can search using key words to find current research about education and trauma-informed practices and use. Even better, the research is presented in simple summaries so that you don’t have to wade through pages and pages of research writing to get to the good stuff!
We would love to speak with you about research or education initiatives in the area of trauma informed practice in Tasmania.
Are you a community member, community group, professional body, research student?
We want to be sure that our research is shaped in a way that responds to the needs of the Tasmanian community, so please reach out to us by email at tip.lab@utas.edu.au.
Lab staff
Key projects
These are some of the projects our members are currently working on.
The Department for Education, Children and Young People has partnered with the Australian Childhood Foundation with support from the University of Tasmania to deliver a professional learning program about trauma-informed practice in education settings. This is currently available for all principals, school leaders, teachers and teacher assistants in Tasmanian Government schools. The TIP Lab is evaluating the program with the results being provided to ACF and DECYP in 2024.
The Department for Education, Children and Young People will use data from the annual Student Wellbeing and Engagement Survey to measure the impact of embedding trauma informed practices and approaches into the schools and to plan for future strategies.
An important role of the Trauma-Informed Practice Lab is embedding trauma-informed pedagogy in the School of Education. Our staff and students have been learning about trauma and excessive stress in childhood, and the impact this can have on their learning, behaviour and emotions. The providing of evidence-based strategies to support students, enable reflexivity and educating families also ensures that trauma-informed practice becomes part of how our future teachers and leaders will practice. The future goal is for our graduates to advocate for and create strengths based and trauma-informed environments for children and young people into the future.
A staged approach to this education is underway with outcome measures in place to establish the impact of this education.
The adoption and application of National Child Safe Principles (Principles) in institutions and organisations across Australia is imperative in promoting child safety and wellbeing. These Principles emerged in response to the discovery of wide-spread abuse of children in Australian institutions which was identified during the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse Important activities emerged aimed to make Australian organisations safe for children with the adoption of the Principles being a key action. These Principles have been endorsed by all levels of Government. Our school is supporting the implementation of the Principles by disseminating and teaching these Principles to our educators and future teachers with an aim to support the embedding of child safe cultures and practice within schools.
The first step in the strategy was the contribution to the Peter Underwood Centre for Educational Attainment, University of Tasmania 2023 Child Safety: Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention Online Unit which is accessible for staff, students and the wider community. Engagement and application of this education will be measured to establish impact of this initiative which will inform future strategies.
Resources and links to more information about Trauma-Informed Practice
- What is Trauma-Informed Practice
- Trauma-Informed Practice in Primary and Secondary Schools
- Childhood Trauma and It's Impact
- Trauma-Informed Practices and Pedagogies for Early Childhood Teachers
- Trauma-informed practice policies for schools
- Thoughtful Schools (A Guiding Framework to Support Schools to Become Trauma-Informed)
Advocacy, submissions and media
The Trauma-Informed Practice Lab works to disseminate research about trauma and the wide-reaching impact it can have on children and young people more broadly. Podcasts, media and senate inquiry submissions are some ways in which the knowledge can be disseminated and translated.
- The national trend of school refusal and related matters (Peter Underwood Centre and School of Education joint submission)
- The national trend of school refusal and related matters (School of Education submission)
- What does trauma informed practice in Tasmanian schools mean?
University of Tasmania news article, published 4 October 2022
Contact us
Please send an email to tip.lab@utas.edu.au
Post: Trauma Informed Practice Lab, School of Education, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 51, Hobart, Tas, 7001.