Although ‘child safety’ is now a national policy priority in Australia, there is little research exploring the practices in schools that contribute to children and young people’s felt sense of safety and wellbeing. Drawing on a mixed-method Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery project, this article presents findings from interviews with school staff (N = 10), leaders (N = 5) and nine focus groups with students (N = 58), in primary and secondary schools in three Australian states (New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia). We employ relational ethics, recognition theory and the theory of practice architectures to explore practices at school that support student wellbeing and safety. The findings contribute significantly to understanding the ‘bundled’ nature of current practices and the conditions that enable and constrain these. Close attention to these findings is critical as schools seek to operationalise the National Child Safe Principles and refine ongoing safeguarding procedures. The findings have informed the development of an online survey that is currently testing, on a much larger scale, which elements of ethical practice are most positively associated with students’ safety, wellbeing and recognition at school.

Each year many families relocate to live in new places, but disputes will not usually arise over this when the family is intact because the two parents, and perhaps the children, will reach the decision about shifting together. Nevertheless the move will mean these children are likely to experience the loss of familiar surroundings and close friendships, need to change (pre)schools and start afresh with many aspects of their lives. It is when the parents are already living apart that a proposed relocation by one of them might mean the Courts are called upon to examine the interests at stake and determine the outcome. Relocation in this context has particular poignancy for the children involved because, if their parent's application to relocate is approved by the Court, this might marginalise the role of their other parent in their life.It is not, of course, uncommon for separated parents to have to move in the aftermath of their relationship breakdown as they re-establish themselves in separate households and negotiate their children's care and contact arrangements. However, when the proposed relocation by the resident parent involves moving such a distance from the non-resident parent that contact visits become problematic, then the potential for a major dispute exists. This is particularly so when there has been a pattern of frequent contact and the non-resident parent refuses to acquiesce in the move. While these cases can be very difficult to resolve by agreement, some separated parents are able to negotiate the relocation without seeking recourse to the legal system.

The perspectives of 66 children and young people (aged 8/9 and 14/15 years) on their understanding of citizenship issues were obtained through focus group discussions in New Zealand schools. The children reported on their rights and responsibilities in the everyday contexts of home, school and community. An imaginary country exercise was also utilized to compare children's responses with their current lives in New Zealand. Children generally conceived of the new land as safer, happier and healthier, with greater freedoms and respect than they currently enjoyed.