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Daryl Higgins

(He/him)
Professor & Director, Institute of Child Protection Studies, Australian Catholic University

Professor Daryl Higgins is the Director of the Institute of Child Protection Studies at ACU in February 2017. His research focuses on public health approaches to protecting children, and child-safe organisational strategies. A registered psychologist, Prof Higgins has been researching child abuse prevalence, impacts and prevention, family violence and family functioning for 30 years.
Prior to joining ACU, Prof Higgins was the Deputy Director (Research) at the Australian Institute of Family Studies, where he had responsibility for the research program, knowledge translation and exchange functions focusing on issues affecting families in Australia.
Prof Higgins is a registered psychologist with extensive experience in managing and supervising research, and has led projects looking at child abuse and neglect, child protection, children in out-of-home care, child-safe organisations, family law and allegations of child abuse, disability and family care, welfare reform, family and interpersonal violence, jobless families, past adoption and forced family separation practices, and community development approaches to child and family welfare issues.

Experience

  • 2017–present
    Director, Institute of Child Protection Studies, Australian Catholic University
  • 2010–2017
    Deputy Director, Australian Institute of Family Studies

Education

  • 1999 
    Deakin University, PhD

Professional Memberships

  • Australian Psychological Society