CHILD GUIDANCE AND PSYCHOLOGICAL SERVICES IN QUEENSLAND

by Clive WILLIAMS Student Counsellor, University of Queensland, Brisbane

The state of Queensland with an area of 667,000 square miles covers twenty-two and one-half percent of the Austrslian continent. The popula- tion of 1,1500,000 represents about fourteen percent of the national popula- tion. To provide adequate services in such flelds as education and health to a population spread so thinly over such a large area has always been a con& derable problem in this state. It is not surprising then, that psychological services have largely been conhed to the capital city, Brisbane, with a popu- lation of 650,000, and the references to psychological practice in this article wil l refer to Brisbane only, unless other speciflc references are made.

Services offered by Commonwealth government departments such as the Department of Labour and National Service and the Commonwealth Acoustic Laboratory, will not be discussed in this article since the policies of these are not directed by Queensland authorities. It should be pointed out, however, that the Department of Labour and National Service was one of the first organizations to extend regular facilities beyond the borders of Brisbane when it established a vocational guidance section, staffed by one psychologist, in Townsville.

Child GuidancG Clinics Childs guidance facilities in the accepted sense have been available in

Queensland only since 1050 but development since then has been rapid. Prior to that date emotionally disturbed children were treated at the Psychiatric Clinic where they were treated by the same staff who were responsible for the care of adult patients. In 1050 a separate Division of Welfare and Gui- dance was established within the Health Department. Since then a number of Welfare and Guidance Clinics have been set up in Brisbane, a children’s neumpsychiatric ward established, and a day hospital for children has just been opened. One of the clinics operates in close liaison with the Children’s Court and a large proportion of the case load is delinquent or potentially delinquent. Further development is foreshadowed in plans to establish simi- lar clinics in the two largest provincial cities, Townsfie, 800 miles north of Brisbane, and Toowoomba, 80 miles to the west.

These child guidance clinics follow a traditional pattern of staffing and there is nothing to distinguish their activities from similar clinics operating elsewhere. Their growth, however, reflecta increasing government and com- munity interest in child welfare, which is illustrated by the recent paasage of new legislation.

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A Children's Services Bill, recently enacted, is an enlightened piece of legislation which has reached the statute books through an enlightened pro- cess. A ministerial committee set up to examine existing legislation and to recommend changes, invited submissions from many organizations, including the British Psychological Society, Australian Branch (now the Australian Psychological Society). The committee's report was circulated for comment to all parties who had made submissions, and later the minister received cri- ticisms on the act itself when it was presented to parliament. Finally, a whole day seminar was called to explain the operation of the act after it had been passed by parliament. This whole process took four years but the thoroughness involved has resulted in a significant contribution being made to the welfare of the children of this state.

Educational and Vocational Guidance Psychological services in Queensland state schools are provided by the

Guidance and Special Education Branch of the Education Department. This branch functions in two sections, one offering educational and vocational gui- dance in the secondary schools, the other dealing, chiefly in primary and spe- cial schools, with the special problems of the handicapped, the retarded, and those children with behaviour disorders.

The number of staff in this branch is inadequate to cope with the needs of the state. No school has a guidance officer as a full-time permanent member of staff, but guidance officers visit metropolitan schools regularly and also carry out visits to larger country schools. Some attempt to provide more regular service to country areas will begin in 1966 when resident guidance officers will be appointed to Townsville and Toowoomba.

Fewer than half of the guidance staff have psychological qualifications acceptable to the Australian Psychological Society. Those not fully qualified are teachers who have been seconded to guidance work and who have com- pleted some psychology courses a t the University. These teachers undergo a course of in-service training and many of them continue their studies in psychology by part-time university courses. The Education Department has always insisted that its guidance officers be trained teachers, but the difficulty of recruiting staff who have dual qualifications has led to some exceptions to this principle in recent years, and it is likely that more graduates in psychology who lack formal training and experience in teaching will enter the Guidance and Special Education Branch in the future, for there is a great need for a considerable expansion of guidance services in the schools.

A special interest of some members of the clinical section concerns the problems of intellectual assessment of the deaf. Experimental work by Mr. N.W. HART has involved the use of the Snijders-Oomens test and the Queensland Test, a new test being developed for pre-literate people by the University of Queensland psychology department under Professor D.W. MCELWAIN. This test, which is to be published shortly, requires no verbal communication between tester and testee and is therefore expected to prove useful for work with deaf children as well as with the cultural groups for which it was designed.

Officers of the Guidance and Special Education Branch do not visit inde- pendent schools, but pupils of these schools may receive guidance by visiting the Branch's office. Independent schools which request them, receive visits from vocational guidance officers from the Commonwealth Department of Labour and National Service.

A significant contribution to education in Queensland has been made by the Remedial Education Centre conducted by the University of Queensland.

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This centre operates as a teaching and research centre for those concerned with problems of educational retardation. Courses in diagnostic testing and remedial teaching are conducted and students come from all over Australia and from overseas to undertake them.

Children attending the Remedial Education Centre are given an extensive battery of psychological and educational tests. As well as receiving remedial teaching they may also participate in psychotherapeutic activities, such as play therapy, but if their psychological problems cannot be handled adequately a t the Centre they are referred to child guidance clinics.

The Remedial Education Centre has made a contribution to the under- standing of children’s learning dimculties which extends well beyond the bor- ders of Queensland and the thrice yearly publication of a journal, 4rThe Slow Learning Child,” has considerably extended its influence. The work of this centre, now directed by Mr. John MCLEOD, is a tribute to Sir Fred SCIIONELL, present Vice-chancellor of the University of Queensland, who set up the centre soon after he assumed the chair of education at the university in 1950. In fact it is true to say that most of the advances in the provision of educational psychological services for children in Queensland have stemmed from the efforts of SCHONELI..

The Handicapped. It is in the provision of services for the handicapped-especially the

subnormal and the spastic, that SCHONELL and his late wife, Eleanor SCAONELL, have made the greatest contribution in Queensland. It was through the driving force of SCHONRLL that the Queensland Sub-Norma1 Children’s Welfare Association came into being and, being born, flourished. This organization set out t o ascertain the number of sub-normal children in Queensland and to provide adequate educational and training facilities for them. This has required constant diagnostic assessment surveys as well as periodic re-testing and assess- ment programmes.

A remarkable feature of this organization is that it depends for its existence upon voluntary community support. The Association is assisted by govern- ment grants and subsidies, but over half its annual expenditure comes from money contributed by the public; yet it has been successful in extending its facilities over much of the state, there being thirteen country centres in ope- ration, providing appropriate education for sub-normal children in their areas. In addition there are residential schools in Townsville and Toowoomba and another will soon open in Brisbane.

A t the Brisbane centre, Bowen House, there is a shortstay flat where IL mother of a country child can live free of charge for a fortnight while her child is being assessed a t the centre. In this period the parent attends classes with the child and is herself educated in appropriate ways of handling him. It is hoped she will then be better able to cope when she returns home and that the child will consequently be more responsive if he subsequently enters a residential school. The Bowen House centre also conducts a sheltered workshop for those who have completed their schooling, while similar facilities are available for smaller groups in some country areas.

The Association employs one psychologist on a full-time basis and another part-time; in addition it employs two social uyorkers and two speech therapists. These professional staff undertake periodic visits to country centres. The whole organization functions under the guidance of a Medical and Educational Advisory Panel which is made up of professional persons from the community.

Activities a t Bowen House, are not confined to the education of sub- normal children, as this centre also functions as a centre for the training of

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teachers of the sub-normal. Bowen House is associated with the university’s faculty of education in this enterprise, with the university offering a “Certificate in the Teaching and Training of Sub-normal Children.” The course provided, and the training facilities available, compare favourably with any offered elsewhere.

The Queensland Sub-normal Children’s Welfare Association has made a remarkable contribution to child welfare in this state. With a consistent and significant public support i t has provided first class assessment, guidance, and education to sub-normals and their relatives, beginning with early detec- tion and assessment, and ending with the provision of employment.

The Queensland Spastic Children’s Welfare League, like the Sub-normal Children’s Welfare Association, relies heavily upon public support. It is not intended to elaborate in detail on this organization except to indicate that it, too, functions with the assistance of a medical and educational advisory panel and employs a number of professional staff including medical officer, social workers, speech therapists, physiotherapists, and occupational therapists. A psychologist is employed part-time, while guidance officers from the clinical section of the Guidance and Special Education Branch regularly visit the school attached to the centre which is both a day and residential centre.

Summary. The distribution of population over a large area has led to the confinement

of most child guidance services in Queensland to the capital city, Brisbane, though efforts are now being made to provide better services in country areas. The provision of psychological services in the field of education and health have been reviewed and particular reference made to the significant contri- bution of community .supported agencies to the welfare of the handicapped.

References. The Children’s Services Act of 1963.

The Slow Learning Child. Government Printer, Brisbane. University of Queensland, Brisbane.

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