Introduction : Les jeunes enfants des familles des Forces armées australiennes (FAA) ont des expériences semblables à celles des familles de militaires et de vétéran(e)s d’autres pays. Pourtant, ces familles présentent des caractéristiques culturelles et contextuelles uniques qui doivent être explorées. Dans le monde, des recherches sur la manière dont les jeunes enfants vivent et comprennent le déploiement d’un parent a été collectée par procuration. Une recherche doctorale a visé à privilégier les voix des enfants de deux à cinq ans pour déterminer à quoi ressemble la vie dans une famille des FAA. Par la suite, des ressources adaptées à l’âge et à la culture ont été créées pour aider ces enfants à affronter le stress de la vie des familles de militaires. Méthodologie : Des approches de recherches et de récits en mosaïque ont été adoptées pour obtenir conjointement des données et écouter la voix de 19 jeunes enfants. L’étude a également pris en compte la voix des parents et des éducateur(e)s à la petite enfance en tant que sources de connaissances secondaires importantes. Les outils de collecte de données incluaient des activités créatives. L’analyse thématique a été privilégiée. Résultats : Les observations ont permis d’établir un manque de ressources adaptées à l’âge et à la culture afin d’aider les enfants à acquérir les capacités nécessaires pour donner du sens à leurs expériences. Les enfants éprouvaient de la difficulté à l’égard des transitions familiales constantes, souvent causée par le déploiement des parents, l’entraînement et la mobilité fréquente des familles. De plus, les enfants étaient soumis à divers facteurs de risque et facteurs protecteurs. Discussion : Les réponses des enfants à l’absence de leur parent, à la mobilité familiale et à l’exposition aux facteurs de risque et aux facteurs protecteurs étaient conformes aux publications scientifiques internationales. Le manque de ressources a été partiellement réglé par la création commune de ressources en ligne fondées sur la recherche. Ces ressources seront intéressantes pour d’autres chercheur(e)s auprès des familles et des personnes qui soutiennent les enfants des familles de militaires et de vétéran(e)s.

Objective: This paper explores Australian military families’ use of social media and digital communication to maintain and strengthen parent–child relationships during military deployments.

Background: The physical and emotional well-being of children and partners of military serving members is affected by service. Maintaining positive family relation-ships between military members and their children during periods of absence (including deployment) is important for parental relationships as well as the well-being of the child.

Method: A qualitative meta-analysis is used to collate data from two previous studies of Australian Defence Force (ADF) families with children, in order to generate a new data set from which novel insights were drawn.

Results: Families show a preference for social media and digital communication methods, and digital technologies affordances and practicalities are well suited for Defence families with children. There are a range of benefits; digital technologies are used to strengthen relationships between children and their deployed parent. The study highlights a range of challenges for deployed parents as well as points to the work required from the at-home parent in facilitating these connections.

Conclusion: Maintaining positive family relationships between military members and their children during times of absences is important for both relationships. This paper explores how ADF families use social and digital communication during military absences and outlines the role these technologies play as a medium for strengthening familial relationship.

Implications.

The findings of this paper highlight the importance of digital and social communication technologies for supporting families during absences. This has implications for the ADF, who might look to reduce members’ access to such communication for security concerns. Reduced family well-being may also have impacts on retention, a key issue for military organizations. Accordingly, the findings of this paper may be used to inform decisions about restricting internet and social media access for deployed military members.

Introduction: Many Australian Defence Force (ADF) and Veteran families are affected by the stressors of Defence family life, including frequent and prolonged parental deployments, and frequent relocations.

Objective: To address a gap in information about Defence and Veteran (hereafter Defence) parents' knowledge, confidence and resources to support their young children's well-being and build their resilience.

Design: This study used a mixed methods design to explore Defence parent's perceptions of their young children's (aged 2–8 years) social and emotional wellbeing and understanding of their children's responses to unique stressors as well as their confidence in providing support. Data from 41 parents were available.

Findings: Overall, parents reported positive well-being evaluation of their children. However, just over a third of parents also reported that their children rarely cope well on two indicators combined (adapting to new situations and sharing negative emotions with others). Significantly, more than half of the parents (61%) were only partially confident in their ability to assist their children to cope with unique stressors in military families. Qualitative data provided further insights into children's struggle with relocations and parental absence and the challenges parents face in supporting them. Parents reported having limited access to effective age- and culturally appropriate resources to support their young children.

Discussion: In a first-of-its kind study, we found that Australian Defence parents reported their young children were coping on most of the key well-being indicators. However, awareness of currently available supports for children remains a barrier as well as access to contextualised, age- and culturally appropriate resources are lacking.

Conclusion: There is a need for access to free, quality, online, research-based Australian resources to support young children from Defence families, especially for those living in regional and rural locations and are less likely to have access to mental health and other specialist supports.

Children of military personnel experience unique challenges that can have a significant impact on their wellbeing.

We have listened to military families and educators in our research, who felt isolated and ignored due to the lack of age-appropriate Australian resources to assist their children. In our 2021 study of defence partners who had young children, 61 per cent said they did not feel confident to support their children with the stresses of military family life.

The recently released Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide Interim Report also highlighted the mental health risk to the children, partners and siblings of military personnel:

... military deployment, as well as the mental and behavioural disorders arising from military service, can then increase the risk that partners, spouses, children and siblings develop mental health disorders ... children of personnel with PTSD may also experience 'secondary traumatization' and exhibit similar symptoms of PTSD as their parents. (p 94)

Many educators teach children from Australian Defence Force (ADF) families, or those that have transitioned from active service and are now veterans. Over 5 per cent of households have at least one person who is currently serving or has previously served (a veteran).

Given that 13 per cent of veterans need support with basic activities of self-care, understanding the potential vulnerabilities and trauma some of these families face is important for supporting these children in our early childhood settings.

The Interim Report from the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide has given a new platform to what military family researchers have been saying for decades; 'the welfare of the family matters' (Interim Report, p. 86).

The Federal Government has plans to expand Australian Defence Forces (ADF) to a 40-year high. They hope to increase the forces by 30% (18,500 extra personnel by 2040), the biggest increase since the Vietnam War. This will inevitably lead to an increase in the number of children and parents impacted by military service.

It won't just be enough to recruit new soldiers, sailors and aviators – retention will also be critical and we know that Defence families play a key role here. Defence families are depended on to provide a crucial service to the ADF, often at significant cost to their own wellbeing. Defence families are mostly 'invisible' in our communities, and struggle to get access to the support and understanding they need.

Our PhDs explored the experiences of young children and partners in defence families and sheds light into some of the factors affecting the ADF, military members, and their spouses, children and loved ones.

The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is about to get a lot bigger. Defence Minister Peter Dutton has announced plans to expand the ADF by 18,000 members by 2040. This nearly 30% increase, the largest since the Vietnam War, will require not only a renewed focus on recruitment, but also on retaining current sailors, soldiers and aviators.

Families of these uniformed personnel will be crucial to the success of these efforts. The families of defence personnel, especially those with children, experience significant impacts as a result of their service. Our research has highlighted the experiences of young children and the pressures on defence families. The increase in ADF personnel will require a major rethink of policies and procedures to protect the well-being and education of children in defence families.

The ADF needs to become an employer of choice to retain these families as well as attract recruits with families. Our research findings offer some ideas that could inform the policy changes needed to achieve this boost to defence numbers.

Parental deployment and frequent relocations exert significant stress on children from military families. This stress can be extremely disruptive to young children's social, cognitive and behavioural development. It can result in negative social, emotional, and physical responses. There are a broad range of programs, resources, and services available mainly in the US, but also internationally. The programs endeavour to mitigate the impacts of military life on young children by providing support to families. This paper explores the programs for families with young children and the need for culturally and age-appropriate resources. It also discusses how the Early Childhood Defence Programs (ECDP) project is responding to this need by developing three free, online Australian early childhood programs for parents, family workers and educators. This scoping review of currently available programs and resources will determine how the project, and others wanting to support children from military families, can best address this need.