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The article presents information about the 2004 Family Conference, held in Singapore. The Australian Institute of family Studies participated in the conference that was held to mark the tenth anniversary of the International Year of the Family (IYF). The IYF celebrations culminated in a two-day Family Conference followed by a Family Festival. The Family Conference was organized by Singapore's Committee on the Family, the IYF taskforce, and the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports. The conference comprised two parts: a Regional Family Policy Forum and Family Matters Seminar. Speakers from various countries were nominated to present papers and to join in panel discussions which involved considerable audience participation. The article discusses various issues raised in the papers presented at the Regional Family Policy Forum. In total, nine papers were presented during the Forum. Considerable consistency in findings or conclusions emerged not only within the three sessions but also across these sessions.

The article presents information about the Asia Pacific Family Dialogue hosted from October 11-13, 2004 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Asia Pacific Family Dialogue was the final in a series of four Regional Dialogues, leading up to an international conference on the family held in Doha, Qatar, from November 29-30, 2004, as agreed upon at the United Nations General Assembly in December 2003. The other three gatherings took place in Mexico City, Stockholm and Geneva. The ultimate aim of this entire process is to provide recommendations to strengthen and fortify the natural and fundamental group unit of society. The Dialogue was hosted by the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, in conjunction with the World Policy Center, Brigham Young University, Utah. More than 70 papers were presented by speakers from 20 countries, including Australia and New Zealand. In addition, round-table discussions were held on such issues as marriage, parents and children, family life, family values and families and government policies.

The article reports that the Australian Institute of Family Studies, in partnership with RMIT Publishing has launched a new database, Family & Society Plus. Family & Society Plus is based on Australian Family & Society Abstracts, the database produced by the institute since 1984, but has a much higher proportion of full text material, especially journal articles normally available only on subscription. For busy researchers, service providers, and policy makers, Family & Society Plus provides instant access to online versions of the latest journal literature, conference papers, government reports, academic working papers and research reports. Family & Society Plus was launched by the Director of the Australian Institute of Family Studies, Professor Alan Hayes, at the Family Services Australia Conference in Sydney on October, 24 2004.

The article presents news about the Australian Institute of Family Studies. The International Social Security Association's conference, "Social Security in the Global Village," held in Helsinki, Finland, in September 2000, covered a wide array of research topics, including issues to do with the social protection of families. The Institute presented a paper at this conference on the topic 'Social capital, social cohesion and social security' which was well received. A conference was held in Melbourne in November 2000 on 'Welfare Reform,' hosted by the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research and the Commonwealth Department of Family and Community Services. Welfare reform was also a key theme for discussion at the Australian Council of Social Service National Congress in Canberra in November. There was vigorous discussion at both of these conferences on the advantages and disadvantages of current proposals for welfare reform, as well as the implications for administration. At both conferences a number of keynote presenters emphasized the importance of history. Social protection and poverty are important areas of research that need to be considered in the context of social protection, particularly incentive issues and their impact on families.

The article presents information about an international seminar organized by the Australian Institute of Family Studies in October 2004 on parental leave in Brussels. Principal research fellow, Michael Alexander, represented the seminar. The seminar was jointly hosted by the Thomas Corum Research Unit and the Centre for Population and Family Studies in Brussels. The purpose of the seminar was to exchange information on recent policy developments and research, explore a particular theme with respect to parental leave, particularly the issue of diversity and how successful parental leave policies are in dealing with the diversity of family types and personal circumstances and establish a more regular network of researchers on family leave policies, research and practice. The seminar considered the substantial variation that exists between countries with respect to parental leave policies, as well the major developments that had occurred in each country since 1999. The seminar resolved to bring out a working paper that summarizes the parental leave arrangements in each country, to meet again in 12 months time to discuss further developments and publish a book detailing the important research in this area.

The article features a discussion on human service delivery systems. Behavioral systems analysis offers a starting point for examining the broad context of the meticulously crafted technologies. The field of behavioral science has been marked by the development of client-specific technologies for treating a wide range of human problems. Implications of the Teaching-Family Model for understanding human service programs, organizations, and service delivery systems will also be examined.

This study compared the mail questionnaire responses of 132 training directors and 79 clinical members of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT). The findings about preferred criteria for accreditation, training requirements, and attitudes toward major professional issues suggested several key differences between training directors and clinical members, as well as important similarities. These divergent and convergent trends are described and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]