Time-based requirements
The Advanced Training Program in Community Child Health allows adequate time for you to gain the necessary learning experiences across a range of relevant rotations during your 3-year total training period (36 months FTE).
Training rotations
| Core rotation |
Minimum time requirement |
| Developmental and behavioural paediatrics |
6 months |
| Child population health activities |
6 months
(12 months maximum) |
| Community-based multidisciplinary paediatrics |
6 months |
| Child protection training |
3 months |
| Social paediatrics (trainees who commenced in 2023 onwards) |
3 months |
Your remaining time balance must be completed in relevant community child health clinical settings (core or non-core).
Some training positions may include a mixture of training requirements allowing you to have training time approved for more than one core requirement within the same rotation. The community-based multidisciplinary paediatrics and social paediatrics requirements may be met concurrently with any other core requirement.
You can meet some requirements by completing alternative options, for example the child population health requirement can be met by completing 4 Masters in Public Health subjects. Alternatively, the child protection training requirement can be met by completing the alternative option outlined under the child protection training heading below.
You cannot be certified for more than 1.0 FTE in any given training period — meaning a trainee cannot complete more than 12 months of training time in a 12-month period.
Developmental and behavioural paediatrics
Developmental and behavioural paediatrics is the assessment and management of patients who have been referred because of developmental and/or behavioural problems. The aim of this requirement is to develop clinical competence in:
- the comprehensive biopsychosocial assessment and diagnostic formulation of developmental-behavioural concerns, including comorbidity
- the management of a wide variety of developmental-behavioural concerns, including office-based counselling, facilitating multi-level systemic interventions and relevant medical treatments
- communication skills in developmental-behavioural paediatrics, for example case presentation, feedback to families or report writing
For your developmental and behavioural paediatrics training to be approved, it must:
- be undertaken in a developmental and behavioural rotation, for example at a specialist developmental and behavioural clinic where the case-mix is defined by presenting concerns related to development, learning, behaviour and emotional health
- have access to a multidisciplinary child development team
- be supervised by a supervisor who is a Fellow of the RACP and is actively practising in community child health or has particular expertise in developmental-behavioural paediatrics
- be adequately setup to provide clinical supervision, including direct observation of performance
- be inclusive of a broad range of clinical presentations and age ranges and not limited to a small subset of the child population
To increase your understanding of the use of standardised, validated developmental measures for the assessment of developmental-behavioural problems, it’s recommended that you undertake training or gain experience in the interpretation and application of commonly used developmental assessment measures.
Assessment measures include:
- rating scales, for example Conners questionnaires or Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL)
- interview tools, for example Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R)
- observation tools:
- developmental, for example Griffiths Mental Development Scales
- Bayley Scales of Infant Development autism spectrum disorder (ASD) specific, for example Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS)
- Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS)
If you wish to achieve advanced competence in developmental and behavioural paediatrics, you should consider additional specialised training beyond the core requirement.
Child population health (formerly non-clinical activities)
Child population health training develops basic knowledge in key areas of child population health. Your position must demonstrate its capacity to address the learning outcomes of the child population health domain in the Community Child Health Advanced Training Curriculum (PDF).
Prospective approval is essential prior to commencing any postgraduate university course, research or child population health position. You can be approved for 6 or 12 months, depending on the child population health training. Any additional time spent will not be certified towards your training.
Your training can be completed through one of these options:
1. Child population health related coursework such as a Master’s in Public Health (MPH) or equivalent (6 months maximum or equivalent).
MPH subjects can be completed concurrently with any approved core or non-core training, or independently of clinical training rotations. Speak to your supervisor about allocating subjects into your timetable.
You’re required to complete 4 core MPH (or equivalent) subjects identified by the university.
Elective subjects or other coursework will not count towards the child population health requirement, unless you’re able to clearly demonstrate equivalency to core child population health subjects or map the subject to the child population health curriculum learning objectives.
Completion of 4 core subjects equates to 6 months of child population health core training time.
Examples of acceptable core MPH subjects include:
- Introduction to Child Public Health
- Biostatistics
- Epidemiology
- Social Determinants of Health
- Health Promotion
- Public Health Policy
- Health Program Evaluation
- Qualitative Research Methods
- Indigenous Health
- Health Economics
- Public Health Management
- Introduction to Environmental Health
Evidence of successful completion of each core MPH subject is required for certification of this training time, for example your university transcript. Completion of an MPH is encouraged but isn’t mandatory for your training.
If you've completed acceptable subjects prior to Advanced Training, you can apply for Recognition of Prior Learning.
2. Completion or initiation of a substantial body of child population health research, such as a PhD or Doctorate (6 months maximum)
Research must be prospectively approved and directly relate to the learning outcomes of child population health in the Community Child Health Advanced Training Curriculum.
An Advanced Training Research Project does not count towards this requirement.
3. Working in a position that focuses on the learning objectives of the child population health domain in the curriculum (12 months maximum)
Your position must clearly demonstrate the capacity to address the learning outcomes of the child population health domain.
If you wish to achieve advanced competence in child population health, you should consider additional specialised training beyond the core requirement.
Community-based multidisciplinary paediatrics
Training must be completed concurrently with core and non-core training requirements.
Community-based multidisciplinary paediatrics is the participation of a trainee in multidisciplinary team clinics and/or decision-making meetings. Key elements include:
- collaborative diagnostic formulation and clinical problem solving
- concise case presentations
- effective and respectful professional communication
- the ability to lead multidisciplinary team conversations
Suitable training rotations will enable you to work collaboratively with clinicians from other professional groups, such as speech pathologists or psychologists.
Participation in a multidisciplinary team includes:
- assessment, diagnostic formulation, management planning, clinical feedback to families and intervention for new and review cases
- collaborative case discussions at decision-making meetings, for example discussing patients that have been assessed by you or synthesizing multidisciplinary input into management plans
Child protection training
The aim of child protection training is to develop clinical competence in the identification and management of situations of potential or suspected child harm/maltreatment.
Training can include:
- the development of advanced competence in forensic medical assessment
- medicolegal report writing
- provision of evidence in court where child maltreatment is suspected
Training can be completed through one of these options:
- Training time in recognised tertiary-level child protection units in Australia or Aotearoa New Zealand, under the supervision of at least 1 community child health supervisor with specialist expertise in child protection paediatrics.
- Completion of the child protection training alternative.
- A combination of training time and the alternative.
Completion of the child protection training alternative will not count towards training time.
If you complete the alternative, you can make up the 3 months training time through additional core or non-core training.
See the child protection training alternative.
Social paediatrics
Training must be completed concurrently with core and non-core training requirements.
Social paediatrics is an approach to child wellbeing including health, development and learning which focuses on the child with specific reference to the context of their family, school, culture, and environment. The focus of social paediatrics is on achieving equity of health outcomes and advocating for the impact of social determinants of health on child wellbeing.
The aim of this requirement is to develop clinical competence in the management of children and young people within their families whose health and development is at risk or affected due to social and environmental factors. Key elements are the assessment of children experiencing adverse childhood experiences, intergenerational trauma including impacts of colonisation, poverty, community violence, discrimination, and the mitigation of cumulative risk. Trainees will develop skills in multi-informant history taking. The focus is to build resilience and support for the child and family.
Training experiences that may fulfil this requirement include:
- Child refugee specialist clinics
- Indigenous child health specialist clinics
- Clinics aimed at children in the care and protection system (Gateway/OOHC)
- Assertive outreach to priority communities
- Remote clinics with high proportions including indigenous persons and/or patients from high priority social backgrounds
- Clinics designed to redress inequity of access or inequity of health outcomes for at risk populations
Non-core training
The remaining time balance of your 36 months of Advanced Training can be undertaken in further training. It’s your and your supervisor(s) responsibility to clearly demonstrate how the rotations will provide adequate training in key areas of the Community Child Health Advanced Training Curriculum (PDF).
Prospective approval is essential prior to the commencement of non-core rotations.
Training options
- Workplace-based core clinical training in:
- developmental and behavioural paediatrics
- child protection paediatrics in a recognised Child Protection Unit
- a Population Health Unit (12 months maximum, excluding coursework and research)
- Clinical training in community-based specialist paediatric rotations, such as:
- developmental and behavioural paediatrics
- child protection paediatrics
- specialist clinical services for vulnerable populations
Examples of rotations that meet the criteria include:
- child refugee specialist clinics
- Indigenous child health specialist clinics
- out-of-home assessment specialist clinics
- Clinical training in directly allied paediatric disciplines (6 months maximum) that enhances domain-specific clinical training in developmental and behavioural paediatrics or child protection paediatrics. Examples of acceptable rotations include:
- child and adolescent psychiatry/infant mental health
- rehabilitation medicine
- clinical genetics
- adolescent medicine
- paediatric neurology
Rotations in paediatric subspecialties that wouldn’t meet approval for Advanced Training are:
- endocrinology
- respiratory/cystic fibrosis
- gastroenterology
- haematology
- oncology
- immunology/allergy
- nephrology
- acute paediatric medical subspecialties:
- neonatal intensive care
- paediatric intensive care
- emergency medicine
Training time
At least 24 months of Advanced Training in Community Child Health must be undertaken in Australia and/or Aotearoa New Zealand. This is to ensure that trainees receive adequate exposure to local practices and health services.