A system in crisis: A call for transformation The out-of-home care system in New South Wales (NSW) should be a safe haven for children, young...
Noel Macnamara
Deputy Director
Noel is the Deputy Director of the CETC and the Executive Manager, Research and Policy at the Australian Childhood Foundation. Noel has worked in child protection, child abuse and family violence across his career as a social worker, operational manager, organisational consultant, and child rights advocate.
In 2013, Noel’s contribution to the field was acknowledged in his being awarded the Robin Clark Award in Victoria for his contribution to the area of child protection and out-of-home care. He has a particular interest in supervision and leadership, and organisational development.
Noel has written extensively in national and international journals and practice literature. He has trained 1000s of direct care staff, carers and organisational leaders and regularly facilitates training and community practices for therapeutic specialists.
He is well known as a trainer in trauma-informed care, with a particular passion for exploring how neuroscience has improved understanding of the impact of child abuse on the developing brain. Noel believes that neuroscience provides a compass for carers supporting children and young people to heal from trauma and adverse childhood experiences.
Noel lives on Bundjalung country and when he is not busy with the CETC can be found pulling out weeds in his treacherous tropical backyard.

Articles written by
Noel Macnamara
Written by: Noel Macnamara
You have opened your homes and your hearts to children who are unable to live with their parents. You want to help them access a...
Written by: Noel Macnamara Jacqui Jones
Working in out-of-home care means being busy. We often have more work than we can reasonably manage. It’s also difficult to help others when there’s...
Written by: Noel Macnamara
Many of you who know me know that I have a big interest in sleep hygiene and the children and young people in out-of-home care...
Written by: Noel Macnamara
In almost every session I have run for foster and kinship carers, someone tells a story about a child or young person in their care...
Written by: Janise Mitchell Noel Macnamara
We did not and am still not receiving support requested or needed. Case managers or staff change without us being informed. Phone messages left at...
Written by: Noel Macnamara
What are Compassion and Self-Compassion?Compassion is the ability to feel and connect with the suffering of another human being, self-compassion is the ability to feel...
Written by: Noel Macnamara
Remember that time when you put the child you care for back to bed for the fourth time? Your thoughts suggested a level of desperation...
Written by: Noel Macnamara
Recent research was conducted by the Southern Cross University and the Centre for Excellence in Therapeutic Care (McPherson, Gatwiri, Day, Parmenter, Mitchell & Macnamara, 2022)...
Written by: Lynne McPherson Kathomi Gatwiri Janise Mitchell Noel Macnamara
The significance of sibling relationships for children and young people in out-of-home care is well documented by national and international scholars (Luu, Conley, Wright &...
Written by: Lynne McPherson Janise Mitchell Kathomi Gatwiri Noel Macnamara
Kinship care placements in Australia are now more prevalent than foster care. They are the fastest growing form of out-of-home care in this country (AIHW,...
Written by: Noel Macnamara
In Australia, there are about 18 thousand children and young people in foster care. Most foster carers will be the first to tell you how...
Written by: Glenys Bristow Janise Mitchell Noel Macnamara
Much has been written about understanding and managing the challenging pain-based behaviours of children and young people who have experienced trauma and live in therapeutic...
Written by: Glenys Bristow Janise Mitchell Noel Macnamara
This guide has been developed to support Therapeutic Care carers and staff to navigate the critical balance between empowering children and young people and setting...
Written by: Janise Mitchell Noel Macnamara
This guide has been developed to describe and support the enactment of the role of the Therapeutic Specialist. The guide provides an overview of the...
Written by: Noel Macnamara
This guide has been developed to support organisational congruence and in the provision of trauma informed therapeutic care and the critical need for a well-supported,...
Written by: Kelly Royds Noel Macnamara
When someone says ‘self-care’, what image comes to mind? What are the positive and negative aspects of this image? Do you have clear intentions for...
Written by: Noel Macnamara
Many of you will have experienced something like the following… A residential worker is observing two young people playing table tennis in the rear yard...
Written by: Noel Macnamara
Dr Perry and Oprah Winfrey recently released What Happened to You? Conversations on Trauma, Resilience and Recovery. The book tells the story of how adverse...
Written by: Janise Mitchell Kelly Royds Noel Macnamara Glenys Bristow
The ITC Pulse Check Survey and Outcome Report provides a point-in-time reflection on the experiences of the reform process by ITC agency staff. To this...
Written by: Janise Mitchell Kelly Royds Glenys Bristow Noel Macnamara
Client mix and the process of client matching is one of the 10 Essential Elements underpinning the Intensive Therapeutic Care (ITC) system in New South...
Written by: Noel Macnamara
"The human race has only one really effective weapon and that is laughter." Mark Twain We all like to laugh. It makes us feel good....
Written by: Noel Macnamara
Many of those of you who know me, know that I have a big interest in sleep hygiene and the children and young people in...
Written by: Noel Macnamara
Children and young people need adults who can co-regulate with them and teach them about feelings and their inner world. This Trauma Informed Relationship-Based Recovery...
Written by: Kelly Royds Noel Macnamara
Lockdown means we lose touch with many things: friends, family, freedom. For young people, therapeutic youth workers and other staff in Intensive Therapeutic Care, however,...
Written by: Glenys Bristow Noel Macnamara
Whilst the following Arabian proverb takes a bit to get your head around it leads rather nicely into this blog and our brief introduction on...
Written by: Noel Macnamara Joe Tucci Janise Mitchell
This submission addresses the question of whether the age of criminal responsibility (MACR) should be increased and submits that the age should be raised...
Written by: Noel Macnamara
Over the last few years, there has been an increase in the profile and awareness of Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE). Undoubtedly there is a benefit...
Written by: Noel Macnamara
Much of the available research regarding the sexual exploitation of children and young people is explored through the prism of victim as female and perpetrator...
Written by: Noel Macnamara
Last week, we launched our new Responding to Child Sexual Exploitation online training resource for caseworkers, residential workers, house supervisors and managers, therapeutic specialists and...
Written by: Janise Mitchell Cyra Fernandes Joe Tucci Noel Macnamara
The Safe Connections resource kit has been designed for use with young people at risk of or experiencing child sexual exploitation in care. Child sexual...
Written by: Noel Macnamara
Peta had worked in residential care for 18 months. She took the position because she had had a difficult childhood and she felt that she...
Written by: Noel Macnamara
In the previous blog, we discussed how easy it is for the supervisor/supervisee relationship to be consciously or sub-consciously ambushed by power/defensive game play. Kadushin...
Written by: Noel Macnamara
In this blog, I explore the relationship between neuroscience and leadership. The latest research in neuroscience tells us that our neurobiology is what drives our...
Written by: Noel Macnamara
Research shows how profoundly influenced we are by other people’s emotional states and how rapidly our interpersonal affective responses occur, and how dynamically our physiology...
Written by: Janise Mitchell Noel Macnamara
Young people living in residential care are highly vulnerable and have commonly experienced a significant level of trauma and abuse. They often present with complex...
Written by: Noel Macnamara
It’s all too easy to get wrapped up in the fun and happiness of Christmas and forget that, for others, the season isn’t necessarily a...
Written by: Nadine Cameron Lynne McPherson Kathomi Gatwiri Natalie Parmenter Noel Macnamara
Many young people in out-of-home care are at an elevated risk of self-harm and suicidality. The reasons range from early exposure to abuse, disconnection from...
Written by: Noel Macnamara
Can the friendships and connections that can develop in Intensive Residential Care be nurtured and grown rather than feared? I would like you to take...
Written by: Noel Macnamara
We can see each of our daily interactions with each of the young people we care for as bids for connection. By choosing to turn...
Written by: Noel Macnamara
Some of the young people we care for in the ITC programs deal with emotional distress and pain by hurting themselves physically. Young people hurting...
Written by: Noel Macnamara
Therapeutic residential work can be conceptualised as a dance. It works best when therapeutic workers display therapeutic presence, are in sync with the young person,...
Written by: Noel Macnamara
The intention of trauma-informed practice and care is an increased understanding of how present behaviours and difficulties can be understood in the context of past...
Written by: Janise Mitchell Joe Tucci Noel Macnamara
A care team approach is an essential element of therapeutic care. This guide has been developed to support the practice of collaboration and participation through...
Written by: Noel Macnamara
An inability to understand trauma-based behaviours often sees young people 'labelled' in ways that can create a 'spiral of negativity'. A trauma-informed approach orients us...
Written by: Noel Macnamara
When it comes to the sexual exploitation of children, most Australians tend to view it as a problem that exists somewhere else. However, those of...
Written by: Noel Macnamara
At the recent Therapeutic Specialist’s forum, there was lots of discussion about the concept of physical and relational safety in Intensive Therapeutic Care (ITC). We...
Written by: Noel Macnamara
Curiosity is something that has excited me my whole life. I am sure a lot of you share my fascination and enthusiasm for curiosity. There...
Written by: Noel Macnamara
What follows is a mixture of tips, reminders, encouragement and hopefully a little bit of inspiration. Start with your “why" - Knowing your why is...
Written by: Noel Macnamara
The role of emotions within human service work may at first glance appear to be intuitively obvious and incontestable. Indeed, Howe (2008) described the day...
Written by: Noel Macnamara
Sometimes you might wonder why you need to learn about theory. I have heard people say: Residential work with young people is often conducted...
Written by: Janise Mitchell Noel Macnamara
Reflective Practice is one of the 10 Essential Elements of Intensive Therapeutic Care. This guide has been developed to support Therapeutic Specialists to engage staff...
Written by: Noel Macnamara
This guide has been developed for use by Therapeutic Specialists and Supervisors who have a role in supporting and developing the practice of staff. It...
Written by: Noel Macnamara
This guide has been developed to support Therapeutic Specialists and Supervisors in Intensive Therapeutic Care in NSW in their development and support of staff. It...