Young people – including very young children – are capable of being reliable witnesses if they are interviewed well. This Sue Diggles Memorial Practice Paper hosted by Child Protection Practitioners Association of Queensland (CPPAQ) on Wednesday, 11th March at 5.30pm, Cooper Grace Ward Lawyers, provides an overview of what constitutes best practice investigative interviewing. The Paper will address: guidelines for establishing rapport; issues related to children’s suggestibility and assessing credibility; practical strategies for structuring the interview, lowering inhibition and eliciting accurate and detailed disclosures. The Paper will be presented by Professor Martine Powell, Griffith Criminology Institute and Founding Director of the Centre for Investigative Interviewing at Griffith University. The Centre for Investigate Interviewing recently released this free video guide on being a good questioner of children, and thereby ensuring children’s rights to be heard during investigations into abuse and neglect are upheld. Detective Superintendent Denzil Clark, Operations Commander, Child Abuse and Sexual Crime Group, Queensland Police Service, will chair the presentation. Attendance is free for CPPAQ Members, and $40 for non-CPPAQ Members. Find out more.
