Reported in this document are proceedings of a forum on the relationships between the child and the family. Held March 1981 in Melbourne, Australia, the forum was jointly sponsored by the Institute of Family Studies and the Victorian Child Development and Family Services Council (CDFSC). Specifically, the purpose of the forum was to enable participants to discuss current and future research needs and to look at what is being done in the research within the seminar topic. Following a brief introductory overview of the forum's objectives and a description of the CDFSC's role and functions, the document presents the eight papers given in the forum. Titles of the papers are "Research on the Child's Experience of Family Life,""Children's Rights in Victoria,""Research and Evaluation in the Office of Child Care,""Research and Advocacy for Children,""Ethnic Group Children,""Research into Child Maltreatment,""Children's Conceptualisation of Development," and "Children, Families and Physical Disability: A Research Review." (Author/MP)