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The Sibling Project

The Sibling Project focuses on children, adolescents and emerging adults who have a sibling with a disability, investigating their mental health, relationships and quality of life.

Siblings Clip Art

Exploring the experiences, health, wellbeing, relationships, and needs of children who have a brother or sister with a developmental disability.

In Australia, more than ten thousand children are born each year with a developmental disability or neurodevelopmental condition, such as autism, intellectual disability and cerebral palsy. The sibling journey can be immensely rewarding, with research highlighting the resilience and personal growth of siblings, yet siblings also face challenges which can sometimes be overlooked. The aim of the Sibling Project is to explore the experiences, health, wellbeing, relationships, and needs of siblings at the individual, family and wider community levels.

We value the help and guidance of siblings and parents in our research. On this website, we invite siblings and parents to join our team as co-researchers, participate in research projects, keep informed of our findings and events, and contact us with suggestions.

Sign up to our mailing list!

Be notified about future projects and opportunities by clicking here.

Get involved in a real-life research project!

Are you a sibling of someone with a developmental disability aged 13-25 years?

Read more about Sibling Support and Teen Talk Studies

Are you a sibling of someone with a developmental disability or neurodevelopmental condition and have lived or currently live in a rural or remote area?

Read more about the Rural Siblings Study

Are you a sibling of someone with Down syndrome and aged between 5 and 29 years?

Read more about the Siblings Snapshot Study


Do you have an idea for sibling research?
Email us siblings@thekids.org.au to let us know!

In collaboration with

Siblings Australia

Supporting life’s relationships is at the core

Thank you for supporting us!

National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Grant 1184770
NHMRC Senior Research Fellowship Grant 1117105
The University of Western Australia Student Scholarship RTP/UPA
Embrace Seeding Grant ESG