This important project was proposed in 2003 and received initial funding in 2005 for 3 years, then in 2010 for 5 years of operation through the Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage grant scheme. The collaboration between the Telethon Institute for Child Health, Crime Research Centre at the University of Western Australia and multiple Western Australian government jurisdictions was the first of its kind in Australia has re-defined the meaning of "collaboration". The government agencies involved include:
- Department of Health WA
- Department of the Attorney General
- Department of Education
- Department of Corrective Services
- Department of Child Protection
- Department of Communities
- Department of Housing
- Disability Services Commission
- WA Police
There has been widespread support for the project from within each of the participating State agencies. It is acknowledged that linkage between datasets held by separate agencies has not only provided valuable cross-agency data for analyses of important topics concerning children and youth, but has also contributed to the quality of each of the contributing data sources.
As of August 2010, the following Developmental Pathways projects have been processed:
- 'Impact of health and social, economic and psychological condition in early life on educational outcomes in WA children'
- 'Changing socioeconomic inequalities in neonate, infant and child health and development'
- 'Towards prevention- a population health approach to child abuse and neglect: a measurement model and the identification of antecedent causal pathways'
- 'On the dimensions and development of juvenile delinquency: a population-based study of the prevalence and frequency of offending and the individual, family and community factors that influence delinquency in WA children'
- 'History of maltreatment in persons who suicided in Western Australia 1986-2005'
- 'Exploring the pathways to contact with juvenile justice: developing a profile of the risk and protective factors to support a strategy for change'
- 'Linking population data sources to better define antenatal, postnatal and environmental risk factors including educational and health outcomes of children and young adults who have been prescribed stimulant medication for ADD in WA'