Appendix 3 | Applying the CRIA tool to COVID-19 pandemic policy and legislation relating to the closure of schools and early childhood education and care in Australia Stage 2: Identifying sources of information Question 5: What types of information are available in order to make an assessment on the potential impacts of the policy/legislation? This can be information on issues specific to the policy/legislation, as well as information on similar issues, policies or legislation. For example, similar policy/legislation may be used as evidence to show outcomes of advancing or restricting certain rights. • previous reporting on the impacts of Australian disasters – including the NSW bushfires and flooding reports (these sources are described in more detail in Appendix 2(d)) • academic material, including journal articles • reporting by Children’s Commissioners across Australia • reporting by research institutions and NGOs – for example, Children and Young People with Disability Australia (CYDA), Mission Australia and SNAICC • data provided by the AIHW and the Australian Bureau of Statistics • material gathered from government departments • engagement with children and young people’s advisory groups. Question 6: What types of information are missing that would be beneficial to this assessment? It may be beneficial to consider whether similar policy/legislation has been used in the past and whether there were any evaluations. Academic and grey literature (reports, working papers, government documents, policy documents, white papers, working papers, conference proceedings) is also useful. Limited material was available on the impacts of previous disasters in Australia, and no information was found about previous school closures. It would also be helpful to have information about how specific groups of children are impacted by disasters. Safeguarding Children: Using a child rights impact assessment to improve our laws and policies | 67