National Child and Family Hubs Network

I begin by acknowledging the Traditional Owners of the lands on which this Conference is being held, the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation.  

I pay my respects to Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people joining us today.

Thank you to Elder Bill Nicholson for his warm welcome and to the amazing Djirri Djirri dancers.

Today and every day we have much to learn from First Nations people, especially the practice of putting children at the centre of our communities, and of bringing everyone who helps nurture, develop and educate children together in place.

As I talk with educators and advocates about hub models in early learning, I feel on occasion that we are discovering something that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Controlled Organisations have known and demonstrated for some time – that early education and care works best when children are at the heart of services, and when the whole child is seen and heard by communities of professionals working together. 

Thank you for the invitation to speak with you today and thank you to everyone involved in the National Child and Family Hubs Network for the work you do in supporting children across Australia.

‘Building Change Together’ is a powerful call to action.

It acknowledges that in this critical area of supporting children and families to thrive, we must work together to get the results we all seek.

And it recognises that there is a momentum here for reform – reform that all of us invested in the early years want to realise. 

To those of you at the frontline of service delivery, your input to these discussions about reform is critical because you know how it impacts the daily lives of those children and parents you are working with.

And to the families that use these services, the advocates, policy-makers and researchers, and the philanthropic partners supporting all of this great work – we need to have you all in the room.

We all have important roles to play. 

I don’t need to tell anyone here that the first five years can set a child up to succeed in life.

Early childhood education plays a huge role in that. 

So do the health, social and community services that families and children access every day.

All of these are needed to prepare children to thrive at school and beyond.

All of them are needed, but when they are integrated, they can be more than the sum of their parts.

I know that Professor Sharon Goldfeld, who has helped build this network and is speaking here today, has been building the evidence base on the early years for literally a lifetime.

And her work on the Government’s Early Years Strategy Advisory Panel helped deliver a really first-class framework for the next 10 years. 

Through our Early Years Strategy, we have a vision that all children in Australia thrive in their early years. 

We want all children to have the opportunity to reach their full potential.

We want them to grow up being nurtured by empowered and connected families who are also supported by strong communities.

And I know that the work you are doing to build a national network of Child and Family Hubs is completely aligned with this vision.

I’ve been very privileged to visit early learning hubs already to see first-hand the benefits of this approach. 

Whether that’s Bubup Wilam, about 15km from here in Thomastown, an ACCO-run early learning hub that works with families to raise strong, proud kids with wrap-around health, allied health and community support.

Or Jindi, also in the northern suburbs of Melbourne, an initiative of the Brotherhood of St. Laurence, Goodstart and the City of Whittlesea, integrating early learning, maternal and child health, and programs for neurodivergent children and their families, coordinated by a talented specialist support worker. 

The educators at these services spoke about the value of having multidisciplinary teams all in one place developing children in a natural environment.

And parents talked about how much easier and safer it felt to come along with their children to a trusted service that was welcoming and accessible.

So I hope you can see that I am already impressed with what you’re doing and see the value of promoting child and family hubs as a model of truly integrated services.

The question is, how can we deliver on our shared vision by ‘Building Change Together’?

Most of you would recall that during the federal election campaign earlier this year, the Prime Minister was asked what he’d like to be remembered for. 

He replied, delivering universal early education and care.

The commitment to this ambition starts at the very top of our Government.

As someone who has worked alongside early years educators and carers for much of my career, it was profound.

This commitment to universal early education and care is a core priority for our Government.

Because universal early education and care means giving every child access to the benefits of high-quality early learning.

No matter what their parents do. 

No matter whether they live – here in inner city Melbourne, Melton or Mooroopna.

And a critical element in delivering universal early education and care is making it more accessible, so that more Australian children can benefit. 

There’s a lot of work to do.

And I look forward to doing that work together.

Our $1 billion Building Early Education Fund will deliver more not-for-profit and community-run services in the places where families need them most, including our outer suburbs and regions. 

Our priorities for the first half of that $1 billion Building Early Education Fund include co-located sites on, or near, school sites in underserved, lower socio-economic areas. 

This will help end the “double drop off” for busy parents taking their kids to both school and early learning.

It will also help build links between educators in early learning and in schools, making the transition for children smoother.

And provide quality early learning for children who may not have that opportunity without this support.

The Commonwealth Government is entering into Federation Funding Agreements with states and territories to ensure that children across the country benefit. 

We’re also providing grants to quality, not-for profit providers willing to partner with us and located in lower socio-economic and underserved areas. 

And, as many of you would be aware, we are providing $50 million through the Building Early Education Fund to partner with the Investment Dialogue for Australia’s Children – or IDAC - to build integrated early years services.

I am pleased that the philanthropic partners at IDAC have committed to matching that funding with another $50 million to help make those hubs a reality.

These hubs will bring together early learning, child and maternal health services, as well as family and community supports. 

Some of the key partners in IDAC are also supporting the work of this National Child and Family Hubs Network, so I know we have a lot of crossover and support here.

Before I conclude, I also want to talk about how we can work together to seize the benefits of Thriving Kids in the early years.

Thriving Kids, as you know, will provide more supports for children with mild to moderate needs in natural, foundational settings like early learning.

The consultation design stage for this is already underway, and I know the National Hubs Network and many others here have made submissions to the Advisory Group and House of Representatives Committee Inquiry.

Thriving Kids presents an opportunity to bring the concept of integrated services to life in a way that will make a real difference for children with additional needs and their families.

I recently visited an early childhood service with 200 places. In the past year, they had 400 unique visits from allied health professionals, delivering 1:1 supports to children with many types of additional needs.

To my mind, this seems an unnecessarily individualised and cumbersome way of delivering support to large numbers of children who need it.  

It could work so much better for children, their families, and the services they attend.

Thriving Kids gives us the chance to define and deliver what better looks like.

It will be a big step forward when we work together to get it right.

I encourage you to continue engaging and sharing your expertise about integrated approaches like this through child and family hubs.

To conclude, thank you to everyone involved in the National Child and Family Hubs Network for the work you do in connecting and strengthening hubs across Australia.

And for bringing together such a great collection of people here today.  

I am keen to hear where you get to at the end of today’s discussions – I’m sure there will be new ideas, and consolidation of ones already in play.

Importantly, I hope you leave this conference inspired and encouraged.

I look forward to continuing to work with you as we seek to give every Australian child access to high-quality early education. 

I look forward to drawing on the strengths of First Nations culture that puts our children at the centre, and in which we build our services based on the perspectives of the children we are here to nurture.

No matter where they live, no matter what their parents do. Let’s put children where they belong – at the centre.