The Child and Youth Framework 2021-2031 was adopted by Council at it's meeting on 15 November 2021. The framework is our commitment to children and young people from pre-birth to 25 years. It will help us develop strategies and initiatives to support children and young people so they get the best start in life.

Our approach

Our approach was to build on the existing strengths of people and communities and finding creative ways to address challenges. The Framework looks at improving:

• physical assets - parks and open spaces, and community infrastructure
• social supports - focusing on supporting families, services and networks; and
• emotional supports - on an individual level, supporting children and young people by building cultural support, supporting equality and resilience.

The Child and Youth Framework 2021-2031 was brought to life using a life stage approach where we will develop a plan to achieve goals for each stage of a child or young person's life.

These plans include:

• The First 1000 days plan - outlines how we will support families during pregnancy and in the first two years of their child’s life.
• The Children’s Plan - focuses on activities that support better outcomes for children aged up to 12 years.
• The Youth Plan (incl. young people) - addresses the unique needs of 12-25 year olds.

These plans will continue to evolve as we journey towards achieving our desired outcomes outlined in the framework.

Engagement

To inform the development of our Child and Youth Framework we have:

• Explored a wide breadth of research and data to understand the issues and opportunities;
• Investigated current State and Federal Government policies and reforms to understand priorities;
• Consulted with the Child, Youth and Family Committee to identify common themes from the youth and family services sector; and
• Consulted with young children (3 - 5 years), primary-aged children (6 - 12 years) and young people (13 - 25 years) to understand what matters to them, and what they need to live a good life.
• Consulted with parents and carers to understand how we can better support families to raise children and young people (0 - 25 years)

View the consultation findings summary to learn more about what the community told us.