Children thrive in the places and relationships that surround them – in their neighbourhoods, homes, schools, and early learning services; and through the support available to parents and caregivers.
The Year in Review reflects the collective effort of partners across Queensland to strengthen all these environments that shape children’s lives. We are all part of the team around children, whether we’re in governments, social services, education, family networks, recreational clubs, arts, neighbourhoods, or working alongside families and communities in any way.
As you read, we hope you see yourselves in this work, whether directly through the initiatives highlighted or indirectly through the relationships, ideas, leadership and shared commitment that make this progress possible.
What does intergenerational stewardship look like?
For Queensland Kids Partnership, intergenerational stewardship means co-leading systems change with children and young people – not as advisors or co-designers, but as equal leaders who hold unique knowledge and have access to different networks and strengths.
In practice, this approach takes many forms and we're spotlighting two in this edition of QKP eNews: the QKP Intergenerational Stewardship Table (IGST) and the newly recruitedintergenerational Change Facilitators.
The IGSTis made up of a group of young people aged 14–27 alongside adult leaders. In September, the group gathered in person for the third time to continue guiding our strategy for Queensland kids to thrive. This included further work to shape our advice about a Queensland families strategy, and recommending the group change its name to the QKP Intergenerational Stewardship Collective.
The intergenerational Change Facilitators group gathered for the first time in mid-September, following an open EoI process. For the 36 Change Facilitators – half of whom are under 30 years – this represented the first step in a 9-month learning journey, which will position them to make real change in our communities and across Queensland over the next 3 years and beyond.
Photos below taken during gatherings of QKP intergenerational stewardship groups throughout 2026.
A practical guide to help Queensland councils use their everyday levers to support children, young people and families to thrive.
Every day, Queensland councils make decisions that help shape the places, connections and opportunities children, young people and families experience.
The Local Government Playbook – Every Child Thriving is being co-developed with Queensland councils and partners to make those connections easier to see – and to make it easier to act on them through everyday council business.
It will bring together practical Queensland examples, evidence, prompts and tools that councils can adapt to their own communities.
Local Government Play Dates are free online sessions bringing together Queensland council practitioners, sector partners and subject experts to share practical experience and learn from one another.
Each session will combine a short presentation with facilitated discussion. The conversations will share useful practice across councils and help ensure the Local Government Playbook reflects how council work happens in different Queensland communities.
Next session:
Friday 30 October 2026
12.00-1.00 pm AEST on Microsoft Teams
From growth to lasting community benefit: Western Downs’ experience and a cross-council conversation
Join Daniel Fletcher from Western Downs Regional Council for a practical conversation about how councils can understand local priorities, connect community benefit arrangements with those priorities and use opportunities arising from growth and development to strengthen local places and community life.
This session is particularly relevant to people working in planning, development assessment, infrastructure, project delivery, strategic and community planning, economic development, investment, community development, finance and governance.
QKP recently had the privilege of coordinating the Waterways learning exchange in Cairns, undertaken in collaboration with Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Protection Peak (QATSICPP), to help Queensland child and family hubs develop ‘wise and reflective practice’ when working alongside Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families.
Waterways is a 2-day national training package focused on cultural responsiveness and trauma-informed practice. It was developed by QATSICPP in partnership with SNAICC and other state-based peaks, as well as independent consultants Yamurrah.
The engagement and commitment of participants was clear across the 3 days as they learned, laughed, connected and were inspired together. We look forward to following their progress as they help embed learnings into their hub so more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families can thrive.
The Queensland Hubs Learning Exchange is underway, bringing together people from across Queensland who are working in, with and alongside child and family hubs.
Delivered through the Queensland Hubs Exchange of Expertise and Learning (QHEEL), this monthly online series creates space to learn from one another, explore what works and build practical knowledge that can be applied in different settings.
Resources and recordings from previous sessions are available on the Queensland Kids Partnership website via the registration link, so you can catch up or revisit the conversations.
This online learning series is funded by Minderoo Foundation.
A step towards better understanding what rural, regional and remote families need
QKP convenes the Queensland Kids Country Collaborative to strengthen systems, improve access and equity, and elevate the voices of regional, rural and remote communities. The Collaborative brings together a diverse network of community leaders, practitioners, service providers and organisations from across country Queensland.
In September, the Country Collaborative collaborated with Raising Children Network (RCN) to capture initial insights to better understand the experiences, needs and challenges of families living in rural, regional and remote communities.
We had 21 people join us from as far north as the Torres Strait and Cape York, west to Mt Isa and the Central West, and down to the Darling Downs.
Participants were eager to share their experiences, offering more than 100 points of feedback in response to these questions:
When you think about the families in your community, what does everyday life look like for them right now?
Where can Raising Children Network best connect with families?
Where are the trusted places, spaces and everyday moments where families access information, support and connection?
Key themes we heard included cost of living, housing, employment and work-family balance, access to services, the strengths of rural, regional and remote communities, and the places where people come together.
While these insights provide a valuable snapshot of family experiences, they are part of an ongoing process of listening to communities, building shared understanding and identifying opportunities to better support infants, children, young people and families across Queensland.
How we talk about the early years matters for children, families, communities.
That’s why the Queensland Framing Champions Group, an initiative of QKP, has collaboratively developed an example of well-framed messaging to support productive conversations about the government's national Thriving Kids initiative.
QKP also continues to share ideas about how Thriving Kids could be implemented well in Queensland with a strong systems approach.
The language is grounded in framing and mindset research and the message is simple:
What surrounds us shapes us – and when we strengthen the environments around children, we create more opportunities for every child to thrive.
Everyone has a role to play in positively shifting mindsets so that as a society, we are creating the conditions for children and young people to thrive. Visit the QKP Framing for Change Learning Hub to learn more about the evidence-based framing principles and how some simple changes can help you communicate more effectively.
Friday Chats are an informal space for people working in place-based initiatives across Queensland to connect, share what’s happening in their place, explore common challenges and learn from each other.
Bring your lunch, bring what’s on your mind, and join the conversation.
Upcoming dates:
Friday 16 October and Friday 30 October 2026 12:00–12:45pm AEST
Queensland Places Network is convened by delivery partners Cape York Partnership, Logan Together, Gladstone Region engaging in action Together (GRT) and Queensland Kids Partnership.
A thriving new community hub for Logan Central
When communities are trusted to lead, extraordinary thing happen.
Settlement Services International (SSI) has officially opened a new SSI Community Hub in Logan Central, offering employment programs, skills recognition, training and study spaces, community services, meeting rooms and a cafe.
The hub has been created to foster connections, opportunity, and belonging, with a particular focus on creating pathways for women and young people in Logan.
Visit QKP's Child and Family Hubs page to explore more Queensland-based hubs initiatives, and to learn more about why and how communities can thrive with thoughtful delivery of services via a hubs model.
Together We Grow – State Library Queensland
Children thrive when we empower families and communities to turn everyday moments – talking, reading, singing and playing – into brain building opportunities.
Together We Grow is a 5-year initiative led by State Library of Queensland and Queensland Brain Institute at The University of Queensland, supported by Queensland Kids Partnership.
This community-wide initiative is designed to turn everyday moments and activities into opportunities to support children’s brain development. Building on the success of First 5 Forever, which has supported families across Queensland for more than a decade, Together We Grow extends this work through local government partnerships and a scalable, evidence-informed model focused on everyday brain-building interactions.
With investment from The Ian Potter Foundation and The John Villiers Trust, and strong government alignment, this initiative creates a coordinated approach to improving early language outcomes across the state and Australia. State Library of Queensland is seeking additional investment and partnerships to expand the reach and impact of this initiative for children and families.
Measuring Early Years Mindsets: Patterns of Thinking that Shape Australia’s Future
The latest report from the Measuring Early Years Mindsets project being undertaken by FrameWorks Institute with funding from Minderoo Foundation, is important reading for anyone working to create better conditions for children and families in Australia.
It provides a fascinating look at the mindsets shaping how Australians understand early childhood, as well as practical guidance for how we can all play a part in building more productive narratives. Use the links below to download the report and watch the webinar exploring its key findings.
Join the National Multicultural Children Scoping Project
Settlement Services International (SSI), together with the Investment Dialogue for Australia’s Children (IDAC) is leading the National Multicultural Children (NMC) Scoping Project to better understand what multicultural children and families need to thrive. The findings of this national consultation will shape a national report with recommendations for policy, investment and services.
To reach as many children and families as possible, conversations are being held across every state and territory, in the places families already know and trust. This includes community hubs, playgroups, schools, early learning centres, cultural events, sport and recreation spaces, and local community organisations. There are also short, confidential surveys and online conversations so families in regional, rural and remote areas can take part too.
Help build Australia's national picture of the workforce supporting children and families
The Emerging Minds 2026 National Workforce Survey for Child, Parent and Family Mental Health is now open.
Thousands of practitioners and leaders across Australia are being invited to share their experiences, strengths and support needs to help inform future workforce planning, training, resources and policy.
Whether you work directly with children and families or contribute through leadership, education, research, policy or service delivery, your perspective matters.
The stronger the response, the more complete the picture of the workforce supporting infant, child, parent and family mental health.
Have your say: inclusion and cross-sector collaboration in Early Childhood Education and Care
UQ's Child Health Research Centre is running a two-round expert survey to understand how inclusion and cross-sector collaboration are actually working in Early Childhood Education and Care.
Research will focus on how information and recommendations move between health and ECEC, what happens to that information, and what supports or constrains inclusion.
Round 1 takes approximately 15-20 minutes, followed by a shorter second survey presenting Round 1 findings and reconsidering priorities and actions.
Participants are invited from the following groups:
ECEC leaders including providers, service/centre directors
Health and allied health professionals who work with children with disability/developmental delay - particularly those who work with ECEC
Tertiary and VocEd educators/trainers who prepare the ECEC, early childhood, child health & related workforces.
Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, South Bank
If you live in or close to Brisbane, please join us on Thursday 29October for the Brisbane Premiere followed by a conversation about what preventing mental illness can look like where we live, learn, work and play.
The evening will feature film director Shannon Harvey, Prevention United CEO Suzanne Dick and special guests from the film and prevention movement. It’s the beginning of a bigger conversation about how we can shift the story from crisis to prevention.
Click the link below for details of the event and to purchase discounted tickets.
Thursday 29 October 2026 | 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm AEDT Online
What happens when you ask young people directly about the systems shaping their lives?
Join a panel of Young and Wise participants and team members from ARACY and Parenting Research Centre as they unpack the findings of this year’s Young and Wise series, which explored how national priorities land in the everyday lives of young people.
Through online roundtables held between March and June 2026, 53 young people from five priority communities shared their lived experience of wellbeing, services and systems. The five groups were: rural, regional and remote young people; LGBTIQA+ young people; culturally and linguistically diverse young people; neurodivergent young people; and First Nations young people. Their insights are organised through The Nest, ARACY's national wellbeing framework.
Abstract submissions are now open for the International Congress on Evidence-Based Parenting Support (I-CEPS) 2027, an online global congress taking place 2–4 June 2027. Submissions close 27 November 2026.
Hosted by the Parenting and Family Research Alliance (PAFRA), I-CEPS 2027 will bring together research, policy and practice perspectives from around the world to explore the topic: Parenting support for a changing world: Advancing evidence, equity and innovation.
The next ChangeFest gathering will take place on Gimuy Country, Cairns South, over 3 days in April 2027. The gathering is being shaped in partnership with the Gimuy Walubara Yidinji Elders Aboriginal Corporation and Cairns South Together, alongside the local community.
Grounded in Country, local stories, and priorities with nationwide relevance, this next gathering will create opportunities for people across the movement to connect, learn and strengthen collective action to grow the impact of community-led change.
As a Children’s Rights Queensland partner, we are looking forward to supporting Children’s Week this October.
This year's theme is ‘Children have the right to use their own language, celebrate their culture and practice their religion’ and isbased on Article 30 from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
A new addition to the Growing Deadly Brains®️ suite of free neuroscience-based resources, Growing Deadly Brains at Home is a downloadable 3-page guide for families with children 0-8 years old. Across a range of behaviours, it outlines what you’ll notice (e.g. tantrums), what’s happening for the child in their brain and body, and things you can do or say in the moment to help.
Yiliyapinya has created a short 5-minute survey to gather feedback about Growing Deadly Brains®, to help understand how the resources and content are being received across families, communities, workplaces and practice settings. Use the link below to participate and share the survey and resources through your broader networks to support and amplify Growing Deadly Brains®.
Wellbeing Playlist: storytelling for children’s wellbeing
StoryBox Hub | Raising Children Network | ARACY
StoryBox Hub, Raising Children Network and the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth (ARACY) have joined forces to create the Wellbeing Playlist, a collection of 12 children’s stories designed to support wellbeing through shared reading, conversation and play.
InterACT: Advancing and unpacking the science of interaction
InterACT | The University of Queensland
Everyday interactions between adults and children spark learning, connection, and growth. This toolkit transforms the science of sensitive, responsive, and enriching interactions into practical guidance for families, educators, community organisations and policy makers to make every interaction count.
New free ‘Brain health in the early years’ modules
Early Childhood Australia | The University of Queensland
Brain health in the early years is a free 4-course professional learning program developed with subject matter experts at The University of Queensland.
Designed for early childhood professionals and others who support infants and young children, the program explores how everyday experiences, interactions, eating, sleep and exploration shape healthy brain development.
"Resilience is the ability to adapt and stay healthy, even when life throws curveballs. Or flaming space rocks."
Our partners at Alberta Family Wellness Initiative have released AdverCity, an engaging, light-hearted resource that introduces the science of resilience and explores how positive supports as well as skills and abilities help individuals and communities achieve better outcomes.
The video tells the story of a town where adversity strikes again... and again... and again. Amid the chaos, the citizens make it through, but how?
Watch AdverCity at BrainStory.org and explore the accompanying resources to learn more about resilience.
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