Valuing Children Initiative

The Valuing Children Initiative aims to inspire Australians to value all children, understand that a child’s well being is the shared responsibility of the entire community and ensure children are at the forefront of our considerations. The vision of the Valuing Children Initiative is the creation of a society in which all children can flourish, have a safe, caring and supportive childhood and maximise their potential. OUR OBJECTIVES - To create greater societal awareness of children and their rights and needs- To inspire Australians to value all children- To promote a positive focus on all children- To build understanding that a child’s well being is the responsibility of the entire community- To ensure children are at the forefront of our considerations. WHY? Children are not faring as well as they could be. While the last 50 years has seen significant strides in improving outcomes for children, it has also seen calamitous failures as evidenced by revelations at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, as well as the increasing number of substantiated cases of neglect, and emotional, physical and sexual abuse of children. Issues such as the lack of school readiness and obesity are amongst other serious concerns that have been identified as adversely impacting on Australia’s children. Today, for the first time, children in affluent countries like Australia are predicted to have a shorter life expectancy than their parents simply because of obesity and the chronic diseases that result. In Australia a wealthy and sophisticated democracy, the ACOSS ‘Poverty in Australia Report 2014,’ reported that 17.7% of all children live below the poverty line. The Valuing Children Initiative believes it is time to ask some challenging questions about how we value children in Australia today, and whether our attitudes to children have kept pace with what children deserve and have a right to expect.