Ensuring young Australian children have the best possible start to life requires children and families to have equitable access to quality services and supports. One solution increasingly recognised around the world is building connections between existing services to meet the diverse needs of families. This approach is gaining momentum around Australia with models being developed that aim to integrate variations of health, education, social care (including legal and financial), and social support within co-located child and family focused hubs.

In this paper, the authors explore what is meant by a child and family hub and identify core components that underpin the delivery of these hubs that have emerged from Australian and international research. This paper also introduces the newly established National Child and Family Hubs Network, which creates an opportunity for collaborative learning and sustainable and effective child and family hubs practice. The network offers the opportunity to consider how hubs can become important ‘front doors’ to drive equitable access and quality service delivery across Australia.