This report shows there is an overwhelming lack of attention being given by Australian companies on the impacts their business has on children, with less than 1% having a specific commitment to respecting children’s rights further than just child labour.

This broad-ranging, independent report examines Australia’s performance as a society during the past two-and-a-half years of the COVID-19 pandemic. How well did Australia perform? Can our combined health, economic, social and political response be considered a success or a failure? What comes next?

This report makes policy recommendations designed to enhance children’s safety by bringing the Australian family law system into alignment with children’s rights. It illustrates its case for reform with the findings of a multiple case study project comprising seven in-depth interviews with adult survivors of...

New Child Safe Standards to strengthen child safety will commence in Victoria on 1 July 2022. This policy document outlines the changes that organisations covered by the Standards will need to enact to comply.

This report outlines what has worked for children in the COVID-19 response over the last year in New Zealand, and recommends ways to better implement children’s rights in laws, policies and practices.

This report tells the story of how well children’s rights are protected and promoted across Australia. It covers all the basic rights that children need to do well, like having a home and a family, getting a good education, being able to access quality health...

During 2018, the NSW Department of Communities of Justice (DCJ), formerly Family and Community Services or FACS, conducted two state-wide surveys about the experiences of children and young people in out-of-home care (OOHC). This report presents an overview of results from these surveys.

This FACSIAR Evidence to Action Note presents summary results from two state-wide surveys conducted in 2018 by the NSW Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) (formerly Family and Community Services or FACS).

In the context of Western social norms, car-based mobilities of children are generally seen as unavoidable outcomes of our modern society. This paper explores the general assumptions that guide various local government transport policies and social practices including the expectation that children are best accompanied...

This scorecard tells the story of how well children’s rights are protected and promoted across Australia. It tells us where we are doing well, where we should be doing much better, and where we do not yet know enough to make an assessment of our...

This paper attempts to highlight the existence, extent and impact of child poverty and the right of children to wellbeing. It seeks to place child poverty within a broader context, other than an economic one.

Violence against children is at endemic levels across Pacific island nations and Timor-Leste. Millions of children experience exceptionally high levels of physical, emotional and sexual violence, as well as neglect.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child is the most widely ratified treaty in history. This report calls on states to fulfil their commitments with renewed vigour, urgency and imagination, so all children can grow up healthy, educated, safe from violence and free to...

This report recommends that the Australian Government adopt a National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights, and has suggested ten clear areas where children would benefit from reform.

This report includes case studies of countries that have made strong progress in improving children’s well-being in recent decades.

This report shows how too many children are being admitted to secure hospitals unnecessarily – in some cases are spending months and years of their childhood in institutions when they should be in their community. It warns that the current system of support for those...

One year on from the Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory’s final report and six months into the reform journey, the Northern Territory government is making progress to improve support and services to families experiencing vulnerability and overhaul...

The Australian Human Rights Commission has prepared this report as Australia’s ‘A status’ national human rights institution. It was written by the National Children’s Commissioner (NCC), whose position exists within the Commission.

In this integrated report, the views of children and young people across Australia sit in close association with the contributions of 93 non-government organisations (NGOs) and subject matter experts committed to improving the protection, promotion and fulfilment of the rights of all children and young...

This report sets out findings from the Children and Young People in Separated Families: Family Law System Experiences and Needs project, a qualitative study commissioned and funded by the federal Attorney-General’s Department (AGD). This study aimed to investigate the experiences and needs of young people...

This report outlines work the National Children's Commissioner has undertaken throughout 2016-17 to promote the human rights of children and young people in Australia. This year, the major project has focused on the rights and needs of young parents and their children.

In June 2017, 490 children aged 10–18, from 26 different countries1 and speaking 24 official languages, participated in workshops held by UNICEF Country Offices and National Committees to share their views on how and why they use digital technologies in their everyday lives, as well...

This report from the Australian Human Rights Commission sets out draft national principles for child safe organisations.

The report looks at how New Zealand is putting the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (Children’s Convention) into practice, and where it can do better.

Drawing from the Children's Safety Study, a study that considered children's perceptions of safety, their safety needs and how well they believed adults and institutions protected them from harm, this paper provides practical guidance based on what children and young people have said themselves, as...