The Thriving Kids Advisory Group was tasked with providing advice to inform deliberations of all governments on a national model for Thriving Kids – towards delivering better outcomes for Australian children with additional developmental needs. This is the Advisory Group’s final report which consolidates advice for governments. It presents a national model for Thriving Kids.

The Thriving Kids initiative aims to focus on the early identification of ‘developmental concerns’ and the establishment of a national system of supports for children aged 8 and under with developmental delay and disability and low to moderate support needs and their families. This report inquires into the Thriving Kids initiative and makes 16 recommendations.

Nearly one in six Australian children are growing up in poverty. This report outlines the current and future impacts of rising rates of financial deprivation on child wellbeing. Key drivers are identified as rising housing and rental costs, slow wage growth compared to living costs, and families on low or fixed incomes falling behind.

This report summarises evidence from the last ten years of the Pathways of Care Longitudinal Study in Australia – a large-scale prospective longitudinal study of children and young people in out-of-home care. It provides a summary of key findings and identifies key implications for policy and practice.

This report, which tracks Australia’s performance towards the targets and indicators in the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, shows mixed progress, with 4 of 19 targets on track to be met. The report takes a closer look at the outcomes and experiences of different population groups, including young people, people with disability and people...