People often ask me "what does OzChild do?" In some ways this is an easy question to answer - we work to make the lives of children who are disadvantaged better in terms of both their current wellbeing and their future life opportunities. In other ways it is a difficult question to answer because how we go about achieving this mission is so varied, as you will see if you delve further into this website. Children are individual. They also come with a variety of abilities and from a variety of contexts. This means their needs vary greatly, so rather than have a single focus, Ozchild tries to meet as many needs as necessary for all children to have a better future.

While we work with some of the most socially and psychologically damaged children in our society, we also work with children who are disadvantaged in other ways - children with learning and language difficulties, children with a disability, children with mental health issues or young people whose future job prospects are very limited. We are also aware that children face new forms of disadvantage such as childhood obesity and cyber bullying that are emerging as a consequence of changes to the way we live in contemporary society and we are aware we need to be working towards minimising their impact.  To meet these various needs, we work in most of the contexts that shape children's lives -the home, the school environment and in the community.

Carers and volunteers play a critical role in enabling us to provide many of these services. I am continually impressed by their commitment and willingness to go the further mile to make the lives of the children in their care better or to support parents who are struggling with their every day lives. While we pride ourselves in the way we support our carers and volunteers, some of whom have been with us for many years, there is always a need to recruit new people. Our website has plenty of information and contact details for those of you who might be considering becoming involved in one of our services.

The other vital support we need is from the wider community.  Whether it is in the form of donations, in kind support or corporate partnerships, the assistance provided is essential to support all our various services and to develop new ones to meet the changing landscape of childhood disadvantage.

Children have no say in the family they are born into. They are the most vulnerable members of our society, yet they are also tomorrow's adults. It is in everyone's best interest as well as their own, that we do all we can to ensure that each child has the opportunity to develop to their full potential, regardless of their family circumstances. I hope that you will enjoy browsing through our website and learning how we go about ensuring every child has the chance to shine.

Tony Pitman