Why join us?

Your donation helps us to provide care and support for children and families through our wide range of programs. All donations are tax deductible. Donate now.

Would you like to be a carer for a child in need for a weekend, a few days, a few months or longer? Highly valued volunteers are also needed for the running of our services. See our positions available.

Children Australia is a quarterly journal reporting on research and practice around children, youth and families. Read more...

Join a business network of like-minded people. OzChild Unite will strenthen your business and strengthen your community. Contact Unite.

Why join us?

Our vision

OzChild improves life opportunities for children across Australia and beyond by delivering a range of integrated, diverse and accessible services that are outcome focussed and recognised for excellence.

Our mission

'protecting and building futures'

Our mission is set within the framework of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. OzChild's purpose is to improve the quality of care, life opportunities and status of children by:

taking or initiating action to protect or enhance the rights of children
providing or enabling direct services, through a variety of disciplines, for the benefit of children
influencing decisions or actions of individuals, organisations and governments, where relevant to children and their families.

United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child

From its inception, OzChild has used the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCROC), along with evidence of healthy child development, to provide the framework for service development and delivery.

The value of UNCROC is its focus on the whole child - the rights that need to be upheld to enable the full range of children's developmental needs to be met in a way which ensures they are able to meet their full potential. This holistic approach is strongly endorsed by OzChild through its mission.

That is why we drawn on the multidisciplinary professional expertise and practice wisdom of our staff working across a wide range of programs. We also rely strongly on the compassion, skills and dedication of our carers and volunteers, and the broad base of our infrastructure support team. Together, every member of OzChild works in their own way to protect and build better futures for our children.

In 2011 OzChild celebrates 160 years of caring for children! OzChild is Australia's oldest independent, not-for-profit, children's charity, with a history of caring for children which dates back to 1851. We continue to care for children, support families and strengthen the potential and life opportunities of children and young people.

Kids Works newsletter

Download our current newsletter or previous issues.

Simone

When my family decided to go into the foster care program, we were full of anticipation and curiosity. We knew that it would be rewarding, but we under-estimated just how rewarding it could be. The experiences I have had over the several years of fostering have been funny, educating, challenging and emotional.