Children's Charter of Rights
All children and young people have rights and if you are in care you also have another, special set of rights.
Rights are things that you can expect to have and experience.
If you can’t live with your parents, then the adults who are looking after you must do what is best for you and help you to enjoy these rights – even if you don’t know about them.
Rights must not be taken away from you, no matter who you are, what you do or where you are from.
Take Action!
Visit Oog and the Guardian for Children and Young People
Download the full Charter of Rights
Foster carers, we trust you feel encouraged and equipped to share the Children's Charter of Rights with the children and young people in your care. Talk about what they mean, print them and learn more about them together, or pop them up on the back of the toilet door.
Thank you for all that you do to ensure that the children and young people in your care realise all their rights to thrive.
New Activity Inspiration from Australian Childhood Foundation
Children remain at the heart of everything we do
We know children are currently experiencing a lot of fear, worry, and anxiety as a result of the Coronavirus crisis. We have produced a number of resources that we hope can help parents and carers manage some of the stress and help explain things in a way that children can understand.
Visit the Australian Childhood Foundation for a wealth of COVID-19 resources.
Pre-schoolers Activity Inspo
Primay-schoolers Activity Inspo
High-schoolers Activity Inspo
CREATE Foundation
Youth Advisory Groups
YAGs are for anyone with a care experience between 10 and 25 years old.
Friday 16 July, 2021 (School Holidays)
11am - 3pm, Greenhill Rd.
See the above flyer for all the details and to RSVP to Anita.
CREATE Foundation is the national consumer body representing the voices of children and young people with an out-of-home care experience. Our vision is that all children and young people with a care experience reach their full potential.
Everything we do at CREATE is based on our ethos – Connect, to Empower, to Change.
A Home Away From Home
This book is about children just like you.
For some reason you can’t live with your own family and you have come to stay with a foster family. The children in this book also live with foster families.
Thank you to all the children and young people who shared their stories.
Download A Home Away From Home
About Being in Care
A bright and affirming e-book for children which covers court orders and guardianship, children's rights and includes some reflective questions for children. A helpful resource for carers to share with children when age appropriate. This downloadable book has been made available through the Guardian for Children and Young People's website.
All About Me
Created by Berry Street, this is a colourful and friendly template for children to create an 'All About Me' book.
The template has many pages to record things the child loves about their birth parents, siblings, where they live, their cultural identity, friends and what makes them happy and sad. A wonderful tool for conversations or a platform for children to journal on their own.
Or visit the Berry Street website here.
Heart Felt
A booklet of drawings by abused children and teenagers attending trauma counselling, compiled to assist people to understand children's experiences of child abuse. This free downloadable resource guide has been made available through the Australian Childhood Foundation's Website.
All Kinds of Families
Here’s a free printable poster made to show kids that all kinds of families are OK, and that families are as diverse as people.
Elise Gravel, author and illustrator, has made this resource freely available for teachers and parents.
You can download it and print it for school or home use.
Visit Elise's website for more information about her work and other tools she has created, which include a range of educational posters, comics and blogs.
Bored at home?
Some children are missing school. Some are finding fun being at home. Some are just bored. The Australian Childhood Foundation created this new story book to help carers, parents and professionals explore how boredom can be kept away by imagination.
Bertrand the Bored and The Imagination Jar
Ellen the Invisible Caterpillar
Ellen learns about how different animals keep themselves safe. She realises that she too has powers that helps her to feel safe.
This little book is perfect to read with children under 10 years of age who have lost a sense of safety at times in their day to day experiences.
eSafety Kids
Talking to friends, playing games and watching videos can be so much fun!
Going online is like learning to ride a bike. There are some things you need to do so you can stay safe and have fun.
When you explore any place, you need to stay safe. This goes for when you are online too. Explore together with an adult and ask for help.
eSafety Young People
www.esafety.gov.au/young-people
Australian Childhood Foundation Collection
Sensory Hand Activity
Safety is a sensory experience. It draws from the ways in which our senses and body react to others and to our environment. Sometimes, after trauma, an individual's sensory experience comes to feel alien and not their own. Connecting again with these senses is an important part of healing.
Australian Childhood Foundation have developed a fun activity that to use with children, young people, and adults to support them to get in touch with the way their bodies feel and give more awareness to these reactions. We hope you find it useful.
The Hugs and Their Helper Friends
It all started with us, the Hugs.
We met together to decide that people could share Hugs in more ways than usual in this time of coronavirus. People have been giving hugs with things like rainbows and soft toys in their front windows, wearing face masks, and staying home for each other for a while now. Hugs joyfully continue our efforts to help.
Reflective activity about relationships
Children and young people learn about the world around them, about others and about themselves from key people in their lives.
In relationship, we form beliefs about what we know to be true about ourselves and about the world around us which we carry forward with us into adulthood.
Parents and carers have unique opportunities to change the experiences of children through the power of relationships.
This activity is designed to help parents and carers remember those who helped shape their lives, and how they in turn can help the children in their care to feel special and important.
Peek a Boo Faces
Have you noticed lots of people covering their mouths and noses with face masks when you are out?
What does that feel like for you?
Do you know why so many people are wearing face masks?
Read this short story From the Australian Childhood Foundation.
Many Ways To Share A Hug
Another lovely social story for children, explaining some of the temporary changes to ordinary life due to the Coronavirus - through the eyes of a Hug. Available from the Australian Childhood Foundation.