The keys to improving the lives of Australian children are discussion and evidence. Experts packed a conference in Brisbane today, which coincides with National Families Week.

Isabella Magee reports.

TRANSCRIPT

Today’s leaders speaking up for tomorrow’s.

Natalie Lewis, Child Protection Peak: “They’re not niceties, they’re not extras, they’re fundamental rights.”

The Child Aware Conference attracted health professionals from across the nation.

Annette Michaux, Parenting Research Centre: “To learn more about how we can better support children, improve their outcomes, prevent child abuse and neglect.”

Delegates will discuss Australia’s first national plan to improve the well-being of children.

A key focus today was improving outcomes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth.

Natalie Lewis, Child Protection Peak: “We need to be able to influence local design and service delivery. We need to actually make sure that at the heart of it we have Aboriginal families participating in the decisions that most profoundly impact their kids.”

The future event joined the helping hands of 350 health professionals, a mere fraction of the 125,000 across the nation.

Annette Michaux, Parenting Research Centre: “There’s lots of evidence we could do things better if we shared our ideas, if we worked better together and if we jointly put services around families in a more effective way. There’s lots of evidence that we can really support parents in their parenting so they can keep their kids with them and get the services they need.”

The conference continues Friday.

Isabella Magee, QUT News.