Families Australia acknowledges the 2026–27 Budget investments aimed at improving outcomes for children and young people, and strengthening support for families navigating significant change, adversity and financial abuse.
Overall, Families Australia considers this Budget a positive step toward improving outcomes for children, young people and their families. We welcome the increased investment in early intervention and prevention, which will help strengthen family resilience amid ongoing cost of living pressures.
Key measures – including the establishment of a single national Children and Family Support Program from 1 July 2027, $182.6 million to address systems abuse in the Child Support Scheme and $59.4 million to support around 4,000 young people at risk of homelessness to access social and affordable housing – mark important progress in supporting children and young people experiencing vulnerability.
Safe and secure housing is fundamental to the wellbeing of children, young people and their families. Families Australia welcomes targeted investments aimed at improving housing affordability and security, recognising this as a critical foundation for families to grow and thrive.
The National Disability Insurance Scheme has been life changing for many families. Families Australia supports efforts to improve the Scheme’s efficiency and sustainability so it can continue to support people with disability into the future. However, these changes must not come at the expense of people with disability and their carers. The voices of people with disability must remain central to ensuring dignity, wellbeing and inclusion are upheld.
We also call on governments to work together to ensure that complementary investments – including the Australian Government’s $2 billion investment in the Thriving Kids program, as part of broader Foundational Supports – are delivered in a timely and integrated way, aligned with the service systems families navigate every day.
Families Australia also welcomes continued investment in specialist support for children, young people and families experiencing trauma and loss, including $12 million in 2026–27 to prevent and respond to child sexual abuse and support victims and survivors, and $13 million over three years to improve understanding of stillbirth, support grieving families and prevent future occurrences.
Families Australia and its members stand ready to support the successful implementation of the new national Children and Family Support Program. The additional $171.7 million over five years, alongside longer term funding agreements and reduced red tape, provides an important opportunity to strengthen service delivery and outcomes.
Families Australia Chief Executive Officer Jamie Crosby said:
“We know that intensive support early changes lives. Investment in child and family support must prioritise prevention and early intervention — this is the only way governments can avoid the growing costs we are seeing across health, child protection and justice systems.”
As governments consider the future direction of Safe and Supported: The National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children, Families Australia encourages a shift from crisis response toward earlier intense support to avert family separation and ensure children and young people maintain safety, stability and connection to family and culture.
Mr Crosby continued:
“Families Australia echoes the calls from SNAICC – National Voice of our Children for greater attention to child and family supports for First Nations peoples. Effective investment in early intervention should be the next phase of work and must include community-led solutions for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, young people and their families.”
Families Australia also notes the absence of targeted measures to support the sustainability of Australia’s out-of-home care system, despite growing pressures and carer shortages. We encourage the government to consider options to improve access to health care for all children in care, reduce financial pressures on carers, and strengthening system supports in the development of the next Budget, and as part of its contribution to the next five years of Safe and Supported.
While this Budget includes some welcome investments for children and families, it does not meet the scale of the challenges facing Australia’s most vulnerable. During Families Week 2026, Families Australia renews its call for sustained, long-term investment in prevention, early intervention, housing, family support and child wellbeing – because every child deserves the opportunity to thrive, and every family deserves support, everywhere.
We will continue to advocate strongly alongside our members, partners and communities so that every family, everywhere, is seen, supported and valued.