Raising Children Network Website and DVD
The Raising Children Network website helps parents fulfil their roles by providing centralised, Australian-focused, evidence based information for parents with children from birth to eight years of age.
It also provides information for those who work with parents.
The Raising Children Network team develops and manages the website and is made up of three consortium members:
- Murdoch Children's Research Institutes' Centre for Community Child Health at The Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne,
- Smart Population Foundation, and
- Parenting Research Centre.
Background and funding
The Raising Children Network website is a national tool funded from 2005-2009 under the Early Childhood - Invest to Grow initiative of the Stronger Families and Communities Strategy. From 2009-2011, additional funding has been provided from the Parenting Appropriation for ongoing website maintenance.The website arose from the Parenting Information Project in 2004, which found that parents wanted a single source of reliable and easily accessible information on parenting which was government-sponsored and therefore credible and trustworthy.
The website was launched on 17 May 2006 and has received over 8 million visits to date.
A whole-of-government approach was fundamental to the development of the Raising Children Network website, and is a key aspect of the website's promotion and communication strategy.
The website has the following objectives:
- providing assistance in caring for children
- providing information on being a parent
- assisting professionals
- facilitating parents in the use of professional services
- facilitating community connectedness
- facilitating community and professional partnerships
The Raising Children DVD ensures those who do not have ready access to the internet also receive up-to-date, quality-assured parenting information.
As of 5 November 2007 the DVD is distributed free of charge to every new parent in Australia upon the birth of their child, via the Centrelink Parent Pack being given out in hospitals.
For anyone else interested in obtaining copies of the Raising Children DVD, it can be purchased via the Raising Children website (at http://raisingchildren.tv) or, for anyone without ready access to the internet, by telephoning 02 9007 5833.