Background

The Kids Central Toolkit was developed by Tim Moore and Megan Layton at the Institute of Child Protection Studies in 2007, in partnership with the Department of Disability, Housing and Community Services (now the Community Services Directorate), with support from the community sector.

Workers identified that they wanted practical ideas and tools for how to support children through child-centred approaches, which led to the development of the Kids Central Toolkit.

The Toolkit is fully illustrated by Louise Grant. Click here to visit Louise's website.

Principles

The Kids Central Toolkit is based around six key principles:

1. Children and young people's safety and well-being are of primary importance;
2. Children are individuals with unique needs and wishes;
3. Because children are usually best supported within their family every effort should be made to assist families to support their children;
4. Environments surrounding children need to be child-friendly and provide them with opportunities to develop and grow;
5. Children need to be provided with information and given opportunities to participate in decision-making processes that affect their lives; and,
6. The best outcomes are often achieved in partnership with others who can assist children and families in an ongoing way.

VACCA has redeveloped five tools from the Kids Central Toolkit, Child's Voice', specifically for Aboriginal children, which provides talking tips and guidance for using the tools with Aboriginal children.

Click here  for more information and to access the Child's Voice resource.