Who we are

The Alannah & Madeline Foundation is a national not-for-profit organisation dedicated to keeping children and young people free from violence and trauma wherever they live, learn and play.

Through our Care, Prevention and Advocacy programs, we fight for their right to be safe, so their future is strong.

From supporting children experiencing family violence to educating communities about online bullying and fighting for the rights of children and young people, we help children and young people live happy, safe and strong so they can thrive.

All children and young people are safe and inspired with the freedom to flourish.

We champion and strengthen the rights of children and young people through participation and practice in the communities where they live, learn and play.

Our values are at the core of who we are – they guide the way we work every day.

Our values are:

• We act with courage
• We are stronger together
• We are curious
• We believe accountability matters
• We act with empathy, always.

Our child-rights framework drives everything we do, and informs all aspects of the way we work. It is based on three fundamental principles:

• ‘nothing about us without us’
• we are a strengths-based organisation
• we are a rights-based organisation

What does this mean?

Nothing is undertaken without the full participation of the people affected by it.

Participation and involvement in the world in which we live, and in the systems that govern our lives, is a basic human right – and we firmly believe that children and young people should be involved in the decisions that affect them now, and in their futures.

Participation is about offering children and young people agency and a role in shaping the world in which they live, learn and play. We will use their strengths, experiences, voices and expertise to design solutions and interventions together, that work for them.

Trauma informed

Being trauma-informed means that our programs are focused on the impact of trauma on the whole child and emphasise the importance of creating secure relationships that foster positive, safe, nurturing environments. Our trauma-informed programs promote safety, empowerment and support to children and young people and the adults who care for, teach or support them. We believe that the relationships these adults hold in a child’s life play a crucial role in contributing to a child’s development and wellbeing, and enable them to recover, heal and grow.

Across Our Care, Prevention and Advocacy programs, we bring to life work which addresses direct needs, individual and collective capacity, and systems change for children and young people.

We aim to:

• Alleviate: meet the real and immediate needs of vulnerable children and families through our Buddy Bag and Care programs.
• Enable: support children and their families to develop the competencies, resources and capabilities to have self-agency through building individual capacity in programs such as Children Ahead and our trauma consultancy service, TraCS.
• Empower: build capabilities within communities by developing the collective capacity of students, educators and school communities through our eSmart and Dolly’s Dream programs.
• Transform: advocate for real systems-level change – changing the rules of the game – to bring the best interests of children to the centre of government and policy decision-making, and to use our national profile to amplify the voices of children and young people.

The safety of children and young people is our number one priority – it's why we exist. As an organisation that works directly with children and young people, we make sure that everything we do keeps children safe and meets our obligations under Child Safe principles, laws and guidelines.

Our Child Safe policy governs our systems and processes for child safety, including ensuring that all people within the Foundation operate in the best interests of children and do no harm.