Every child – no matter their postcode – deserves the best start in life

27 Aug 2025 – A statement from Nicola Forrest AO.

This is a transcript of a speech given by Nicola Forrest AO at the launch of the latest Cost of Late Intervention report, at Parliament House, Canberra on 27th August, 2025.

Today is a particularly special day.

We are here celebrating five years of the Thrive by Five campaign – and the dedicated partners who’ve helped put children’s wellbeing on the political agenda to create real change.

Minderoo Foundation’s efforts to improve the lives of Australia’s children started nearly 22 years ago as the Australian Children’s Trust. Since then, we have learned so much and witnessed significant advances.

But one thing has not changed – children remain at the heart of everything we do.

When we started Thrive by Five, I could have only hoped for the impact we have had together.

Today, we stand here at Parliament House with policy makers, politicians and partners who have championed change to our early childhood system. Your work has benefited so many children and families across Australia.

To our Thrive by Five partners – and I am thrilled so many are here today – thank you for your passion, your ambition and your relentless dedication to championing reform.

You have helped shift the dial – and had some great wins, including:

• Guaranteeing a minimum of three days per week of subsidised early education and care;
• A 15 per cent wage increase for the early childhood workforce;
• And the establishment of the $1 billion Building Early Education Fund to develop childcare centres, including in the regions and outer suburbs.

But we still have much work to do.

We must create a holistic system that puts children first – and we must make the system easier for families to navigate.

Because every child – no matter their postcode – deserves the best start in life.

Science tells us the first five years shape a child’s health, learning and wellbeing for life. When we act early, we change a child’s life trajectory.

But, as we all know, raising a child can be a very difficult time for so many parents and families. Yet too often, we don’t take action until problems become crises.

That’s why today, we are also launching the second Cost of Late Intervention report.

This report – which has been written by our partners at the Front Project – details the cost of not acting early enough.

That price of inaction is now $22.3 billion a year – that’s up 47 per cent since the first Cost of Late Intervention report in 2019. That’s avoidable spending on child protection, youth justice, unemployment support and health crises.

The true cost is probably higher – that figure doesn’t include lost productivity, industry impact or the broader social consequences of children missing school.

Nor does it account for the impact on families who are under strain, or on communities who carry the burden of preventable harm.

We know that acting early prevents harm, strengthens families, builds a skilled future workforce and reduces long-term demand on services.

So, this is not about spending more – it’s about spending smarter.

Early intervention is not just the right thing to do – it’s the smart thing to do.

This report is both a warning and a message of hope. We can continue to pay for failure – or we can invest in success.

We must use it as a springboard to further action, to greater reform, to real sustainable change for the children of Australia – they are our future.

No one person or organisation can do this alone.

As the Thrive by Five campaign has demonstrated, there is power in many voices calling for real, lasting change.

Standing alongside you on behalf of Australia’s children and families is my deep privilege and joy.

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