New partnership to transform early childhood outcomes in Kwinana
The City of Kwinana and Minderoo Foundation have today announced a $4 million partnership to transform early childhood development outcomes and create lasting change for children and families in Kwinana.
Minderoo Foundation will provide the City of Kwinana with a $4.09 million grant to lead a place-based, systems approach to early childhood development over the next 2.5 years.
Building on the City’s longstanding commitment to improving early childhood outcomes, the partnership recognises the City’s leadership in responding to evidence from the Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) by bringing together families, community organisations, education, health and government agencies to address the underlying causal factors influencing children’s development across Kwinana.
The investment will strengthen the systems that support children from birth to five years of age, with a focus on improving access to transport, food security, perinatal care and community-based child health and development services, while creating stronger collaboration between organisations already delivering outstanding work across Kwinana.
The partnership builds on several years of work by the City, in partnership with many local organisations, schools and others, to strengthen the local early years system and create better outcomes for children and families.
City of Kwinana Mayor, Peter Feasey, said the partnership represented one of the most significant investments in the City’s future.
“The early years shape the future of every child, and by investing in those years we are investing in the future of our entire community.
“This partnership recognises that lasting change happens when communities are empowered to lead local solutions. Kwinana has been listening to families, building partnerships and strengthening our early years approach, as is evident in the City’s recently launched Early Years Strategy. Today marks the beginning of the next chapter.
“Rather than creating another standalone program, this partnership will strengthen the entire early years ecosystem, helping services and programs to collaborate, identifying gaps, attracting further investment and ensuring families can more easily access the support they need within the local community.”
Minderoo Foundation CEO, John Hartman, said the early years lay the foundation for lifelong learning and wellbeing, but achieving the best outcomes for children required collaboration.
“What makes this partnership exciting is that it builds on the City of Kwinana’s leadership and existing strengths across the community. By bringing together local government, families, service providers and community organisations, we can strengthen the systems that support children and create lasting impact,” Mr Hartman said.
“Minderoo is proud to back Kwinana’s ambition because we believe communities are best placed to mould the solutions that work for them. Our hope is that this place-based approach can become a model for how local leadership and philanthropy work together to improve outcomes for children across Australia.”
Premier Roger Cook thanked the generous support of Minderoo Foundation and the City of Kwinana and congratulated them on this significant initiative.
“This important initiative between Minderoo Foundation and the City of Kwinana will promote new ways of working to help local children and families thrive.
“One of the key principles is that it empowers community to work together across a range of areas to make real change,” Premier Cook said.
The partnership will be implemented over three initial phases through to the end of 2028.
The first phase will establish a dedicated Early Years Team, undertake a comprehensive analysis of Kwinana’s early years ecosystem, deliver a community Early Years Summit, launch an Early Years Impact Fund and investigate the feasibility of an Orelia Early Years Hub. Future phases will focus on strengthening collaborative governance, investing in proven initiatives and embedding long-term systems change that continues delivering benefits for local children and families.
The initiative aims to ensure more children start their schooling journey healthy, supported and ready to learn while strengthening the capability of families, communities and local institutions to improve outcomes for future generations.
Together, the City of Kwinana and Minderoo Foundation are building a stronger foundation to help every child in Kwinana thrive from the very beginning.