The Nest is a major project designed to drive beneficial change to the health and wellbeing of all young Australians. It will do this by identifying the best current evidence and practice, drawing on extensive consultation with the community and stakeholders, and pulling this together to develop a national plan to advance the wellbeing of children and young people in Australia.

The Nest is going to lead to the production of a national plan to advance the wellbeing of children and young people in Australia. The plan aims to provide a critical resource for organisations and people involved in child and youth wellbeing, identifying key priorities and steps that can be taken to address these.

Despite the relative wealth and living standards in Australia, a number of indicators show that children and young people in Australia are behind many other first world countries. This was highlighted through the Change for Children initiative, which has given rise to The Nest. The Nest intends to benefit children and young people by providing an action plan to reverse some of these trends, and to ensure that all of the community is equipped with the tools and resources to address their needs and priorities.

The Nest is a collaborative project involving a wide range of organisations, providers and experts in the child and youth sectors. This is being administered and coordinated through ARACY, the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth. As part of this, ARACY has formed a National Steering Committee to provide expert oversight and governance for the project.

The Nest is funded through ARACY with kind support from partner organisations and individuals. ARACY is a not-for-profit organisation, meaning all funding goes directly into the project. The project also benefits from generous voluntary contributions of time, resources and infrastructure from partner individuals and organisations.

No. ARACY is an independent not-for-profit organisation and the project has not been instigated nor is it administered by Government. However, given the aims of the project, close engagement is being established with Federal and State Government departments and agencies to ensure The Nest develops in a way which complements and adds value to Government policy and program delivery.

The Nest is an ongoing and evolving project with the current phase of activity scheduled to culminate in a national summit in November 2012. This will include a series of consultation activities and an evidence review taking place between March and August 2012. Subsequent analysis of data and evidence, and development of reports and recommendations will be undertaken prior to the national summit.

The Nest is an inclusive and far-reaching project seeking input from all individuals and organisations involved or concerned with the wellbeing of children and young people in Australia. This includes children and young people themselves, parents, carers, grandparents and other family members, people who work with children, service providers, peak organisations, government representatives, academics, researchers and scientific practitioners.

One of the ways you can help to shape The Nest is by contributing your feedback directly – for instance taking part in our online survey. The Nest is also seeking voluntary consultation partners to help reach people and organise consultation activities across the country.

Children and young people can provide feedback via participation in a number of consultation activities including completing a short online survey from this site and, where available, activities at school or in other locally organised forums. You can also get involved on The Nest facebook and twitter pages.

All information provided through The Nest consultation and any other communication is treated in the strictest of confidence. This means that anything you say is not attributed to you or is used in a way which identifies you in any published material.

There is no obligation to participate in the consultation or in any other capacity as part of The Nest. All participation is voluntary and down to the free will of individuals and groups.

Organisations (e.g. schools, community groups, service providers etc) can provide invaluable support to help administer the consultation, as well as providing direct feedback from their own perspective. You can sign up to become a consultation partner and undertake activities with people in your own community, based on resources provided in The Nest consultation toolkit.

You can also get involved if you have a professional practice or business which deals directly with children, young people or their families. This may be as simple as promoting the survey or hosting a consultation activity.

No. All participation in the project is voluntary.

The primary benefit from your involvement is the social benefit of helping to work towards improved health and wellbeing for children and young people in Australia. We appreciate the value and support provided by our consultation partners and acknowledge them here on The Nest website.

Please note it is important that The Nest project remains impartial. It must not used as a vehicle for the promotion of businesses, products and services.

Not necessarily – the resources in the toolkit provide guidance for a range of consultation activities that can be adapted to your particular audience or area. By signing up to become a consultation partner you will be able to liaise with the ARACY team in designing your consultation activity.

Note that activities which do not meet the ethical guidelines contained in the consultation toolkit or which are not otherwise agreed in writing with ARACY will be unable to be accepted for inclusion into the analysis and consolidation phases.

Please consult with the team at ARACY to see if proposed alternative or additional questions can be included within the analysis framework. It is important that The Nest can incorporate all data recorded through consultative activities.

Please check with your insurance provider before conducting any activity to ensure that your existing policies will cover it.

A research reporting template is available on the website through the consultation partner pages. You can also upload materials, such as scanned documents or audio-visual files via this reporting template.

Researchers at ARACY will take primary responsibility for the analysis of data collected from the consultation, with guidance from experts on (and where relevant outside of) the National Steering Committee. KPMG have been appointed to undertake the evidence review element, with an Expert Reference Group convened to oversee this activity and ensure it links into the consultation.

Regular updates are provided on The Nest website, specifically in The Nest blog, as well as via The Nest Facebook and Twitter feeds, and media announcements.

All reports produced as a result of the evidence review and consultation will also be available to download from this site.

The consultation and evidence review will be used to shape a written report outlining key needs and priorities for child and youth wellbeing, which will be the subject of a national summit in November 2012. This will form the basis from which tools, materials, resources and best practice approaches will be developed and distributed so that future needs and opportunities can be met.