Parenting
and caring
Parents and carers play a vital role in helping children feel safe, connected, and understood. Many families face challenges that can affect relationships, communication, and a child’s sense of wellbeing, especially when experiences of stress, adversity, or trauma are involved. With the right support, parents can build strong, nurturing relationships that help children thrive.
Across our parenting programs, we provide workshops, individual support, and reflective opportunities that help parents and carers understand children’s behaviour, strengthen connection, and build confidence in their caregiving.
To learn more about each program please contact us.
ACT & New South Wales
Trauma-informed therapeutic support for children and young people living in out-of-home-care
We provide intensive therapeutic supports and interventions for children, young people, their families, and carers to help them live safely at home or, when that isn’t possible, to thrive in permanent, culturally safe, and therapeutically supported environments.
Our goal is to strengthen the relationships around each child or young person and promote placement stability. We work with parents, carers, families, and professional networks to build capacity and support protective, restorative outcomes.
Our service model offers an integrated, flexible therapeutic approach tailored to each child’s needs. Therapeutic Specialists centre children and young people in their practice, engaging families and communities with respect, empowerment, and a focus on belonging, identity, and hope.
We work alongside First Nations children, young people, families, and communities with cultural humility and deep respect for cultural knowledge. We prioritise strong cultural identity and connection, ensuring cultural stories, relationships, and community links remain central to healing and wellbeing.
Supporting placement stability for children and young people in foster and kinship care
The OurSPACE program in New South Wales provides specialist outreach therapeutic trauma support to children and young people under 16, who are living in out-of-home care in either foster or kinship care. We aim to strengthen relationships around each child or young person and promote safe, stable placements.
Using a care‑team approach, we collaborate with all key people involved in the child’s life, including caseworkers, carers, family, school staff, and other services. We also provide direct therapeutic trauma counselling to children and carers across NSW, moving with the child regardless of their placement location. Our team includes both Aboriginal and non‑Aboriginal Therapeutic Specialists, ensuring culturally strong, trauma‑responsive support tailored to each child’s needs.
[Download brochure – https://www.childhood.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/ACF648-OurSPACE-Flyer-v9.pdf]
Therapeutic support for children and young people in kinship care
Therapeutic Kinship Care is delivered by a team embedded within a broader network providing therapeutic support to children and young people in out‑of‑home care. We work alongside kinship carers to strengthen safety, stability, and connection for children living with family or community members. We believe that young people, families, and communities share a fundamental right to shape their own lives.
As a national leader in trauma‑informed counselling and support, we are deeply committed to the safety, healing, and wellbeing of children and young people. Support is provided by an experienced team who centre each child’s needs, promoting their sense of belonging, cultural identity, and connection to family, community, and culture.
Northern Territory
A community-led initiative focused on trauma healing and early childhood development
Building on the work by Marlp Jungu Jintagka Early Years Reference Group we support the delivery of tailored workshops and camps for families using the Bringing Up Great Kids program and co-design culturally safe, trauma-informed resources.
Parenting support for families in Alice Springs and remote communities
OurSpace NT provides workshops and individual parenting support for vulnerable families in Alice Springs and remote central desert communities in the Northern Territory. The program utilises the Bringing Up Great Kids (BUGK) program, a long‑standing and well‑recognised initiative that supports parents and carers to build mindful, positive, and nurturing relationships with their children.
OurSpace NT delivers BUGK workshops and parenting support in a range of settings, including the Alice Springs Correctional Centre, Alcohol and Drug Rehabilitation centres, accommodation support centres, and groups for pregnant women.
The program promotes reflective, culturally responsive, and strengths‑based parenting practices that help families build stronger, more connected relationships.
Western Australia
Integrated support for women and children impacted by family and domestic violence
Naala Djookan Healing Centre is a Family and Domestic Violence Hub comprising ten partner agencies led by the City of Stirling. The hub provides integrated therapeutic, cultural, legal, financial, community, and healing services, offering a safe and accessible entry point for women and children experiencing family and domestic violence.
Australian Childhood Foundation works collaboratively within the hub to provide therapeutic leadership, specialist parenting support, and child and family counselling, focusing on safety, strengthening strong and supportive connections, and promoting recovery.
Counselling and support service for Department of Communities foster and kinship carers
OurSPACE WA is a counselling service for foster and family (kinship) carers across Western Australia. The team understands the joys and challenges of caring for children and young people in out of home care, and we believe that reaching out for support is a strength – particularly early on, when it can reduce stress and strengthen stability within the placement.
Our experienced counsellors listen to a carers story and what is important to them, so together we can decide on the best course of action. OurSPACE WA is respectful of carers beliefs and culture, and can provide support with carer wellbeing and mental health, placement challenges, communication with the care team, and therapeutic consultation to better meet children’s therapeutic needs.