Join our Board 

This role is for you if you want to help make a real difference — not just share your story.

We are looking for a young person (aged 18-26) with lived experience of child abuse, family violence and/or disadvantage to join our Board.

You do not need to have been on a board before to apply; we will provide mentoring and support to learn how to lead in this space. Your experiences, insights and perspectives are a form of expertise.

By bringing your perspectives and knowledge, you will help us stay accountable and make sure our work is grounded in the realities of those who have been most affected by harm.

Why this role exists

We want young people at the table where decisions are being made. Our 2030 Strategy focusses on protecting the rights of children and young people healing from trauma and transforming the systems meant to support them. This Board position seeks to turn that commitment into action, making sure our leadership and decisions are informed by what matters to children and young people at all levels of our organisation.

Please apply if you:

• Are between 18-26 years of age
• Have lived experience of child abuse and/or family violence
• Want to help create safer, fairer futures with and for other children and young people
• Are curious to learn about governance and leadership

You don’t need formal qualifications or leadership titles, just a willingness to show up, think big, and be part of change.

Following the recent resignation of our longstanding First Nation’s Board Member, we respectfully invite interested First Nations leaders to consider joining our Board

Too many children and young people across Australia—especially Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children—continue to experience harm, trauma and systemic inequity. We are committed to doing better.

We know that meaningful, lasting change can only be achieved in partnership with First Nations peoples, knowledge systems and leadership, so are seeking the guidance and leadership of a First Nations Board Member who can help ensure our strategy, governance, advocacy and culture are aligned with what First Nations children, families and communities have been calling for across generations.

As a Board Member, you will:

• Contribute to strategic discussions and vote on key governance matters.
• Help guide our advocacy, partnerships and systemic reform initiatives.
• Support the embedding of children’s rights and lived experience including cultural identity, connection and
  relationships into all organisational decisions.
• Ensure our work aligns with our values of Hope, Compassion, Courage, Respect and Integrity.
• Join a Board that is collaborative, values driven and deeply committed to creating a safer world for all
  children and young people.

Join the Board of the Australian Childhood Foundation

We are inviting experienced and values‑aligned leaders to consider joining our Board. This is an opportunity to contribute strategic insight, support organisational sustainability and help guide a highly respected, national organisation that works at the intersection of practice, prevention, capacity building and advocacy.

As a Board member, you will:

• Support the Foundation’s strategic direction
• Strengthen the Foundation’s governance
• Extend the Foundation’s influence.
• Help ensure child safeguarding is lived as a responsibility that goes beyond compliance – embedded in decision‑making, organisational culture and leadership.
• Play a role in amplifying our impact through relationships, stewardship and a shared commitment to creating lasting change.

Together, we seek to turn insight into action and ensure that a child’s right to safety, dignity and care is upheld as a fundamental responsibility of our society.

Because when we prioritise clarity and care in everything we do, we build a community where every child and young person is safe and all of us are stronger.

Interested? Click the button below to learn more and for how to apply.