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Child-friendly Communities Engagement Framework
The Child-friendly Communities Engagement Framework (the Framework) is a resource for community organisations and services, practitioners and individuals to develop localised consultation and engagement tools to use among children aged 6-12 years that examine the extent of and nature to which their community is child-friendly.
Originally developed for the Australian Government Department of Social Services’ Communities for Children Facilitating Partners (CfC) Program, it was co-designed by ARACY with a Working Group comprised of Facilitating Partners of the CfC Program in 2025, followed by further testing (Version 1.0) among a self-selected group of CfC Facilitating and Community partners from November 2025 to June 2026.
Framework outcomes
After using this Framework, you will have:
- Determine your organisation’s role in a child-friendly community and the purpose of engaging with children about it.
- Created and used a child-centred, flexible tool for engaging with children aged 6-12 years on the ways their community is or is not child-friendly.
- Interpreted the findings and planned for next steps and actions in a way that is child-centred, strength-based and collaborative.
- Used children’s voices to inform your services and policies, monitoring and evaluation and/or advocacy and collaborations.
Key Principles of Engaging with Children and Young People
Underlying the Framework are the following key principles that practitioners and organisations should consider when engaging with and consulting children:
- That consultations adhere to the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations and the relevant jurisdiction’s child safe regulations and standards.
- Consideration of how child/children are given Space, Voice, Audience, and Influence – following the Lundy Model of Participation (four elements with a rational chronological order).
- Any approaches should occur within the context of a trusting relationship established between a child/children and their key worker (e.g. educator, teacher, healthcare practitioner), where key workers are equipped with knowledge and skills to keep children safe and are suitable and supported to work with children.
- A child/children must feel comfortable, safe and secure.
- Consent is sought from parents and guardians, and assent is sought from the child/children via age-appropriate methods. Assent from children must be ongoing.
- A child/children must be able to choose to stop being involved in the consultation at any time.
- That the cultural safety of participating children and their families is ensured.
The Child-Friendly Engagement Framework is composed of 4 sections:
Introduction
Introduction – underlying concepts and frameworks
This section highlights the concepts and frameworks underlying child-friendly communities, their role in children’s wellbeing, and the importance of engaging with children.
Outcomes
This section guides you to:
- Gain an understanding of what a child-friendly community is, the framework underlying children’s wellbeing (the Nest), and why children’s voices are important.
- Determine your organisation’s role in a child-friendly community
Worksheets and resources
The worksheets below are designed to help organisations take practical steps with their teams by prompting meaningful discussions and creating space to establish strong foundations before engaging with children. These activities support internal planning and management, ensuring that operational considerations are addressed in advance.
See also further resources relating to ‘The Nest’ that may assist in your initial discussions and planning
The Nest Wellbeing Framework – ARACY
The Nest Wellbeing Wheel (download)
Child-friendly description of the Nest as mapped against the UNCRC
References
UNICEF, 2018. UNICEF Child Friendly Cities and Communities Handbook. UNICEF.
Further reading
Planning
Planning – considerations of the purpose and resourcing of consultations/data collection
This section outlines the enabling conditions for meaningful engagement and consultation with children, as well as practical steps your organisation can take before developing and implementing an engagement and consultation tool.
Outcomes
This section guides you to:
1. Gain an understanding of what needs to be in place for your organisation before planning to engage with children on child-friendly communities.
2. Clearly define the purpose of your engagement and consultation/s.
3. Understand the resources and practicalities that need to be identified and considered.
Resources
The worksheets below are designed to help organisations take practical steps with their teams by prompting meaningful discussions and creating space to establish strong foundations before engaging with children. These activities support internal planning and management, ensuring that operational considerations are addressed in advance.
References
Lundy, L. (2007). ‘Voice’ is not enough: conceptualising Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. British Educational Research Journal, 33(6), 927-942. https://doi.org/10.1080/01411920701657033
Further reading
Cultural safety considerations
- Cultural Safety and Child Safe Organisations (National Office for Child Safety)
- Collaborate and Connect Toolbox (AWCH)
- Engaging with First Nations Young People (OFY)
- AERO Practice Guide – Cultural Safety
Ethics and consent procedures
- Monitoring, evaluation and learning: A guide for service providers (AIFS)
- Engaging children and young people in your organisation: A guide to participation in practice (ACYP)
- Voice of the Child Toolkit (Centre for Community Child Health, MCRI)
- Engaging children in decision making: A guide for consulting children (Ballarat, Brimbank, Maribyrnong, Melton & Wyndham City Councils, and the Department of Education (Vic))
- Citizen Me – consent forms and information sheets (NSW Government)
- Citizen Me – Report (NSW Government)
- Statement on Consumer and Community Involvement in Health and Medical Research (NHMRC)
- Ethical Considerations in Quality Assurance and Evaluation Activities (NHMRC)
- National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research (NHMRC)
- Ethical Research Involving Children (ERIC)
Listening
Listening – considerations in developing and implementing a localised tool
This section outlines the steps for developing and implementing your localised engagement and consultation tool – the stage of ‘listening’ to children in the engagement and consultation process.
Outcomes
This section (and Appendices A and B) provides you with the considerations and resources to:
1. Decide on the approach and method to use for your tool
2. Develop the content of your tool regarding the questions to ask and areas to explore with children regarding the extent and nature to which their community is child-friendly
3. Implement your tool
Resources
The following worksheet is designed to help organisations take action with their teams in prompting important discussions and allowing time and space to lay strong foundations of practice before engaging with children. This exercise can assist with internal planning and management to ensure operational factors have been considered.
Further reading
- Involving children in evaluation (AIFS)
- Engaging children and young people in your organisation: A guide to participation in practice (ACYP)
- Children’s Voices (SA Government and UniSA)
- Voice of the Child Toolkit (Centre for Community Child Health, MCRI)
- Engaging children in decision making: A guide for consulting children (Ballarat, Brimbank, Maribyrnong, Melton & Wyndham City Councils, and the Department of Education (Vic))
- Defining and Measuring Child Poverty in Australia (ANU)
Sensemaking and action
Sensemaking and Action – Synthesising and analysing information and data, and implementing feedback loops
This section highlights the concepts and frameworks underlying child-friendly communities, their role in children’s wellbeing, and the importance of engaging with children.
Outcomes
This section guides you to:
1. Gain an understanding of what a child-friendly community is, the framework underlying children’s wellbeing (the Nest), and why children’s voices are important.
2. Determine your organisation’s role in a child-friendly community.
Resources
The following worksheets are designed to help organisations take action with their teams in prompting important discussions and allowing time and space to lay strong foundations of practice before engaging with children. This exercise can assist with internal planning and management to ensure operational factors have been considered.
References
Lundy, L. (2018). In defence of tokenism? Children’s right to participate in collective decision-making. Childhood, 25(3), 340-354. https://doi.org/10.1177/0907568218777292
Further reading
The Engagement Framework is supported by the following Appendices.
Appendix A: Statement and Prompts Relevant to Section 3: Listening
This appendix provides statements and prompts (mapped to the Nest) to guide the development of the content of your engagement tool.
Appendix B: Tool Examples Relevant to Section 3: Listening
This appendix provides examples of engagement and consultation tools using the statements and prompts from the Framework, demonstrating a range of approaches.
Resources
The examples below of engagement and consultation tools demonstrate how the statements and prompts in Appendix A can be used to develop creative activities, surveys and focus group questions – using the prompts and statements on general wellbeing and the ‘Participating’ Nest domain.
References
Ballarat, Brimbank, Maribyrnong, Melton & Wyndham City Councils, and the Department of Education (Vic) (2023). Engaging Children in Decision Making: A Guide for Consulting Children. https://www.vlga.org.au/governance-leadership/cfcc/6-engaging-children-in-decision-making
Further reading
- Involving children in evaluation (AIFS)
- Voice of the Child Toolkit (Centre for Community Child Health, MCRI)
- Children’s Voices (SA Government and UniSA)
- Engaging children in decision making: A guide for consulting children (Ballarat, Brimbank, Maribyrnong, Melton & Wyndham City Councils, and the Department of Education (Vic))
- Young Voices in Decision Making | Hub na nÓg
- Me First Resource Hub
Appendix C: Resources and References
This appendix provides the resources and references used in the framework.
Child-Friendly Communities Engagement Framework V2 (Full Document) (click to download)
For more information, please contact: enquiries@aracy.org.au
Do you have a consultation or engagement tool you’d like to share?
We’d love to share the tools you have developed using the Framework on this webpage.
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