Pool Pilot Initiative Wins Award Read More
Our work in the Hubs is a reflection of strong community advocacy and collaboration between families, services, and MRCC. Hands Up Mallee plays an enabling role in creation of environments where families feel welcome, supported and have a genuine voice and agency in how services and spaces are shaped. Our involvement in the development of the Red Cliffs Early Years Hub and the Family & Child Hub in Mildura demonstrates how community-led design can influence broader system shifts.
HUM provides structure and purpose that enables the work. Facilitation is helpful and important.
MRCC Staff Member
The leadership table helps to link me and the initial ideas of the original co-design group with the Hub and how it is going to be working… I can see this helps to keep the original ideas anchored.
Parent, Red Cliffs Early Years Hub Co-design Group
This work demonstrates Hands Up Mallee’s role as Enablers of Change
The Australian Early Years Strategy (2024–2034) outlines a national vision that “all children in Australia thrive in their early years when nurtured by empowered and connected families supported by powerful communities.” Hands Up Mallee’s locally led work in the Hubs brings this vision to life by working alongside community, government and services to create environments where families feel welcomed, connected, and supported—ensuring they have a real voice in shaping the systems and services that matter most.
Complementing this, the National Child and Family Hubs Network Strategy (2024–2029) focuses on strengthening collaboration, workforce capability, evidence and equity across hubs nationally. Hands Up Mallee contributes to this shared goal through our partnerships in Mildura and Red Cliffs as we test and refine community-led models that demonstrate how place-based innovation and learning can influence broader systems and national practice.
Through initiatives such as Cuppa Time, Red Cliffs Connected and Hub Leadership Groups, families are leading and shaping activities that strengthen belonging, connection and participation. Alongside this, learning partnerships with the Centre for Community Child Health provided research expertise to support the prioritisation of key ideas and guidance to support our work.
The creation of the Welcomer role, funded through the Local Solutions Fund (LSF) will further strengthen these spaces — ensuring every family feels seen, valued and supported. Together, these efforts show how community-designed approaches can strengthen systems, inform policy, and create more equitable outcomes for children and families.
The work through the Red Cliffs Early Years Hub and the Family & Child Hub in Mildura is driving system-level change and shifting how services, government and community collaborate to design and deliver what families need. These changes are translating into real, measurable improvements from more inclusive spaces to stronger local leadership and connected support systems.
| System Changes | Impact on Children, Young People and Families |
|---|---|
| Empowered community with agency to act | Families have genuine influence over how hubs look, feel and operate and able to lead local initiatives |
| Government, services and leaders change mindsets and practices | Families feel welcome, valued and connected to community |
| Resource changes in how they are aligned for better impact | Improved collaboration between community, services and government and shared accountability for outcomes |
| Investment in co-designed local solutions & innovations | Increase availability of welcoming, inclusive spaces that support belonging and participation |
| Changes are happening beyond our place | Increased access to safe, responsive and supportive early years environments |
| Improved access to quality early childhood education and care |
Our work in the hubs demonstrates how co-design transforms traditional consultation into a catalyst for systems change. By partnering with community, services, and government, we enable conditions where families lead in shaping solutions.
In Mildura, the Family & Child Hub Co-Design Project showed how the “hub experience” could be reimagined and embedding family leadership in ongoing operations. This work built trust and helped strengthen collaboration between services, government and services.
In Red Cliffs, this work led to the creation of the Red Cliffs Early Years Hub Pilot Project — a series of family-led trials such as Cuppa Time, Red Cliffs Connected events, and a Hub Leadership Group where families and services share decision-making power. The pilot showed how local partnerships can transform a new community facility into a space for connection, belonging, and culture.
