In response to concerns about the growing vulnerability of country children, RFW commissioned a review of the state of children’s developmental health in rural and remote Australia from the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute’s Centre for Community Child Health.

“The Invisible Children” report launched in September 2017 revealed the vulnerability gap between urban and rural children is growing. Children living in remote areas are twice as likely to be developmentally vulnerable. The report shines a light on the complexity and challenges facing country children and families, the gaps in and fragmentation of services, the growing disparities between children in urban and rural and remote areas, and the critical role that the social determinants of health play in this picture.

The report also highlights a way forward to give children the support they need to develop well and reach their full potential. Lindsay Cane, Royal Far West CEO, interviewed by the ABC on The Invisible Children launch day by .

 Prime7 reporter Sarina Nastasi discussed the findings of The Invisible Children research with Lindsay Cane and Dr Tim Moore, report co-author and Senior Research Fellow of Murdoch Children’s Research Institute to ask “are country kids being left behind?”

Continuing our proud tradition of advocating for country children and families, we are now engaging with a number of communities in regional NSW to discuss the findings and use the recommendations of the report to achieve a step change for rural and remote children and Australian society as a whole.

“The Invisible Children” discussion paper by Royal Far West, and the full CCCH report are available here.

At the launch: Left: Leslie Williams MP, Mrs Hurley His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Ret’d), Lindsay Cane and Governor Hurley. Right: Governor Hurley launching the report.