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54 reasons began work on Next Generation Strong – an innovative new program comprehensively co-designed in consultation with First Nations young people, Elders and communities. Funded by the Queensland Government and delivered in partnership with Ohana for Youth, this ambitious program uses culturally safe, strengths-based pathways to support young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to re-engage with education and reduce contact with justice systems.
54 reasons convened Accountable Together, a national child rights symposium co‑designed and co-facilitated with young people that brought together service providers, academics and leaders to strengthen accountability for children’s rights in policy and practice. We then took Accountable Together to government and sector partners to build momentum and commitment to action.
In alignment with our commitment to being guided by children’s voices, we consulted with more than 1,100 children and young people to inform our programming, advocacy, and ways of working. We also released Missing Pieces: Young People’s Search for Connection and Belonging, a national youth justice consultation report, and hosted a public webinar for hundreds of child rights changemakers to share young people’s insights, and advocate for rights-respecting youth justice responses.
We supported more than 3,300 people through our domestic and family violence support programming – including crisis response and refuge accommodation, prevention measures, behaviour change, early intervention, and specialist support services. Refuge outcomes reporting released in 2025 showed that 90% of carers in our refuge services make meaningful improvements in feelings of safety, confidence and connection.
Our Pacific teams directly reached 205,641 people across Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Tonga. Three major Green Climate Fund projects in the region contribute to that reach, driving dynamic climate policy and programming for better health and education outcomes for children.
Across the Pacific, parenting groups and teacher training reduced corporal punishment, strengthened positive parenting and teaching practices, and improved child-caregiver relationships. Cash grants for families of children with disabilities in Solomon Islands and Vanuatu reduced household stress, improved families’ ability to meet basic needs, and increased inclusion and access to education; in Vanuatu, caregivers able to meet all basic needs rose from 38% to 91% while household stress levels fell from 52% to 12%.
Our evidence continued to provide practical pathways for reform – a climate and nutrition study in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu highlighted the urgent need for increased public investment to help babies and young children thrive during their most critical developmental stages.
With support from the Australian government, we worked to drive down the prevalence of dengue in Lao PDR, utilising the innovative Wolbachia method developed by the World Mosquito Program at Monash University that will benefit over 1.4 million people.
Together with the Global Partnership for Education and with co-financing by DFAT’s INOVASI, the KREASI program is boosting literacy and numeracy outcomes for students in 560 schools, across eight districts in Indonesia.
And with support from the Australian government through the Australian Humanitarian Partnership, we provided essential services across education, health and child protection to 29,793 Rohingya children and their families in the world’s largest refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.
We lifted a national conversation on children’s rights. International system leader, Juliet Harris (Together Scotland) joined us for a program of events with advocates, government decision-makers and young people to galvanise support for children’s rights in Australia.
We advocated strongly for rights-respecting youth justice across Australia. Our National Youth Justice Scorecard highlighted backsliding across most States and Territories against child rights standards and called for national leadership from the Federal Government.
We also mobilised cross-party support to defend Australia's aid budget, and in 2025 it held, even as other OECD governments made cuts. MPs we'd taken to see Australia's development programs firsthand stood up for the transformative power of Australian aid.
And we continued to stand up for innocent Australian children stranded in camps in Northeast Syria, arguing fiercely to protect their rights and calling on the Australian Government to repatriate them safely home to Australia.
We gratefully acknowledge the 67,000 generous Australian individuals, corporations and foundations who contributed more than $58 million to our life-saving work in 2025.
We were proud to partner with IKEA Australia to amplify children’s voices nationwide through the Safe Space campaign. IKEA Australia also joined Act for Children as the first corporate advocate, and deepened practical support by redesigning 14 refuge spaces, helping more than 1,400 women and children escaping violence.
We extend thanks to our other key partners for their tremendous support throughout 2025: QBE Foundation; Macquarie Group Foundation, Jamukurnu-Yapalikurnu Aboriginal Corporation; Westpac; GSK Australia; Meta; Minderoo; Bvlgari; and CHARLES & KEITH.
We are deeply honoured by the supporters who left us a gift in their Will. Together their philanthropy contributed $3.4m to create brighter futures for children. To their families we extend our condolences and heartfelt thanks. The legacies of their loved ones will transform lives for years to come.
54 reasons gratefully acknowledges funding from the Australian Government through the Department of Social Services, the Department of Home Affairs and the National Indigenous Australians Agency. Our work in Queensland is also proudly funded and supported by the Queensland Government.
Some of our critical work in 2025 was supported by the following partners:
In 2025, Save the Children Australia was supported by the Australian Government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP) to implement programs in Cambodia, Indonesia, Iraq, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Tonga, Vanuatu and Vietnam; through the Australian Humanitarian Partnership (AHP) to implement programs in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Vanuatu, Vietnam; and through other Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) support for Lao PDR, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.
Save the Children Australia is a member of the Emergency Action Alliance (EAA), a collective of Australia-based aid organisations that uses its combined reach and resources to raise more money for greater impact.
Save the Children is a signatory to the ACFID Code of Conduct, a voluntary self-regulatory sector code of good practice. We are committed to fully adhering to the Code, conducting our work with transparency, accountability and integrity.
2025 ANNUAL REPORT HOMEPAGE