The latest news from Save the Children in Australia and the Pacific region
11/9/2026
Save the Children calls on Australia to join allies in banning trade with illegal Israeli settlements in West Bank
Save the Children Australia is calling on the Australian Government to join the growing list of countries banning trade with illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank,
as the number of national governments taking action climbs to 12.
18/8/2026
More than 200 experts call for action: Australian children are being failed by systems meant to protect them
National consultation reveals overwhelming support for greater government action to support child victim-survivors of violence.
11/8/2026
Children must be in the driver’s seat at Australia's first AI Royal Commission
Save the Children Australia welcomes the South Australian Government's announcement of Australia's first Royal Commission into artificial intelligence and is calling for children and young people to be embedded in its work from the very start.
4/8/2026
Leading child rights organisation voices concern over push to collect children’s DNA without court order
54 reasons statement regarding the Queensland Government considering union push to allow police to collect child suspects' DNA.
27/7/2026
Australian politicians to see aid in action focusing on health, economic and climate challenges in Timor-Leste
Parliamentarians from across the political divide to visit Timor-Leste with the Australian Regional Leadership Initiative, examining how Australian aid supports children and communities.
22/7/2026
ONE YEAR ON: Call for child-focused climate action after landmark ICJ ruling
Vanuatu youth climate campaigner Vepaiamele, 17, urges the international community to work alongside children and young people to deliver climate justice.
25/6/2026
Save the Children Australia welcomes news last Australian child and her mother set to return from Syria
Save the Children Australia welcomes news that the last remaining Australian child and her mother who were held in a northeastern Syria camp have been granted a permit by the Federal Government to return home.
18/6/2026
World Refugee Day: Almost 2 million children estimated to have returned to “unliveable conditions” in Syria in 18 months
Almost 2 million children have returned to their hometowns in Syria in the past 18 months - the largest voluntary movement of returnees globally - but many find their homes damaged, basic services collapsed and the land contaminated by explosive devices.
26/5/2026
Save the Children welcomes return of Australian children from northeastern Syria
The Australian children are set to be reunited with their extended families following a lengthy campaign for their return.
27/4/2026
VANUATU: New climate-resilient classroom opens after fundraising boost from adventurers
A climate resilient classroom built using container architecture has opened in Vanuatu - one of the most disaster-prone countries after a funding boost by two adventurers to keep children learning even when disasters strike.
8/4/2026
Save the Children deeply concerned for children and families in the Pacific as severe Tropical Cyclone Maila intensifies, the second cyclone to hit the region in days
Families and children across three separate Pacific Island nations have experienced heavy rain, destructive winds and flooding as multiple Tropical Cyclones move through the region.
1/4/2026
Investing in climate resilience: Education leaders call for increased investment for a climate-smart future
Education leaders, development partners and technical agencies have called for stronger finance investment to help Pacific schools become more accessible, stronger and safer to the impacts of climate change.
13/3/2026
Middle East conflict: Australian Government investment in humanitarian funding must be in line with defence spending
Save the Children Australia is calling for the Australian Government to pledge much needed humanitarian funding to the Middle East conflict, that matches or exceeds its defence investment.
3/3/2026
JOINT STATEMENT: Civil society coalition calls for leadership grounded in compassion, unity and respect
As Federal Parliament returns this week, we join together as a broad coalition of humanitarian, human rights, and faith-based organisations to call on all sides of politics to demonstrate responsible leadership in public discourse, and help foster calm, unity, and mutual understanding at a time of heightened tension.
23/2/2026
Save the Children Australia responds to Coalition proposal to criminalise assistance to Australian children stranded in northeastern Syria
Save the Children Australia CEO Mat Tinkler comments on today’s media reports.
10/12/2025
Save the Children: eSafety Comission must hear and act on young people’s concerns about social media ban
Save the Children Australia urges eSafety Commission to rely on feedback of under-16s to influence future of social media ban.
3/12/2025
SPITHOODS AND SHACKLES: Federal Government must act to end backsliding on child rights
Save the Children and 54 reasons release a new scorecard two years after sounding the alarm on youth justice breaches, as governments across Australia double down on punitive policies that undermine community safety.
20/11/2025
SAVE THE CHILDREN: Australia doesn't need to host COP31 to show climate leadership
Australia must use its Presidency to make COP31 a children’s COP and champion children’s voices and rights amid growing climate threats.
12/11/2025
54 reasons responds to the Victorian government’s proposed “adult time for violent crime” legislation
The Victorian government’s proposed changes to youth justice laws, including the move to treat underage offenders as adults would be ineffective and a clear violation of child rights.
16/10/2025
PACIFIC: Collision of crises deepens child nutrition challenges in PNG, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu
A new study released by Save the Children has found the compounding effects of climate change and malnutrition are affecting an alarming number of Pacific children.
22/09/2025
World leaders urged to join forces in a new UN declaration to protect aid workers in deadliest year yet
Save the Children is urging UN Member States to endorse a new Australia-led Declaration on the Protection of Humanitarian Personnel.
18/09/2025
Child rights organisations call for ambitious 2035 climate targets to save lives of future generations
With 300,000 Australian children set to be displaced by rising sea levels by 2050, climate targets must put young people first.
16/09/2025
Climate Smart Education Systems Initiative set to strengthen safety and resilience in Pacific schools
A new initiative strengthening climate resilience in education has been launched in the Pacific.
15/09/2025
Australian politicians to see aid in action amid health challenges and economic and climate pressures in Laos
Australian Regional Leadership Initiative delegation travels to the Southeast Asian nation to witness overseas development assistance supporting children and their communities respond to health and climate challenges.
19/08/2025
54 reasons responds to South Australia’s Royal Commission into Family and Domestic Violence Report
54 reasons, which delivers Save the Children’s programs in Australia, today welcomes the final report from South Australia’s Royal Commission into Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence.
11/08/2025
New data reveals more than 4 in 5 Australians are emotionally invested in children affected by global conflict
Leading child rights charity, Save the Children releases new data and powerful short film shining a spotlight on child suffering across the world’s many conflict zones.
31/07/2025
Save the Children Australia welcomes award-winning journalist
Journalist and author Ellen Whinnett has joined Save the Children Australia’s team to lead its Australian Regional Leadership Initiative (ARLI) delegations program.
24/07/2025
ICJ: World’s highest court finding is landmark win for children
Save the Children welcomes International Court of Justice’s Advisory Opinion that States have further obligations to address climate change under international law.
04/07/2025
First of its kind climate resilience and education initiative for millions of children
A new global initiative will provide financing to support education systems in vulnerable countries to build climate-resilient schools, integrate climate change education into curricula and provide early warnings to schools in the face of climate-related emergencies.
08/05/2025
Climate change: A third of 5-year-olds will be spared unprecedented lifetime exposure to dangerous heat if world meets 1.5°C temperature goal
Almost a third of today’s five-year-olds – about 38 million children – will be spared a lifetime’s “unprecedented” exposure to extreme heat if the world meets the 1.5°C warming target by 2100, Save the Children said.
24/04/2025
Vanuatu: Families find climate-smart ways to grow crops 18 months on from cyclone devastation
Families in Vanuatu are adopting climate-smart agricultural techniques such as growing climate resistant seeds to prepare for future climate-driven disasters in the wake of devastating Tropical Cyclone Lola 18 months ago.
23/04/2025
AID CUTS THREATEN THE LIVES OF 110,000 CHILDREN WITH SEVERE MALNUTRITION RELIANT ON EMERGENCY TREATMENT FROM SAVE THE CHILDREN
At least 110,000
* severely acutely malnourished children supported by Save the Children in 10 countries could be left without access to life-saving ready-to-use emergency food and nutrition programmes as aid cuts hit supplies in coming months, according to a Save the Children analysis.
09/04/2025
Adventurers to take on 4,000km journey across Aotearoa to support Pacific nation climate resilient classrooms
Australian adventurer, environmental advocate and longstanding Save the Children Ambassador Huw Kingston has teamed up with former Kiwi representative cyclist Laurence Mote to ski, cycle, hike and sail 4,000km across Aotearoa New Zealand, to raise crucial funds for Vanuatu’s first climate resilient classrooms.
28/02/2025
“We cannot let children die on our watch” – Statement from Save the Children Australia CEO Mat Tinkler on global aid cuts
Australia’s foreign aid budget must be maintained in the face of this deeply concerning trend says Save the Children Australia.
17/01/2025
VANUATU: 12,610 children face disrupted start to school year one month on from devastating earthquakes
At least 12,500 children in Vanuatu may be forced to start the new school year in temporary learning centres following last month's devastating earthquakes that destroyed or damaged at least 100 classrooms across the country.