ADVOCACY FOR CHILDREN.
SYSTEMIC CHANGE.
Change for Youth Foundation advocates for systemic change to improve the safety, wellbeing and life outcomes of children and young people across Australia.
We believe every child has the right to be safe from violence, protected from harm and supported by systems that put their rights, safety and wellbeing first.
Too often, children and families are required to navigate systems that are fragmented, complex and not designed around their needs. Laws, policies and practices that fail to adequately protect children can have lifelong consequences.
We believe change is necessary – and we are prepared to advocate for it.
OUR ADVOCACY
Our advocacy is not limited to any single issue.
We respond to emerging issues, systemic failures and opportunities for reform that have a significant impact on the safety, protection, rights and wellbeing of children and young people.
Our work can include advocacy for legislative, policy, practice and systemic reform, as well as raising public awareness and contributing to informed national debate.
Our current advocacy includes, but is not limited to:
CORPORAL PUNISHMENT LAW REFORM
CHILD AND FAMILY ADVOCACY CENTRES
These are two areas in which we are currently pursuing meaningful systemic change. They form part of a broader advocacy agenda that will continue to evolve as issues affecting children and young people emerge and as opportunities for reform arise.
Our advocacy is driven by evidence, experience and a strong belief that children deserve better from the systems created to protect them.
THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE ADVOCACY
Change for Youth Foundation brings together experienced advocates and leaders with deep expertise across child protection, law, governance, social services and systemic reform.
Our Board brings together decades of experience working to improve outcomes for children, young people and families – from frontline advocacy and legal practice to leading major child and family organisations and influencing government and policy.
HETTY JOHNSON AM GAICD
Director | Child Protection Advocate | Founder of Bravehearts
Hetty Johnson is one of Australia’s most recognised and longstanding child protection advocates.
In 1997, Hetty founded Bravehearts, which became one of Australia’s leading organisations dedicated to preventing and responding to child sexual abuse. Over more than two decades, she built a powerful national voice for children and drove public and policy attention to child sexual abuse and child protection.
Hetty has continued to advocate for systemic reform and remains a highly regarded child protection specialist, safeguarding governance consultant and advocate.
For almost a decade, Hetty has specifically advocated for the introduction and expansion of Child and Family Advocacy Centres in Australia, driven by the belief that children and families should not be forced to navigate fragmented systems or repeatedly recount their experiences of abuse.
At Change for Youth Foundation, Hetty leads our advocacy for Child and Family Advocacy Centres and contributes her extensive child protection and safeguarding expertise to our broader advocacy agenda.
LISA HONEYCHURCH
Founder | Director | Lawyer | Child Advocate
Lisa Honeychurch founded Change for Youth Foundation in 2016 after seeing firsthand the profound impact that fragmented systems can have on vulnerable children.
A qualified lawyer who practised for more than 20 years, Lisa brings extensive legal, advocacy and governance experience to the Foundation. She also holds qualifications in psychology and has undertaken and collaborated with experts to develop training in trauma and the impact of trauma on the cognitive, social and emotional functioning of children and young people both short and long term.
Lisa has a particular interest in children’s rights, child protection and the legal and systemic frameworks that affect vulnerable children and families.
She established Change for Youth Foundation to support children who had experienced abuse, neglect and trauma and led the development of programs designed around their educational, emotional and relational needs.
Today, Lisa continues to advocate for stronger legal and systemic protections for children, including through the Foundation’s work on corporal punishment law reform as a member of the Ending Physical Punishment against Children National Commitee.
As Founder and Director, Lisa contributes her legal, advocacy and child protection experience to the Foundation’s strategic direction and broader advocacy agenda.
CORPORAL PUNISHMENT LAW REFORM
Children should be protected from violence. That protection should not depend on whether the violence occurs at home or elsewhere.
Change for Youth Foundation advocates for legal and policy reform to ensure children are better protected from physical punishment and violence and to promote positive, evidence-based approaches to raising and supporting children.
It remains lawful in most Australian states and territories, including Queensland, for parents and carers to use physical force to discipline a child where that force is considered “reasonable”
Change for Youth Foundation advocates for legal and policy reform to ensure children are better protected from physical punishment and violence and to promote positive, evidence-based approaches to raising and supporting children.
It remains lawful in most Australian states and territories, including Queensland, for parents and carers to use physical force to discipline a child where that force is considered “reasonable”.
We believe this legal distinction must change.
Our advocacy focuses on:
- Advocating for legal reform to remove inadequate protections for children;
- Raising public awareness of the evidence concerning the harms associated with corporal punishment, including findings from the Australian Child Maltreatment Study 2023;
- Promoting evidence-based approaches to parenting and discipline;
- Challenging the social and legal acceptance of physical punishment;
- Supporting informed public and policy debate; and
- Working collaboratively with organisations and advocates committed to ending physical punishment of children in Australia.
Our Founder, Lisa Honeychurch, is a member of the End Physical Punishment of Australian Children (EPPAC) advocacy group. Change for Youth Foundation also supports the work of the Parent and Family Research Alliance to end physical punishment of Australian children.
CHILD AND FAMILY ADVOCACY CENTRES
When a child discloses abuse, the system should protect them — not make them relive their trauma.
Change for Youth Foundation advocates for the development and expansion of Child and Family Advocacy Centres to provide a coordinated, child-centred and trauma-informed response to children and families affected by sexual abuse and other forms of abuse and neglect.
For too many children and families, seeking help means navigating multiple disconnected agencies, repeating their experiences to different professionals and attempting to understand complex systems while already experiencing significant distress.
This is not good enough.
A child’s experience of abuse should not be compounded by a fragmented response from the systems designed to protect them.
Child and Family Advocacy Centres bring relevant services together around the child and family, including:
- Child protection;
- Police;
- Health and medical services;
- Therapeutic services;
- Legal services; and
- Family and community support services.
Our advocacy is focused on ensuring that responses to child abuse:
- Put children and families at the centre;
- Reduce the additional trauma caused by fragmented systems;
- Improve collaboration and information sharing between agencies;
- Strengthen responses to abuse and neglect;
- Support timely access to therapeutic, medical, legal and family services; and
- Ensure children are heard, believed, protected and supported.
This work is led by Hetty Johnson, whose longstanding national advocacy for Child and Family Advocacy Centres has been instrumental in advancing their development and recognition.
A BROADER ADVOCACY AGENDA
Our advocacy will continue to evolve.
The issues affecting children and young people are complex and constantly changing. We do not intend to limit our advocacy to the issues outlined on this page.
Where we identify systemic barriers, inadequate protections, harmful practices or opportunities for meaningful reform, we will consider whether Change for Youth Foundation can make a constructive contribution.
This may include advocacy relating to:
• Child protection and safeguarding;
• Children’s rights;
• Legislative and regulatory reform;
• Government policy and practice;
• The treatment of children within justice and protection systems;
• Trauma-informed practice;
• The prevention of child abuse and neglect;
• The experiences and rights of children in out-of-home care; and
• Other emerging issues affecting the safety, wellbeing and life outcomes of children and young people.
Our position is simple: if children are not adequately protected, their voices are not being heard, or systems are failing them, there is a case for change.
We will continue to use evidence, expertise and advocacy to help drive that change.
recent submissions
Queensland Child Safety Commission of Inquiry
The Queensland Child Safety Commission of Inquiry was an independent inquiry established by the Queensland Government in May 2025 to examine systemic problems in the state’s child protections system and recommend reforms to improve outcomes for children, young people, carers and families. It was led by Paul Anastassiou KC. Change for Youth Foundation was proud to provide submissions to the Inquiry on issues relating to key areas of advocacy around early intervention and education support.
Read the Full Submission >
Child Protection Litigation Review 2024
Change for Youth Foundation advocated for reforms to the child protection litigation process in Queensland, calling for greater accountability, independent legal representation for children, and enhanced early family-finding practices.
SUPPORT SYSTEMIC CHANGE
If you share our commitment to creating a safer future for children and young people, we would like to hear from you.
Whether you are an individual, organisation, professional, researcher, policymaker, community leader or potential supporter, there is a role for you in helping create meaningful and lasting change.
Contact us:
info@changeforyouthfoundation.org.au
