National Patron and Ambassadors Messages

Children’s Week is one of the most uplifting observances of the year – a week in which we celebrate children.

As I write, Linda and I have recently returned from a series of official engagements in the South Pacific. One of the many highlights of our visit was the number of children who, of their own free will, came up to us for a hug, a play or a dance, or sometimes all three! Linda and I loved every moment.

I mention those interactions because they serve to highlight an important element of a child’s development: their right to play. This year’s theme of Children’s Week, taken from Article 31 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, brings that element and others into focus.

The theme recognises the right of every child to rest, leisure, play, recreational activities, and free and full participation in cultural and artistic life.

The Children’s Week Council of Australia has organised a range of activities across the country that focus on the early years and on children’s play and leisure. I thank the Council for its advocacy on behalf of children and families and encourage those entrusted with the care of a child to visit the Council’s website and participate in the week’s celebrations.

Whether as parents, grandparents, non-biological parents, guardians, kinship or foster carers, it is incumbent on all of us to create an environment that enables our children to learn, develop and grow.