Raising Children Network: the Australian parenting website

Our approach

Children are as individual and as different as their parents. Making decisions about what’s best for raising children is intensely personal. There are some useful universal principles for everyone, but the ‘right’ solution frequently changes from situation to situation.

We see our role as providing information that can help parents with the day-to-day decisions of raising children, and looking after their own needs. We believe that positive outcomes for children across a range of areas can be achieved when parents have access to information based on the best science in parenting and child health and development. We find and translate this science into everyday language so it can be used by parents.

We believe that parent engagement is enhanced when we explain the logic and science behind the information. We collaborate with top experts in Australia and internationally. And we implement a rigorous quality control process to ensure the information we present is valid and reliable.

We believe that parents are best placed to decide what is right for their children and family based on their own values, circumstances and lifestyle. We believe that parents can handle the truth. Where there is complexity, uncertainty or controversy, we will share that with parents. Where the science is unclear, or where there is evidence for more than one approach to an issue, we will provide information about the different options and their risks and benefits. We will not tell parents what to do, yet we will offer detailed information on how to implement a particular chosen strategy.
 
We cater for everybody from casual browsers to those with an urgent problem to solve. By employing effective communication tools and behaviour change science, we try to make it easier for parents and others raising children to understand, remember and use beneficial information and ideas. We know that learning and health outcomes are much better and faster if the individual is involved in the process (either by driving it with assistance from a professional, or by understanding the ‘whys’ behind the information or treatment). An informed population is a healthier population.
 
We also believe in supporting the professionals and organisations throughout the community who have contact with families and children. Not only those professionals and agencies who have a clear mandate to support families, but also those who are well placed in the community to make the lives of parents and children easier and more enjoyable – people such as employers, business, and community groups. People from a variety of professions will be able to use our resources.  

Who this website is for

This is a website for Australian mothers, fathers, grandparents and anyone else who has responsibility for the care of children. We aim to meet the information needs of a wide range of users, from the just curious, to those looking for assistance with particular problems or issues, or those wanting to explore the science behind modern thinking on the care of children.
 
In addition to information support for parents, we aim to be a source of personal support by helping to connect people through our discussion forums. The groundbreaking My Neighbourhood feature on this site provides a way that users can connect with others in their own locations.
 
This is also a website for the wide range of professionals and agencies who work with parents on the front line every day – general practitioners, maternal and child health nurses, child care workers, preschool teachers, school teachers, social workers, psychologists and so on. Professionals can refer parents to the site, or download and distribute information from the site to the parents they are working with.
 
Finally, we believe that businesses and community organisations can be an important part of the fabric of parent support in our community. We will build an information base that will assist employers, sports clubs, and churches to understand the needs of parents and to support organisations in their aspirations to become more family-friendly.  

Where our content comes from

We write and produce our own content and we source content from others. We prefer to use or adapt existing high quality content produced by a third party. Then we fill gaps with new content that is innovative in scope, style and design. We believe online users feel safe and supported when content has a consistent look and feel, and is consistent with our overall philosophy on tone and style.
 
We have established close-working relationships with a number of highly respected content partners. As our site develops, we will continue to welcome opportunities to work in partnership with expert individuals and organisations in bringing high quality, science-based parenting information to the community.
 
Unsolicited third party content may be considered when it’s consistent with the aims of the site, fits within the information framework and passes our quality assessment processes.

Writing style

Our writing embodies the philosophy of giving parents information to make their own decisions. We provide information and tools for parents – not rules about what to do and what not to do.

We have set ourselves a high bar for our content. We want to present content that is:

  • realistic: with an emphasis on providing simple and practical parenting tips 
  • respectful: supports parents to make their own decisions (we will not tell parents what to value or what to do) 
  • accepting: acknowledges and validates the diverse views held by parents, and recognised that parents endeavour to do their best, sometimes under difficult circumstances
  • positive: conveys optimism and a belief that parents can bring about positive change in their lives and the lives of their children
  • collaborative: begins with our readers in mind and actively seeks to use their feedback. 

On the technical side, research has shown that people read differently on the web – most scan pages rather than read word for word (Morkes & Nielsen, 1997). Because of this, we aim to build text that is concise, scannable and objective, and to exploit the linking and interactive capacities of internet-based material. 

Consumer input

We will use a comprehensive marketing research project to test topics, relevance, style, tone and format of content. In addition, a rolling program of consumer consultation and testing will be used to ensure relevance, clarity and appropriateness of selected content.

Fathers

Traditionally, parenting information and support has not been father-friendly or inclusive. Yet research has shown that father involvement in parenting has substantial benefits for children, women and families generally. We will promote father engagement, and we will endeavor to develop information and approaches that attract fathers to our website and meet their specific information needs.

Finding information quickly

Modern parents are under time pressure. We cater for the needs of parents who are restrained by time by implementing the following helpful tools: simple and user-friendly navigation, powerful search tools, information that highlights the most important messages and support tools such as an instant glossary for technical terms and frequently used key concepts.

Addressing the needs of users with low literacy

We acknowledge that many in our community are affected by limited literacy skills. So we have developed a wide range of material on this site catering for the full range of literacy skills.
 
We aim to ensure that core parenting and child health information is presented in plain English. We have implemented technical and design solutions such as keeping information succinct, building a simple and intuitive navigation system, and prioritising information on the page. We have also developed graphic rich information resources for those who prefer not to read.

Accommodating cultural diversity

Australia is a culturally diverse country. We speak over 200 languages, including over 45 Indigenous languages, in this country. Fifteen percent of the population speak a language other than English.
 
In recognition of this, we are implementing reasonable and cost-effective strategies that will increase access and acceptability of the content to the broadest audience possible.
 
Our approach to Cultural and Linguistic Diversity (CALD) is to:

  • recognise the role of culture in parenting practices, and at the same time reinforce the universality of much of the parenting experience (regardless of cultural origin, we share the experience of raising humans) 
  • acknowledge the cultural relativity of all parenting information, including the information provided on this website 
  • support the right of parents to accept or reject the information based on their values and beliefs (e.g. offering choices, avoiding prescription) 
  • write for the broadest possible audience and avoid unintentional cultural barriers in our language where possible 
  • use ethnically diverse images and parent stories that reflect the cultural diversity of all Australian families 
  • support a range of media on the site (e.g. graphic rich media) 
  • support practitioners in working with CALD families 
  • illustrate content with stories from parents from a wide range of cultural backgrounds 
  • publish some basic health information in different languages 
  • provide links to existing high-quality translated information on government websites 
  • translate English-language content in Parenting in Pictures 
  • develop and provide information for parenting practitioners about working cross-culturally.

Controversy

We acknowledge that many parenting and child health and development issues can be controversial. There are a wide range of views on what is and what isn’t appropriate parenting in the community, and often there is disagreement even among researchers and practitioners.
 
Our management of controversial issues will be guided by two key principles: the strength of the scientific evidence and the need for balance.
 
Our approach to potentially controversial issues is to:

  1. Acknowledge the controversy.
  2. If there are scientifically valid arguments on both sides of a controversy, we will present both sides of the argument and allow the reader to make their own decision.

Our Scientific Advisory Board will help us clarify the science on a specific issue (i.e. advise us on what is and what is not known), alert us to recent or seminal research that should be taken into account, propose options to be presented, and advise on the strength or weight to be given to any specific recommendations or advice.