Right now 15,000 children are urgently waiting for sponsors.

Our Programs
- Literacy programs
  Providing resources and support to help children living with disadvantage achieve the required reading standard.
- Technology programs
  Providing children and young people living with disadvantage with the critical skills, access, and equipment they need.
- Numeracy programs
  We support early years educators and community professionals in building foundational math skills in children under their care.
- Learning for Life
  Providing holistic, long-term support for disadvantaged young Australians throughout their education.
- Mentoring programs
  Mentoring programs for students living with disadvantage that provide the encouragement they need to build aspirations for their future.
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander programs
  Our work engages Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in learning through education, life skills and role models, promoting culturally responsive practice.
Our learning support and mentoring programs in 90 Australian communities directly help children in need achieve their goals through education.
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  Learn about VIEW, a leading women’s volunteer organisation and support network with over 16,000 members, across Australia.
Ways to Give
- Sponsor a child
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  Through your philanthropy, you can ensure that young Australians impacted by poverty get the education that all children deserve.
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  Your donation will help young Australians in need by providing access to our Learning for Life education support programs.
- Workplace giving
  Making small, regular donations to The Smith Family through Workplace Giving is an easy way to help change the lives of young Australians living in poverty.
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Our actions stop poor children becoming poor adults

Media releases

17 October 2016

In Australia today, one in 10 children is growing up in a jobless family. Too often the family struggles that affect a child’s home life can flow on to affect their school life, too.

Sadly, these children are more likely to experience economic and social hardship when they are adults and it’s these children we want to catch, to help them break this self-perpetuating cycle.

Children from disadvantaged families need our support to make the most out of their school years. They need resources and opportunities to help them participate fully in their education. When they arrive at school in their first year, they want to fit in and belong. It’s important that they have school essentials such as a new uniform, shoes, and money for excursions. To keep up with what’s going on in the classroom, they need support to develop key skills, particularly in reading and maths.

To break the cycle of disadvantage The Smith Family focuses on providing long-term educational support for young Australians in need.

Our approach is to work with students, their families and in their communities at every stage of a disadvantaged student’s journey through education. Our targeted Learning for Life program helps children and young people to participate fully in their education and it mitigates against the negative impacts of growing up in financial hardship.

We work in every state and territory with students and families who are highly disadvantaged.

Our programs and support are tailored to overcome the specific barriers to education these students and families face. We start in the early years before children start school, with programs for parents and community professionals that nurture learning and development in young children. We also foster strong relationships with parents and carers so they have the knowledge, skills and confidence to positively influence their child’s education and promote a stronger learning environment in the home.

We know that education is a key enabler of economic and social participation for young people from all backgrounds. Research shows that completing Year 12 or its equivalent, increases the likelihood that a young person will move into further study or employment and go on to participate fully in their community with improved employment, health and overall life outcomes.

Our balanced, long-term support from an early age, helps disadvantaged students achieve the three longer-term outcomes we track– strong school attendance, completion of Year 12 or its equivalent, and post-school engagement in employment, education or training.

Our approach gives young people in need the support they require to overcome their disadvantage and become productive and thriving citizens. Our long-term investment in them is making a lasting difference.

Indeed it is truly transformational – and in this video you can see the difference this kind of support has made to one of our students, Aaron, as he talks about the effect it has had on his life.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0iBmzRHkcM

Dr Lisa O’Brien

Media contacts:

Andrew Dickson | National Media Manager (National) - 0421 285 529 | andrew.dickson@thesmithfamily.com.au
Carla Horton | Senior Media Advisor (QLD & WA) - 0423 618 776 | carla.horton@thesmithfamily.com.au
Reid Jermyn | Media Advisor (VIC, SA & NT) - 0412 803 566 | reid.jermyn@thesmithfamily.com.au
Ben Chenoweth | Senior Media Advisor (NSW, ACT & TAS) - 0413 346 934 | ben.chenoweth@thesmithfamily.com.au

The Smith Family is a national children’s education charity that helps young Australians experiencing disadvantage to create better futures for themselves through harnessing the power of education. We partner with around 800 Australian schools and work with over 162,000 children and young people experiencing disadvantage access our education support programs to help them overcome . For more information, visit thesmithfamily.com.au