When we were invited to Melbourne to share the Best Practice Charter to Support Parents in Leaving Care, we never imagined we’d actually be able to go, let alone receive such a warm welcome once we arrived.

Thanks to successful funding from Cardiff University’s H-IAA Follow-on Fund*, our trip became a reality. We were invited and wonderfully hosted by contacts from the Victorian Government, whom we had met a couple of years ago during their visit to the UK.

We shared our work with several departments within the Victorian Government, presenting both our Charter and the Welsh Basic Income Pilot for Care Leavers. We also met with the Brotherhood of St. Laurence, who support the Better Futures Victorian leaving care program, and presented at their Community of Practice event. We were particularly interested in their‘Advantage Thinking’ approach.

Next on our itinerary was a visit to the CREATE Foundation, where we learned how they involve and advocate for the voices of care-experienced young people. A highlight was attending their Young Expert Advisory Group, where care-experienced young people discussed our Charter and offered valuable insights from their perspective.

We were also invited to meet with the Lighthouse Foundation to learn about their therapeutic work in mother-and-baby houses. We had the opportunity to visit one of their homes, meet a young mother, and hear about their model of support. While in Melbourne, we also reached out to the Brave Foundation to learn about their coaching model for supporting young parents.

Louise was also invited to speak at an event organised by the Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare, titled ‘Lessons from the UK and Ireland: Pathways Beyond Care’. The event featured contributions from Emeritus Professor Robbie Gilligan (Trinity College Dublin) and Mark Riddell MBE (National Advisor for Care Leavers, Department for Education), and focused on international perspectives on leaving care. Louise spoke about the importance of supporting young people in and leaving state care who are parents.

Our trip concluded with the Home Stretch Symposium, where Louise delivered a keynote presentation on the Charter work in the UK. The event brought together 300 delegates from across Australian territories, including care-experienced young people, all working in various aspects of leaving care. We had rich conversations with professionals from across Australia, exploring how our work might translate to their contexts.

Aside from the engaging discussions and excellent hosting by care-experienced young people Jaz and Dylan, I was also impressed by Melbourne’s commitment to good coffee, with two barista trolleys at the conference keeping everyone well-caffeinated!

It was an exciting and inspiring trip, where we not only shared our work but also learned a great deal about leaving care practices across Australia. We even managed to squeeze in an Aussie footy game and a visit to an animal sanctuary to see kangaroos and koalas!

Following the trip, Louise was also invited to meet with Nat Cook MP for South Australia during her visit to the UK. Nat was keen to hear more about the Welsh Basic Income Pilot for Care Leavers and our work with care-experienced parents.

Our conversations won’t stop here, we’re committed to continuing to promote the voices of care-experienced parents and the Charter for change.

–Written by Rachael Vaughan

*We are incredibly grateful to have received support from Cardiff University’s ESRC IAA Follow-on Fund, part of the Harmonised Impact Acceleration Accounts (H-IAAs). This funding stream is designed to help projects that have previously received IAA support continue their journey along the impact pipeline. Thanks to this final round of funding, we were able to take our work international—sharing the Charter and learning from global best practices in Melbourne.