National Families Week – Stronger Families, Stronger Communities

National Families Week, Australia’s annual celebration of the importance of families, is timed to coincide with the UN International Day of Families (15 May). In 2020, the 18th National Families Week will be held between 15 and 21 May 2020. 

The enduring theme is ‘Stronger Families, Stronger Communities ‘, with the aim of National Families Week 2020 being to celebrate the vital role that families play in community wellbeing. The enduring theme highlights the important role that families play as the central building block of our communities, and that community wellbeing is enhanced by family wellbeing. 

National Families Week is a time to celebrate the meaning of family and to make the most of family life, reflecting on the critical role that families play in teaching, supporting and nurturing children, especially as they grow.

Each year, tens of thousands of people and hundreds of organisations celebrate National Families Week. Typically more than 130,000 people participate in events across Australia, celebrating families with events and activities like morning teas, barbeques, sausage sizzles, playgroup visits, family picnics, artwork displays, family information days, drawing competitions, dances, art displays, photo competitions, seminars and workshops, breakfast gatherings, story-telling events, services displays, and movie nights. 

Organisations and services wishing to get involved in National Families week can register their event with Families Australia by telephone (02 6273 4885) or email. National Families Week is funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services.

Families Australia is able to provide free promotional products such as posters, coloured pencils, stickers, notepads and painting sheets, to assist in celebrating events. Promotional products in 2020 will be posters, coloured pencils, stickers, notepads and painting sheets. Other resources such as  the logo, activity and colouring-in sheets and a pro-forma media release are available here.

For more information, please visit the National Families Week website, here.