Tips for Starting School

This video is about building relationships, understanding expectations and providing support, especially around settling in, language, lunches, play and parent engagement.

Schools and community organisations are proactive in engaging bicultural workers to support families with enrollment, home visits, and general integration.
Key support for families includes helping parents understand school routines, lunch expectations and learning through play.
The programs focus on strengthening relationships between teachers, children, and families to ensure successful settlement and positive educational experiences.
Special school readiness initiatives are in place to help children and families adapt, with emphasis on language development and increased parental involvement.
Community centres and schools work together to ensure every child’s start in school is a positive transition despite the added complexities of arriving in a new country.

Previous Reports

Hub Census 2025 – Key findings

The Hub Census 2025 highlights the significant role community hubs play in building belonging, strengthening early learning, and supporting pathways to participation and employment.

2025 in Review

This report highlights key outcomes, participation and impact from across the national community hubs network in 2025, reflecting progress at a national level and the ongoing support hubs provide to families through schools and local communities.

Mid-Year Update 2025

At the six-month mark of 2025, we look back on some of the stories of impact from our hubs network. The first half of 2025 has brought encouraging momentum – from sustaining a strong national footprint of 98 hubs to continuing the vital support hubs provide to families throughout the school year.

Independent evaluation: Deloitte Access Economics

The National Community Hubs Program (NCHP) was established in 2013 to engage newly arrived communities at risk of limited access to education, health and social services, and opportunities for economic independence.

Scanlon Foundation Research Institute Narrative 10 – Community in the Classroom

The purpose of this, our 10th Narrative, is to highlight the success of the work of Community Hubs Australia in primary schools and to consider whether the premise behind them could be applied in a secondary school context.

Knowledge Translation to Support Early Learning of Refugee Children and their Families

The research presented in this report is based on a three-year study that focussed on developing understandings and resources to support current and future community hubs and centres with the settlement and early learning of refugee children and their families.