Previous National Families Weeks

National Families Week has been running since 2003. The central theme is to celebrate the vital role families play in Australian society. Annual themes highlight different aspects of family wellbeing.

2024 Theme: Celebrating Family Diversity & Connections

Celebrating family diversity involves recognising and embracing the unique circumstances, backgrounds, and dynamics that make each family special. This celebration fosters an inclusive environment, where meaningful connections within diverse families promote mutual appreciation and shared learning.

2023 Theme: Living real Dreaming big

Living real promotes some of the practical, supportive strategies and resources available, to foster resilience in individuals, in families and within communities. Dreaming big is a celebration of our successes, and firmly places resilience as a central building block of individual and community wellbeing.

2014-22 Themes: Stronger families, stronger communities

This theme highlighted the vitally important role that families play as the central building block of our communities and that community wellbeing is enhanced by greater family wellbeing.

2013 Theme: Families working together: Getting the balance right

Everyone was encouraged to think about the ways that families can work together to achieve a happy and healthy lifestyle.

2012 Theme: Families make all the difference: helping kids to grow and learn

All Australians were encouraged to think about the valuable role families play in helping children to develop, learn and grow, and reflect on the influence families have on a child’s wellbeing.

2011 Theme: Sticking together: families in good and tough times

National Families Week 2011 invited people to think about the things that make their family strong in both good and tough times, whatever their circumstances.

2010 Theme: The best start: supporting happy healthy families

The aim of National Families Week 2010 was to celebrate the vital role that families play and particularly to highlight the importance of giving every child a happy and healthy childhood.

2009 Theme: Celebrate how everyone makes a difference

National Families Week 2009 encouraged everyone to think about and celebrate the many different people within families who make families united and strong and the many different types of families across society, each deserving respect and acknowledgement.

2008 Theme: Work and Family: getting the balance right

All Australians, particularly working parents and employers, were urged to find ways to generate ideas and take actions which would improve work-family balance for themselves and others.

2007 Theme: FITT Families – Families Investing in Time Together

This theme reflected the importance of making an investment in family time and remembering that the family unit itself, as well its members, needs special tending if it is to be strong.

2006 Theme: Take time for TLC – talking, listening and connecting

The special theme in 2006 was parenting and young people aged between 12 and 18 years.

2005 Theme: Wellbeing of children

National Families Week 2005 paid special attention to the vital importance of the early childhood years between ages 0-5.

2003-2004 Themes: Celebrate Your Family!

The Week provided an opportunity to think about families, whatever shape they take, and to celebrate the role that families play in our lives and in our community.