Our Strategic Plan 2021 – 2027 is the overarching planning document that sets our vision and priorities for the next seven years.

It is a ‘roadmap’ that charts the direction and essential components for the achievement of the Centre’s major outcomes. The plan communicates, internally and externally, the critical components that will determine the success of the Centre.

The Centre engaged Mark Douglas of Ethos Consulting to facilitate the Strategic Plan’s development. Mark is an organisational psychologist with expertise in organisational behaviour and decision making within groups. A skilful and experienced facilitator, Mark has worked with universities and research centres around Australia to deliver large and complex strategic planning documents.

Mark’s approach to developing the Centre’s Strategic Plan was deeply collaborative and consultative. It began with a session on day one of the Chief Investigators’ Retreat held in March – our first major planning event – where Mark facilitated blue sky thinking on the Centre’s vision and objectives. Over the following months, Mark met one-on-one with investigators and partners to delve deeper into the Centre’s complex needs and goals as a transdisciplinary and cross-nodal research organisation. A Working Group was formed to oversee the development of the plan and to ensure it was relevant to the diverse stakeholders of the Centre.

These meetings culminated in a one-day Centre-wide major strategic planning workshop in July. Attended online by more than 70 Centre members, we discussed and reflected on the Centre’s milestones, actions and key outcomes. Discussions also led to the identification of three key areas of focus for the Centre to build capacity, capability and impact: equity and diversity; mentoring and training; and communications and engagement. Centre Portfolios in these areas, comprising members across all nodes, are being established to collaboratively develop and deliver plans and activities with Centre members and stakeholders.

Thanks to the contributions from all our members and expert leadership from Mark, we proudly set forward to undertake research with a shared vision, purpose, activities and goals to achieve outcomes that will support positive digital childhoods for all Australian children.

Read our Strategic Plan 2021 – 2027

“A truly unique aspect of this plan are the seven values that are the foundation of why researchers work at the Centre and how they work at the Centre. For example, first and foremost they are ‘Children’s champions’ protecting the rights of children; they are also ‘Trusted informers’ ensuring they add value to the ability to communicate the complexity of their research elegantly and effectively to the public and other stakeholders. They are also ‘Collaborative connectors’ building unique partnerships across disciplines, government and industry to translate our research. In addition, they are ‘Stakeholder drivers’, ‘Wayfinders’, ‘Evidence leaders’, and ‘Culture upholders’. In total, these seven statements capture the spirit of the Centre. The full collection of these values was distilled from the many spirited interviews and discussions I had with members about what was fundamental to the work of the Centre.”
Mark Douglas, Ethos Consulting