The Child and Family eHub

Published

Tuesday, March 31, 2026 - 12:00 PM

The Child and Family eHub is a welcoming virtual Hub to complement physical Hubs – and has recently published two new academic papers. The Network is working to enhance and scale the eHub to benefit more children and families. 

Figure 1. The Child and Family eHub 

What is the Child and Family eHub?

The Child and Family eHub Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is a digital platform developed through collaboration between families, service providers, and researchers. Its purpose is to make it easier for families to access trusted health, mental health, and social services and resources when they need them.

The eHub is part of the National Child and Family Hubs Network and offers a welcoming virtual 'front door' to complement the 470 physical hubs in the Network.

Developed and piloted across three diverse sites in New South Wales and Victoria, the eHub MVP has undergone user-centred design, testing, and evaluation.

The eHub is integrated with trusted partners, such as the Raising Children Network and Infoxchange, ensuring reliability and comprehensiveness. The eHub features a tiered support model to cater to various needs including self-navigation for straightforward queries, digital navigation assistance via a chatbot, with human navigator assistance available for complex cases.

Figure 2. The Child and Family eHub tiered support model 

Publications

The following two papers related to the eHub have been recently published:

1. A novel digital platform to support child and family mental health in Australia (Child and Family eHub): Protocol for a Mixed Methods Evaluation (2025). This protocol is published in JMIR Res. It aims to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, appropriateness, and impact of the eHub digital platform for caregivers of children aged 0-12 years. View the paper

2. How do families experiencing adversity seek information and services to support their child's mental health? A qualitative study (2026). This paper is published in Health Prom J Aust. It found that while caregivers access information and services online, they often face challenges with navigating digital resources. It highlights the need for a practical and simple online solution. View the abstract

Where to next?

The Child and Family eHub is showing preliminary evidence that virtual Hubs can be a helpful complementary Hub to physical Hubs. They can help families to easily find and access evidence-based information, and support groups, and can link families to physical Hubs when needed. 

The next step for the eHub is to develop a business case to fund the next iteration of the eHub – incorporating findings and learnings – to help scale the eHub to benefit more children and families. 

To find out more about the eHub please contact [email protected].