paul mallett advocates for a city for kids. A vibrant city sees its children. It invests before crisis. It gives every kid, not just the fortunate ones, a genuine fair start, and puts children first in every practical way.

His policy book, Every Child Succeeds (see paul’s book) was built on a simple idea: help early, help nearby, and help in ways that fit real family life. Instead of waiting for problems to escalate, Launceston can invest in the foundations of child development from pregnancy through to young adulthood.

To do that, paul mallett is calling for a City Deal for Kids. Launceston already knows what a City Deal looks like. Locals can walk through it: the revitalised City Heart, the University of Tasmania campus on the CBD fringe. These were not accidents. They were the product of all three tiers of government choosing to work together around a shared vision and committing to deliver.

That same ambition, that same partnership, that same discipline now needs to be applied to the children and young people of Launceston and the Tamar Valley.

The case is simple. We know what developmental vulnerability looks like before school. We know which age transitions carry the highest risk. We know that harm is predictable, that children live one life, and that the systems built to support them should wrap around that one continuous journey. We can invest early in the conditions that allow every child to succeed, or we keep paying later through child protection, crisis mental health services, youth justice, and early adult disadvantage. We pay either way. The only question is when, and what we get for it.

The aim is simple: a cradle-to-career continuum that wraps around every child in this valley. Not a patchwork. A full continuum, from pregnancy through early learning, primary school, adolescence, and into work and adult life.

Let’s build a city where every child succeeds, starting with:

A City Deal for Kids

A formal, long-term agreement between the City of Launceston, the Tasmanian Government, and the Commonwealth, with West Tamar and George Town Councils as partners. All three tiers of government playing their proper role, pooling investment around shared outcomes for children in this place. Local government holds the shared vision at community level, connects the stakeholders, and keeps the partnership accountable to the children and families it exists to serve.

A Children and Young Persons Accord

The governance architecture a City Deal for Kids would establish. A shared framework bringing government, schools, health services, non-government organisations, Aboriginal community-controlled organisations, business, philanthropy, and universities into one structure with common outcomes and stewardship that travels with the child rather than stopping at the program gate.

A cradle-to-career continuum

A seamless pathway from pregnancy through tertiary education and early employment. Maternal and child health, early learning, school transitions, career guidance, and youth employment connected into a single continuum. No gaps between stages. Help arrives before crisis, not after. The full detail is mapped in paul’s book Every Child Succeeds.

Schools as community hubs

Schools repositioned as community anchors delivering education plus wraparound supports. Health services, mental health support, meals programs, after-school activities, and trauma-informed practice all accessible in one place. Families do not have to find the right door. There is one door.

A place-based saturation strategy

A universal, high-reach model so that fairness and scale go together. The goal is for at least 75 per cent of local children to engage with core programs each year. Universal access reduces stigma and means families do not have to prove they are in crisis before help arrives.

Youth pathways and scholarships

Clear tertiary and vocational pipelines backed by large-scale scholarships. Support  for local students each year to enter TasTAFE, apprenticeships, or university. Lifting tertiary attainment across generations so the workforce this city needs is grown right here.

Evidence and accountability

All initiatives grounded in honest measurement and continuous learning. Tools like Rumble’s Quest used to track what is working. A State of Launceston’s Children report published every three years so the community can see the progress and hold partners honest.

Children live one continuous journey. The systems built to support them should wrap around that journey from the start.

A City Deal for Kids is how we begin. Launceston and the Tamar Valley can lead the way.