In 2022, the National Children’s Commissioner, in collaboration with UNICEF Australia, commenced a project to develop a Child Rights Impact Assessment (CRIA) tool for policy-makers and legislators to use when assessing the potential impacts of policies and legislation on the rights and wellbeing of children. Applying the tool to assess policy decisions that had already taken place provided an opportunity to explore how children’s rights and wellbeing can be considered in a systematic way, and what type of information might be available to policymakers in Australia to do so. The intent was not to evaluate the decisions that were made by various jurisdictions to close early childhood and care (ECEC) and schools. In addition to providing a systematic process for considering children’s rights, CRIAs highlight the need for children’s views and experiences to be incorporated into decision-making in policy and legislation. Under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), children have a right to express their views and have these views considered in all decisions that concern them, including in policy and law. The CRC defines children as any persons under the age of 18 years. Bringing children into decision-making processes challenges historical attitudes to children and their capabilities—including their capacity to express their views about the things that affect them and the assumption that adult decision-makers will inherently act in the best interests of children.2 However, despite some welcome developments, the views and needs of children and young people are rarely sought, nor considered in any systematic way in the development of policy and legislation.3 This is despite children being both directly and indirectly impacted by these policies and laws.4 This report outlines the reasons for using CRIAs in policy and legislative development, the process undertaken to develop the CRIA, including applying the tool to the issue of ECEC and school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic. It also describes how to use the tool. The CRIA tool template is included in Appendix 1. The report concludes with some observations about the value of the tool and its application across policy and legislation in Australia. The inclusion of the voices of children and young people in the development of policy is gaining some traction in Australia. For example, Principle 3 in Safe and Supported: The National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children 2021-2031 (the National Framework) states that the work of the framework will be guided by ‘listening and responding to the voices and views of children and young people, and the voices and views of those who care for them’.1 Safeguarding Children: Using a child rights impact assessment to improve our laws and policies | 9