The aim of this project was to develop a CRIA tool that could be used by government decisionmakers to assess the direct and indirect impact of legislation and policy on children’s rights and ensure that children’s voices, experiences, and priorities are built into government decisions that will impact on their lives. The tool was to be adaptable to local contexts and to the needs of different jurisdictions, and able to be used in all situations, including emergency situations. The tool was not intended to replace the existing jurisdictional CRIA tools or assessment mechanisms, but to enable each jurisdiction to either adopt the national CRIA tool in whole or merge aspects of it into their existing tools. By developing the tool, the National Children’s Commissioner seeks to promote active consideration by decision-makers of the following:15 • the aim(s) of the law, policy, or practice for children • whether children and their representative organisations have been involved in the development of the law, policy, or practice • whether particular groups of children will be affected • what human rights are impacted and whether that impact can be assessed • where there is negative impact, whether that impact can be mitigated or negated in the situation. The tool is designed to be used at the development stage of policy/legislation in order to mitigate any potential risks and challenges impacting the rights and wellbeing of children and strengthen potential positive impacts. However, it should be noted that conducting a CRIA may require seeking and considering information at various stages of the policy or law development process. Completed CRIAs may also act as an evidence base for future decision-making, or as an evaluation mechanism (a CRIE), as described in section 2. 3.1 Design and development of the tool A design thinking approach was used to develop the tool. Design thinking is a ‘systematic approach to problem solving’.16 The problem to be solved for this project was ‘how might we develop a tool that supports policy-makers and legislators in assessing the impacts of policies or legislation that they develop on children’s rights and wellbeing?’. Interviews were conducted with a variety of government and non-government stakeholders and potential users of the tool. The Victorian Commission for Children and Young People also sought and provided feedback from members of their youth advisory group. Shared themes from this engagement included: • strong support for a CRIA tool as a concept and acknowledgement that children are seldom engaged with as stakeholders on policy/legislation • policy is usually developed with little time and few resources • most policy-makers have limited knowledge of children and their needs Safeguarding Children: Using a child rights impact assessment to improve our laws and policies | 15