CVC2026 - next milestone almost ticked off

Over the past 2 weeks we have been reviewing all submitted CVC2026 presentations, particularly checking them for ethical approvals and image source permission. We only have 7 more videos to review and 15 more to upload. The others are done. 

A huge thank you to Carolyn, Amy, Emma and our CVC scientific review committee (esp. Arifa Rahman, Suzanne Hopf, Belinda Downey, Lyndsay Smith, Jo Grimmond, Helen Blake, Katrina Gersbach, Sarah Bartlett, Kate Crowe, Holly McAlister, Kate Margetson, Alam Hossain, Kasey Garrison and Lysa Dealtry, Carolyn Gregoric, Sharynne  McLeod)

CVC2026 - Over 1,000 registrations

Today we were able to celebrate over 1,000 CVC2026 registrations 

1,041 registrations across 58 countries (6 August 2026)
(June 2026 Registrations = 666 from 40 countries)
Countries: Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Croatia, Denmark, Egypt, Fiji, Finland, Germany, Ghana, Great Britain, Greece, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kenya, Kuwait, Latvia, Lesotho, Lithuania, Macao, Malawi, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Türkiye, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States, Vietnam

Abstract acceptances = 145 from 35 countries (Abstract submissions = 174)
Countries: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, Fiji, Greece, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Lithuania, Malaysia, Malta, Mongolia, Morocco, Nepal, New Zealand, Nigeria, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Viet Nam 

Today we had our last CVC Scientific Review Committee meeting where we are looking at the quality of the videos that are submitted before we upload them onto the CSU YouTube channel for the CVC2026 conference

CVC2026 Scientific Review Committee - 6 Aug 2026

Amy Whitfield is our new CVC Digital Media Curator - and is working hard to ensure all quality reviewed CVC2026 presentation videos are captioned and online.

Amy Whitfield in The Treehouse

CVC2026 and SDGs

We calculated today that the CVC2026 papers cover all Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) apart from 2, 6, and 7. What a comprehensive program!

CVC2026 Publications Committee

The CVC2026 Publications Committee, chaired by A/Prof Tamara Cumming met today - and decided on the book series we aim to target for the publication of key presentations from CVC2026. It was a useful conversation - and we are ready to begin the proposal documentation. We worked out that CVC2026 papers target all Sustainable Development Goals apart from SDGs2, 6, 7.

CVC2026: 145 abstracts accepted from 35 countries

We have just finalised the following details for the CVC2026 conferece. Thank you Carolyn for your oversight.

I am excited to share that we have accepted 145 submissions to present at CVC2026 from 35 countries: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, Fiji, Greece, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Lithuania, Malaysia, Malta, Mongolia, Morocco, Nepal, New Zealand, Nigeria, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Viet Nam 
The final number may change as 8 authors are still yet to revise their abstract. It is going to be an awesome conference. 
Dr Carolyn Gregoric Research Manager, CVC2026 Conference Secretary 
Children’s Voices Centre

CVC2026 - Ducks in a row

This morning Dr Carolyn Gregoric (conference secretary) and I met to discuss CVC2026. The ducks are all in a row! We have really enjoyed using EasyChair as the conference platform to manage all of the papers and reviews. Thanks Carolyn for your fastidious and wise oversight of CVC2026. 

We have just sent out the following email to the 174 teams who have submitted abstracts.

CVC2026 Abstract Outcomes and Invitation to Share Children Draw, Create, Share Belonging

We are pleased to advise that decisions have now been made in relation to all CVC2026 abstract submissions.

Notification emails have been sent to corresponding authors via EasyChair. If you have not received a notification, please log in to EasyChair and check the status of your submission before contacting us, as some notifications may have been filtered into junk or spam folders.
 
We also wanted to share with you details of a new Children’s Voices Centre research project, Children Draw, Create, Share Belonging. The project invites children to share their perspectives on belonging through posters, podcasts, and postcards and provides an important opportunity to centre children’s voices in research.

Further information, including the submission link, is available on the Children’s Voices Centre research page: https://www.csu.edu.au/research/childrens-voices-centre/research.

Please feel free to share this opportunity with your networks, colleagues, families, schools, early childhood settings, services or communities who may be interested in participating or helping to promote the project more widely. These works will be displayed via a global online gallery during the conference.

With thanks

Emma Hayes (she/her)
Senior Administration Officer
Children's Voices Centre
Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, NSW

CVC2026 latest data

CVC2026 - latest data

716 registrations across 44 countries: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kenya, Kuwait, Latvia, Lesotho, Lithuania, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Vietnam.

174 submitted abstracts: currently under review by the scientific committee

CVC2026 update

Overview: Conference to be held 1-3 September 2026

• 666 registrants across 40+ countries
• 174 abstracts from 36 countries
• 114 papers with 2+ reviews completed (9 no reviews + 51 one review)
• 4 keynotes accepted

Registrations = 666
Countries: (40) Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Denmark, Great Britain, Greece, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kenya, Kuwait, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Vietnam

Abstract submissions = 174
Countries: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, Fiji, Greece, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Lithuania, Malaysia, Malta, Mongolia, Morocco, Nepal, New Zealand, Nigeria, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, VietNam

CVC2026 Committees
Scientific review committee (Chair: Associate Professor Tamara Cumming)
Committee membership: Dr Helen L. Blake; Sarah Bartlett; Associate Professor Kathy Cologon; Associate Professor Kate Crowe; Dr Jessamy Davies; Dr Lysa Dealtry; Dr Belinda Downey; Dr Kate Freire; Katrina Gersbach; Dr Leanne Gibbs; Dr Carolyn Gregoric; Hannah Greig; Dr Jo Grimmond; Mrs Kasey Hillyar; Dr Laura Hoffman; Dr Suzanne C. Hopf; Cyrena Hunt-Madden; Alam Hossain; Associate Professor Brendon Hyndman; Dr Marie Ireland; Janine Krecko; Dr Kate Margetson; Professor Jillian Marsh; Holly McAlister; Distinguished Professor Sharynne McLeod; Arifa Rahman; Associate Professor Mehdi Rassafiani, Dr Goutam Roy; Dr Shukla Sikder; Dr Lindsay Smith; Sarah Stenson; Associate Professor Sarah Verdon, Dr Lucia Wuersch

Children's voices committee (Chair: Associate Professor Kathy Cologon)
Committee membership: Associate Professor Kate Crowe; Dr Kate Freire; Katrina Gersbach; Kasey Hillyar; Dr Marie Ireland; Janine Krecko; Holly McAlister; Distinguished Professor Sharynne McLeod; Arifa Rahman; Dr Lindsay Smith; Sarah Stenson

Organisation committee (Chair: Dr Carolyn Gregoric)
Committee membership: Associate Professor Kathy Cologon; Associate Professor Kate Crowe; Distinguished Professor Sharynne McLeod; Sarah Stenson

Participant network and fun committee (Co-chairs Ms Sarah Bartlett and Dr Jo Grimmond)
Committee membership: Dr Lysa Dealtry; Dr Carolyn Gregoric; Alam Hossain; Dr Shukla Sikder

Professional recognition committee (Chair: Professor Sarah Verdon)
Committee membership: Dr Carolyn Gregoric; Kasey Hillyar; Janine Krecko; Holly McAlister; Arifa Rahman

Promotion/social media committee (Chair Associate Professor Kathy Cologon)
Committee membership: Associate Professor Kathy Cologon; Dr Marie Ireland; Janine Krecko; Dr Kate Margetson; Arifa Rahman

Publications committee (Chair: Associate Professor Tamara Cumming)
Committee membership: Associate Professor Kathy Cologon; Dr Leanne Gibbs; Dr Suzanne C. Hopf; Mr Alam Hossain; Associate Professor Brendon Hyndman; Distinguished Professor Sharynne McLeod; Arifa Rahman; Dr Goutam Roy; Dr Shukla Sikder; Associate Professor Sarah Verdon

Arifa Rahman on the Scientific Review Committee reviewing abstracts in EasyChair

The latest registrations for CVC2026

The latest registrations for CVC2026 are: 548 registrants across 40 countries. Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Denmark, Great Britain, Greece, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kenya, Kuwait, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Vietnam. 

We have received 174 abstracts from 36 countries. Our scientific review committee is currently reviewing the papers so that only high quality papers are accepted for presentation at the conference. 

CVC2026 update

Today's CVC2026 conference update:

• 302 registrations from 33 countries
• 32 abstracts submitted so far - closing 11 May 2026 

Registrants' countries:  Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Fiji, Greece, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kenya, Kuwait, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Portugal, Qatar, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States

CVC2026 conference organisation and scientific review committee

This morning our CVC team met to continue planning CVC2026. We were so pleased to see that we have received 286 registrations and over 20 abstracts from the following countries (these abstracts will now be considered by our Scientific Review Committee): Australia, China, Ireland, Israel, Nepal, New Zealand
Nigeria, Poland, United Kingdom, United States.

Scientific review committee meeting (16th April 2026)

Children's Voices Conference (CVC2026) team meeting

It is so wonderful to have Emma Hayes working with us as a member of our Children's Voices Conference (CVC2026) team. Today we had our first CVC2026 organising committee team meeting with Emma. 

We also learned that even though we only have been online for a couple of weeks, we already have:

• 137 registrations from 23 countries
• 7 abstracts submitted
• 4 accepted keynotes 

CSU media and social media have contacted us. 

Thanks Carolyn for leading us so well as our conference secretary. 

 

CVC2026 social media assets

https://childrensvoicesconference.csu.domains/

 

 You are warmly invited to register and submit an abstract for our Children's Voices Conference 2026 (CVC2026), our fourth biennial international conference hosted by Charles Sturt University. 

The theme for our conference is "Creating a more inclusive world for children" 

This is a FREE international conference (with FREE registration, FREE abstract submission, and it is FREE to attend)! If you are a practitioner, established or emerging researcher, or research student, doing work with, for, or about children, this is the opportunity to share your work!

The conference will run from 1-3 September 2026. All presentations will be prerecorded and streamed online, with perpetual access to presentations. 

Our previous conferences have attracted approximately 1,300 participants from around the world, along with countless presentation views post the conference.

Abstract submission closes: Monday 11 May 2026. All abstracts are considered by the scientific review committee and outcomes are posted in July.

We invite you to invite you to register, present, and share widely!

For more information go to: https://childrensvoicesconference.csu.domains/

Image description: An orange tile with the Charles Sturt University logo and the following words: 
Children's Voices Conference 2026:
Creating a more inclusive world for children!
Submit your abstract and register now for this FREE international conference that will run from Sep 1-3 2026
For more information go to: followed by a QR code for the website https://childrensvoicesconference.csu.domains/

CVC2026 planning is underway

 The CVC2026 planning is underway.

Today I chaired the Children's Voices Committee - and had a wonderful time reflecting on the successes of our involvment of children in ECV2020, ECV2022, and ECV2024 - and dreaming about involving children even more in CVC2026.

Sharynne, Sarah S, Katrina, Kate F, Kasey

 We also have sent out the following email - far and wide

[Please distribute throughout your networks]
 
Dear Friends and Colleagues
You’re warmly invited to participate in the free online Children’s Voices Conference (CVC2026) from Tuesday 1 September to Thursday 3 September 2026 hosted by Charles Sturt University’s Children’s Voices Centre. The conference theme is Creating a more inclusive world for children.
 
You are invited to
(a) register to attend (free) https://childrensvoicesconference.csu.domains/
 
(b) submit an abstract to present a 10-minute online on-demand research paper https://childrensvoicesconference.csu.domains/
 
(c) invite a child to draw/create art, podcasts and postcards about belonging https://childrensvoicesconference.csu.domains/ (coming soon)
 
CVC2026 offers the unique opportunity for you to present at or attend the conference – for free – through our dedicated online space. In 2024, our Early Childhood Voices Conference (ECV2024) united over 1300 early childhood researchers from around the world. This year the focus expands to include children of all ages.
 
What to expect
Get set to expand your knowledge and enhance your practice at our multidisciplinary international conference.

• Hear from international researchers on the latest evidence, innovative methods, critical theories and collaborative partnerships in children’s research.
• Engage in dynamic discussions with a passionate global community of researchers and professionals.
• Extend your research and critical analysis capability and deepen your knowledge.

Present at CVC2026
Are you a researcher or research student? We invite you to share your work by submitting abstracts on your research about children, families and practitioners. Qualitative, quantitative and mixed-method studies, rigorous and insightful reviews, and thought-provoking theoretical explorations are welcomed. We invite contributions on a wide range of topics related to the following streams:

• Children’s rights, voices, and perspectives
• Children's inclusion
• Children's communication
• Children's learning and activities
• Children's health and disability
• Children's services workforce and policy

Abstract submissions close on Monday 11 May 2026. Late submissions will not be accepted.
Best of all, the conference is free to attend and present.
 
Children’s Voices Global Online Gallery
Children are invited to inform us about belonging through drawing and creating art, podcasts and postcards about being together or being part of something. These works will be displayed via a global online gallery during the conference.  Find out more about how children can be part of this year’s conference and help shape children’s futures at  https://childrensvoicesconference.csu.domains/ (coming soon).
 
We are looking forward to your participation in this exciting event.
 
Sincerely
Dr Carolyn Gregoric, Conference Secretary
A/Prof Kathy Cologon, A/Prof Tamara Cumming, Prof Sharynne McLeod, Conference Co-chairs
Children's Voices Centre
Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, NSW
Email: cvc2026@csu.edu.au 
  

CVC2026 themes

Today the CVC staff reviewed and decided on the themes for the Children's Voices Conference 2026 (CVC2026) and will update our CVC website to align with these.

1.    Children’s rights, voices, and perspectives
2.    Children’s inclusion
3.    Children’s communication 
4.    Children’s learning and activities 
5.    Children’s health and disability
6.    Children’s services workforce and policy

This discussion is very important in the journey of the Children's Voices Centre. Our original themes (listed below) were based on the research undertaken by the end of 2024 when we were building the website, and before we had hired staff and had affiliates join the centre.

2024 CVC themes (now superseded):

1. Children's voices
2. Children's speech language and communication needs
3. Multilingual children's speech
4. Early childhood education and workforce needs
5. Children's activities
6. Children's health 

Planning CVC2026

Our planning for the Children's Voices Conference 2026 (CVC2026) began on 6th November - and has reached the stage of formalising the processes behind the conference.

Today Conference Secretary Dr Carolyn Gregoric and I met with  Annette Tainish (CSU Events), Kevin Ng and Pat McKenzie (FOAE Production Team) to plan the software (e.g., registration, abstract submission), website, synchronous events (launch, keynotes, yarning circles) and other aspects of the conference. What a productive meeting. Thanks team!

Sharynne McLeod, Annette Tainish, Carolyn Gregoric, Pat McKenzie, Kevin Ng

 

 

Planning CVC2026

Today our CVC team held the first planning meeting for our next conference: CVC2026.

We have held ECV2020, ECV2022, and ECV2024 in the past. Now, with the launch of the Children's Voices Centre we have transitioned beyond working only with early childhood, to all of childhood - so our name has had to transition too. We are moving from the Early Childhood Voices conferences (ECV2024) to the Children's Voices Conference (CVC2026). Here are our decisions from today:

• Name: Children's Voices Conference (CVC2026)
• Dates: 1, 2, 3 September 2026
• Venue: hybrid (online and Bathurst campus of Charles Sturt University)
• Cost: Free
• Conference chairs: A/Prof Kathy Cologon, D/Prof Sharynne McLeod, A/Prof Tamara Cumming
• Conference secretary: Dr Carolyn Gregoric
• Conference organiser: Lorraine Bennett
• Scientific review committee chair: Dr Helen L. Blake

Sharynne, Tamara, Camilla, Carolyn, Lorraine, Kathy, Helen planning CVC2026