What is National Check-In Week?
National Check-In Week (NCIW) was founded with a clear mission: to ensure that no child falls through the gaps—regardless of their background, identity, or location. Australian schools are at a critical crossroads, yet many still lack the tools, data, and professional learning needed to act early. National Check-In Week 2026 is more than a campaign—it's a national movement to elevate student voices, challenge outdated and siloed wellbeing practices, reduce educator administration, and drive systemic, generational change.
Register for upcoming events here!Why This Matters
Australia's young people are facing challenges many adults never experienced themselves.
Growing Challenges
Anxiety, depression, loneliness, bullying, cyberbullying, school refusal, disengagement, social media pressures, and screen-related issues are affecting wellbeing, learning, attendance, and long-term outcomes.
Clearer Insight Needed
Schools, families, communities, and decision-makers need clearer insight into what young people are experiencing now and stronger ways to respond.
First-of-its-kind Data
For the first time, Life Skills GO will release its 15 Million Student Check-In Report during National Check-In Week 2026.
Student Voice at the Centre
This landmark release brings student voice to the forefront, offering rare insight into the emerging trends, pressures, behaviours, and wellbeing challenges shaping the lives of young people today.
What Makes NCIW Different
For the first time, Life Skills GO will release its 15 Million Student Check-In Report during National Check-In Week 2026.
This landmark release brings student voice to the forefront, offering rare insight into the emerging trends, pressures, behaviours, and wellbeing challenges shaping the lives of young people today.
Combined with expert-led events, practical resources, and national discussion, NCIW creates a unique platform for deeper understanding and stronger action.
Who You'll Hear From
Through free webinars, events, and discussions, these voices will help unpack the most urgent issues affecting young people and the collective response needed across schools, families, systems, and communities.
What You'll Access
"When you don't know, you don't know yet.When you do know, it's time to act.If not now, when?"
Be Part of the National Conversation
The issues are here. The data is emerging. The conversation is shifting.
Join National Check-In Week 2026 as leading voices, current insights, and powerful student data come together to bring the realities facing young people into sharper focus.
View EventsWhat Schools Are Navigating — Without Enough Data
Critical wellbeing issues affecting Australian students that need better data and support
Mental Health
1 in 7 students experience mental health challenges, but many schools lack comprehensive data to identify at-risk students early.
Anxiety & Depression
Rising rates of anxiety and depression among students, with limited tools to track trends and measure intervention effectiveness.
Social Isolation
Post-pandemic social disconnection continues to impact student wellbeing, but schools struggle to quantify the scope.
Academic Pressure
High academic expectations contribute to stress and burnout, yet data on student workload impact remains limited.
Bullying & Safety
Cyberbullying and school safety concerns require better tracking systems to protect vulnerable students.
Family Challenges
Home environment factors affecting student wellbeing often go unreported due to privacy concerns and data gaps.
Wellbeing Across Australia
Discover how states and territories are prioritizing student mental health and wellbeing
Our Partners
Life Skills GO
Life Skills GO, designed in collaboration with educators, is an easy-to-use emotion and wellbeing data collection tool that measures student readiness to learn, supported with a comprehensive library of evidence-based and curriculum-aligned resources.
The Next Word
At The Next Word, we help people and organisations navigate the weird and wonderful world of AI alongside their strategic priorities. We strive to hold fast to what's important and shed what holds us back. We believe in breaking new ground and stretching the boundaries of what's possible. We take a practical and ambitious stance for change, offering insightful provocations, engaging workshops and presentations, and support on your journey. We work within your context to ensure that there is harmony between strategy, training, people and technologies.
How to Participate
Register via the form on the right to access FREE webinars, professional development sessions, panels, tools, and teaching resources. As part of your participation, your school can receive two weeks of access to Life Skills GO, the platform that powers National Check-In Week. This includes:
Register Your School
If not now, when?
Unite for a New Era in Student Wellbeing
Australia is at a critical crossroads. The challenges facing young people are growing in scale, complexity, and consequence, yet many schools still do not have the tools, data, professional learning, and support needed to act early. National Check-In Week 2026 is more than a campaign — it is a national movement to elevate student voice, challenge outdated and fragmented wellbeing approaches, and drive systemic, generational change.
All events, tools and resources are free for every school and family.
Why It's Time to Lead
We're calling on school leaders, education departments, policymakers, and communities to help shape a stronger national response. Join us to:
A national movement driving change in student wellbeing
National Check-In Week is bringing together ambassadors, partners, experts, and organisations, such as those below, with a shared determination to shift the national conversation on student wellbeing. Together, they are raising visibility, strengthening understanding, and driving the collective action needed to create meaningful change for young people across Australia.
Nikki Bonus
CEO & Founder of Life Skills GO
Claudia Bou-melhem
Director of Wellbeing and Engagement K-12
National Check-in Week provides a national platform to elevate the conversations schools urgently need to be having around belonging, self‑regulation, behaviour, school refusal, and the changing realities young people are navigating. My work centres on building consistent, proactive systems that support students, staff and families, and I see National Check‑In Week as an opportunity to contribute to that broader movement. It’s a chance to share practical insights, learn from others, and help amplify the messages that matter most for student wellbeing and early intervention
Dianne Giblin
CEO of Australian Council of State School Organisations (ACSSO)
We love the focus you have placed on National Check-in Week, highlighting the need to assess the wellbeing needs of very child in Australia.
Dan Hart
CEO / Founder of CurricuLLM
We chose to be involved in National Check-In Week because student wellbeing is foundational to everything we do at CurricuLLM. We're building AI tools that sit alongside students as they learn, which means we have a direct responsibility to ensure those interactions are safe, supportive, and attuned to how young people are actually feeling.
When students interact with an AI tutor, the system needs to recognise when something isn't right and respond appropriately. That's why we're launching our Safety Centre, which gives schools real-time visibility into student wellbeing signals surfaced through conversation data.
National Check-In Week is a natural fit for us because it reinforces what we believe: that checking in on young people should be embedded in the systems and routines around them, not left to chance. We want to help schools move from reactive wellbeing support to something more proactive and continuous and purpose-built AI can play a meaningful role in that.
Andrew Pearn
Deputy Principal Wellbeing
Simon Torok
Client Engagement Manager - Sentral
The initiative is really important. It is something that gives students, families and teachers can all do a great deal with being involved with.
Darryl Thompson
Teacher & Principal — Department of Education, NSW
Richard Crawshaw
CEO / Founder of Can't Face School
The values of National Check-in Week align with Can't Face School particularly our mission to support young people who are disengaged or unable to attend mainstream schooling to re-engage in education, develop life skills, and achieve positive wellbeing and future pathways.
Karen Robertson
CEO of Life Education Australia
National Check-In Week is a timely reminder that wellbeing starts with noticing, listening and acting early. In my roles across education and parent advocacy, I see how powerful simple, intentional check-ins can be in helping children feel safe, seen and supported.
Gemma McLean
VP Digital Sales at TTEC Digital
Matthew Esterman
Founder of The Next Word
I have chosed to be involved in National Check-in Week this year as I'm inside schools every week and I see the gap between what systems measure and what young people actually experience. I recently ran an AI readiness audit where staff flagged that student anxiety around AI-generated deepfakes was escalating but no one had asked the students what they were actually worried about. The simple act of checking in has been skipped entirely in many cases.
Dr. Neil Hawkes
D. Phil (Oxford), MEd, BA, FRSA — Values-based Education
If we really do care about our students’ wellbeing then teaching about Self-regulation should be the priority for schools. Values-based Education (VbE) and its Inner Curriculum enables schools to focus on the development of Self-regulation.
Its overarching educational philosophy and pedagogy nurtures staff and students holistically. This process underpins everything the school does, giving students access and experience of a rich ethical vocabulary, which nurtures their essence and enables them to be Self-led.
Self, they will learn, is the essence of their consciousness.The outcome of creating a Values-based School is Self-regulated students who take control of their wellbeing and develop positive character traits.
Gavin McCormack
Montessori Educator & Co-founder, Upschool.co
Dr Phil Lambert
Education Expert — Former General Manager, ACARA
This is an important cause and it shines a light on a key contemporary issues
