Preventative Peaks Alliance

The Preventative Peaks Alliance was established in 2024 as a collaborative initiative among the leading statewide peak bodies in Queensland: Neighbourhood Centres Queensland (NCQ) PeakCare, Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Protection Peak (QATSICPP), QShelter, and the Queenslanders with Disability Network (QDN). The Alliance was formed in recognition of persistent challenges being navigated by Queensland children, young people, individuals, families and communities, including fragmented supports, underinvestment in early and preventative services and the overrepresentation of vulnerable cohorts in statutory and intensive support systems such as child protection, housing, disability and youth justice. These challenges were the focus of the recent Queensland Government 2025–26 budget, with the Queensland Government acknowledging the essential role that prevention and early intervention play in enabling community safety.

A strong evidence base demonstrates the profound social and economic benefits of early intervention and prevention, particularly when supports are community-led and tailored to the needs of local populations. Internationally, governments are seeking to disrupt reactive cycles of late-stage intervention and crisis response, addressing long-standing gaps in service coordination and focusing on building on community strengths to enable better return on government investment.

The Alliance was purposefully designed to build on this evidence base in the Queensland context, breaking down sectoral silos by fostering collaboration between housing, disability, children and family services, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations and community development sectors to move focus from crisis response to prevention and early intervention. This approach aims to support more effective pathways to wellbeing, safety and belonging for Queenslanders across their life course, and to give voice to those who are most affected by policy decisions and service delivery gaps.

Preventative Peaks is an alliance of Neighbourhood Centres Qld, PeakCare, QATSICPP, QDN, QShelter.

The Preventative Peaks Alliance is supported in our work by the insight and influence of key critical friends from across a range of sectors, including health, education, domestic and family violence, and legal services that work together to achieve the best possible outcomes for children, young people, families, individuals and communities.

As a “critical friend” these groups play an important and vital role in ensuring that we are focussed on the emergent and urgent area of early diagnosis and intervention. Prevention and early intervention responses require collaborative planning, coordinated and culturally-responsive approaches that can adapt to circumstances, addressing issues before they escalate and responding early so families can build on their strengths, avoiding duplication or gaps and ensuring a seamless continuum of care to enable Queenslanders to thrive.

Through the series of educational events across the state, place-based service providers and our critical friends will help identify and assess best practice, program delivery, systems, and services by working with communities to identify opportunities for the Queensland Government to invest in providing a strong return both socially and economically.