QEC and Tweddle explore voluntary merger to strengthen care for babies, children and families in the early years.
Victoria's two largest Early Parenting Centres, Queen Elizabeth Centre (QEC) and Tweddle Child and Family Health Service (Tweddle), will explore a voluntary merger to understand whether working as one organisation could strengthen care for babies, children and families in the early years.
"The early years shape outcomes for life and we’ll be exploring whether working as one organisation could deliver more consistent, equitable and high-quality early parenting support for families across Victoria,”
said QEC Chair Nikki Batagol.
“Both organisations have supported Victorian families for more than a century. This exploration will help us understand if we could make a stronger impact and contribution by working together.”
QEC and Tweddle provide specialist early parenting services that strengthen family relationships, build parental confidence and support children's development and wellbeing. Both organisations are trusted statewide and play a leadership role within Victoria's expanding EPC sector.
“As the EPC sector continues to grow and evolve, our boards see an opportunity to examine whether a voluntary merger could strengthen our role in clinical care, research and development, teaching and training,”
said Tweddle Chair Annette Mercuri.
“By bringing together our scale, experience and shared values, we are exploring whether we can strengthen care for babies, children and families, support innovation and grow a future-ready early parenting workforce.”
The exploration builds on several years of close collaboration between the two organisations, including joint initiatives across research, workforce development, digital health and sector leadership.
It will involve consultation with staff, families, community and partners to understand the opportunities and benefits of a potential merger.
All services will continue as usual and families will experience no disruption to care during this exploration. Staff roles, terms and conditions will not change.
Any future merger must show clear benefit to the Victorian community, have support from both boards and be approved by the Minister for Health.
Staff, families and community members are invited to share their views from 24 February 2026 to 31 March 2026.
To have your say, visit qec.org.au/strengthening-care or tweddle.org.au/strengthening-care to complete the online survey.
