The new National Families Strategy undertaken by the Commonwealth Government recognises that strong families are the cornerstone of a strong and vibrant civil society. The main emphasis of the new strategy is on preventing family breakdown by developing effective early interventions, including relationship education and parenting training, as well as programs aimed at preventing child abuse, domestic violence, youth homelessness and crime. In this article, the author outlines the similarities of the Strategy with the philosophy underpinning the work of the Australian Institute of Family Studies and the core areas of the research plan of the Institute: children and parenting; family and marriage; and family and society. These link directly to some of the major objectives of the National Families Strategy.