1 April 2026
Over 40% of Australian children will develop a long-term health condition1. It’s almost half of every school cohort, every playgroup, every junior sporting team. Conditions, such as asthma and anxiety, don’t appear out of nowhere – they often have roots in their mother’s pregnancy health, early childhood and the environment in which we grow up.
That’s why support from the Stan Perron Charitable Foundation and Channel 7 Telethon Trust is so powerful. It strengthens one of the world’s few pregnancy longitudinal cohort studies – the Raine Study – to uncover insights that can shift that statistic, while building a stronger research community and expanding Western Australia’s capacity to improve outcomes for children and families.
This grant affirms the study’s global significance and the Western Australian community’s commitment to sustained research that changes lives.
“Ultimately, this research is about understanding how health develops, how it changes over time, and the factors that shape it. By providing this knowledge, the Raine Study helps inform targeted and timely approaches that support better health across the lifespan,” explains Raine Study Scientific Director, Phillip Melton.
Why early-life health matters. We already know how powerful early life influences can be. Raine Study discoveries linked early-term birth to learning and behavioural issues 2, contributing to the launch of the WA Preterm Birth Prevention Initiative in 2014, which successfully reduced preterm births across the state3,4. Insights like these can show how research can directly improve care.
Building a unique three-generation dataset. That’s why this new wave of investment is so powerful. It allows us to keep building something genuinely unique – a three generational dataset that tracks health and wellbeing influences over time. We don’t just look at children before and when they’re born – we have detailed information on our cohort before they were born – from our Generation 1 mothers during pregnancy and the decades of biological and lifestyle data we’ve collected over 18 time points from these Generation 2 babies born between 1989 and 1991. Now we’re welcoming Generation 3, to collect more comprehensive data and add to our already immense information on their parents and grandparents.
What Generation 3 helps us uncover. This gives researchers the power to explore questions that few studies globally can answer, like how a mother’s health during pregnancy shape her grandchild’s wellbeing. Or is early screen time linked to sleep, diet quality, or health in Generation 3, and how does this compare to earlier generations? Most importantly, insights can feed into policy guidelines and clinical treatments that could prevent illness before it begins.
Strengthening Western Australia’s research ecosystem. We contribute key information and insights that support and connect the entire research ecosystem. Through strong support from our funders, this investment in long-term cohort studies enables the Raine Study to expand its impact and accelerate health and wellbeing research across the state.
A shared effort with lasting impact. Our partnerships are vital. We thank the Stan Perron Charitable Foundation, Channel 7 Telethon Trust, all our funders, participants who volunteer their information, and the research community for partnering with us to improve the health and wellbeing of Western Australians.
Media contact: Raine Study Communications Officer rainestudy.comms@uwa.edu.au
About the Raine Study. Established in 1989, the Raine Study is one of the world’s longest running and most comprehensive prospective pregnancy cohorts. Following nearly 3,000 families over three generations, the study integrates biological, environmental, lifestyle, clinical and psychosocial data to understand the developmental and intergenerational origins of health and disease. With more than 770 peer‑reviewed publications and contributions to over 70 national and international policies and guidelines, the Raine Study is a globally recognised leader in life‑course research.
1 AIHW, Australia’s Children – Chronic Conditions and Burden of Disease, 2022)
2 Robinson, M., et al., Delivery at 37 weeks’ gestation is associated with a higher risk for child behavioural problems. Aust N Z J Obstet Gynaecol, 2013. 53(2): p. 143-51.
3 Newnham, J.P., et al., The elements of success in a comprehensive state-wide program to safely reduce the rate of preterm birth. PLoS One, 2020. 15(6): p. e0234033.
4 Newnham, J.P., et al., Reducing preterm birth by a statewide multifaceted program: an implementation study. Am J Obstet Gynecol, 2017. 216(5): p. 434-442.