ChildFund was founded in 1938 as China's Children Fund (CCF) by Dr J Calvitt Clarke, an American-based humanitarian who strove to provide food, shelter and educational opportunities to war orphans in China.

In 1950, CCF began work in other parts of the world to address the persistent poverty affecting millions of children. To reflect the ethic of helping others and to retain the CCF acronym, CCF became Christian Children's Fund. The new name was thought to encapsulate the Christian motivation to assist children in desperate need, although the organisation never practiced as a mission-based charity.

However, time has changed perceptions and many people assumed that Christian Children's Fund was a Christian organisation whose aim was to only assist Christian children, or to convert non-Christian children. So in 2005, CCF Australia became ChildFund Australia to clearly reflect our values and vision: to assist children in need regardless of their gender, religion or ethnicity.

ChildFund Australia also joined ChildFund Alliance, a network of 12 affiliate organisations across the globe. ChildFund assists children of many different religions and cultures and believe that a child's family and community are the appropriate places for children to learn about their own culture and religion. Likewise, ChildFund staff all over the world come from a variety of backgrounds, ethnicities and religions.

Today, ChildFund Australia continues to improve its groundbreaking programs, such as micro-enterprise development and psychosocial support for children, as well as its core programs of healthcare, HIV & AIDS prevention and control, livelihood development, water and sanitation, and education.