Parents Tell Government How To Help

Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Larry Anthony today announced $3.2 million for a range of projects that will inform the Australian Government how it should support parents during their child’s early years.

“This $3.2 million funding is part of $10 million announced last year by the Prime Minister from the Stronger Families and Communities Strategy to kick off the National Agenda for Early Childhood.

“The message received during our extensive consultations last year with parents and experts on developing strategies in the early childhood area was clear – to help young children get the best possible start to life we need to help parents. Parents particularly told us that they want more information on their parenting role.

“Research was undertaken last August to find out exactly what sort of information parents want. Focus groups were held with more than 200 parents from range of backgrounds in rural, regional and metropolitan areas in New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland.

“A range of ways to better provide information to parents were identified. Importantly, parents also identified the barriers they encounter when looking for support. This report can be found at www.facs.gov.au.

“From here, the Centre for Community Child Health at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne will to undertake a wide-ranging review of Australian and international research on the skills and knowledge parents need to assist them with raising their children. This is important as it will identify best practice and also show where investment by Australian Government should be made.

“The Secretariat for National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care (SNAICC) will also focus specifically on Indigenous parents, foster carers and other family or community members responsible for bringing up children in remote, rural and metropolitan areas.

“National Workshops will then be held to draw together the evidence gathered by these two groups to develop directions and priorities for consideration by the Government. Following this, a range of projects that support parents in a practical way during their child’s early years will be funded to test what approaches work best on the ground.

“The Australian Government is committed to supporting parents in their role of nurturing the next generation. It’s important that our efforts are based on evidence of what works, as well as continuing to add to that evidence base,” Mr Anthony said.