To provide young people, families and children with the best possible future, Council is improving support and services through the Whittlesea Community Futures Partnership.
With 36 partners, this initiative is one of the largest of its kind in Victoria. It brings together community organisations, local agencies and service providers, State Government and businesses.
The partnership provides a wide range of expertise, local knowledge and resources to improve services and facilities in suburbs with high disadvantage levels and to prevent disadvantage in growth areas.
Director Community Services, Ruth Spielman, said Council identified a lack of adequate human service infrastructure in the municipality, especially for family support services.
“This was being exacerbated by the rapid rate of population growth the City is experiencing,” she said. “Despite strong collaboration of local agencies and the dedication of staff, existing agencies were over extended in meeting the range of human service needs.”
The partnership has enabled programs to get up and running very quickly, due to the strong foundations and relationships developed with the network of partners.
“A major focus of the partnership is involving the partners, as well as young people and families in the planning and development of programs,” Ruth Spielman said. “For example, Council acknowledges that parenting children from Years 5 through to Year 9 can be challenging for a proportion of students and their immediate families. As such, we held a consultation with local agencies, parents and students from two schools within one of the target suburbs, which found that parents needed assistance in understanding the school system and parenting adolescents.”
Council has drawn on its partnerships with Parenting Australia, local parenting groups and health organisations to hold ongoing education sessions. These cover topics such as communicating positively with children, increasing confidence and enjoying being a parent.
Whittlesea is one of the most diverse municipalities in Victoria, with more than 50 per cent of the population from non English speaking backgrounds. As such, another key project developed under the partnership is the Cultural Bridges project. It aims to develop a facility, activities and programs to facilitate cross cultural connectedness and community strengthening.
A community action group comprising 15 people has been established to explore concepts and venues.
“Through a space for people to come together, the diverse communities of Whittlesea can share experiences, learn together and build a more socially inclusive community,” Ruth Spielman said. “The outcome will be sustainable and meaningful cross and intercultural connections, based on the respect and appreciation of the rich traditions, customs, and strengths of Whittlesea’s diverse cultural and ethnic mix.”
The Community Futures Partnership Program was initially a three year project, but the partnership is now looking at how it can be continued into the future.
The partnership also hopes to expand the project from beyond designated areas to a Council wide initiative.
