Thursday, 10 February 2022

Hume-Moreland Orange Door network

Mr McGUIRE (Broadmeadows) (17:28): (6213) My request is to the Minister for Prevention of Family Violence. The action I seek is for the minister to open the Hume-Moreland Orange Door network in Broadmeadows. The minister has announced that the Orange Door network will be coming to the Hume-Moreland region, with a lease signed for a site in Broadmeadows, locking in statewide coverage. Launching the important Orange Door network provides a world-first opportunity to improve the lives of women, and it is being established in Broadmeadows. The strategy combines a network of support for the security of families, linking five local service partners—Berry Street, Uniting, DPV Health, the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency and the Victorian Aboriginal Community Services Association—with internationally proven innovation to help unemployed women start their own businesses and create jobs.

The microfinance program that won Muhammad Yunus a Nobel Peace Prize will be established for the first time in Australia, starting in Broadmeadows this year. The plan is to expand nationwide, creating 6000 jobs for women in the next two years. For decades I have pursued ways to address the compounding complexity of place-based disadvantage, and I met the Nobel laureate in Melbourne in 2018 to pursue this initiative. The new program will combine small loans, peer support and mentoring to help women establish their own businesses. It focuses on older women, those with disabilities and women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. The Broadmeadows comeback strategy links this internationally successful microfinance initiative the Australian government is backing to the Victorian government’s $448 million response to the first Royal Commission into Family Violence, that landmark commitment delivered by the Andrews Labor government.

This Australian-first combination is fundamental for better opportunities in life for adults, children and young people experiencing or using family violence and families in need of extra support for the welfare and development of their children. The Victorian government is ensuring families can access such coordinated services, which is vital, and by bringing in the microfinance model by Muhammad Yunus and combining those opportunities the aim is to deliver better initiatives and greater opportunities for some of the most vulnerable women and families.