Wednesday, 29 October 2025

 John BERGER (Southern Metropolitan) (18:36): (2052) My adjournment is for the Minister for Carers and Volunteers in the other place, Minister Spence. The connecting carers in their community small grants program 2025–26 closed applications in August this year. With support in partnerships with Carers Victoria and the Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation, I am pleased to note that in my electorate of Southern Metropolitan Region, Kew Neighbourhood Learning Centre was awarded a grant to support their caring and carers program. With the funding provided by this grant program, unpaid carers for individuals experiencing challenges with mental health, physical or mental disabilities or age-related health conditions will receive targeted support through the Kew Neighbourhood Learning Centre through a holistic, community-based program designed to increase social connection, improve wellbeing and reduce stress. This project will involve the facilitation of peer support groups for unpaid carers, workshops designed to build skills and community events and activities to improve wellbeing in the community. This is an excellent initiative that adds to the incredible work that the Kew Neighbourhood Learning Centre is doing to support the Kew community, including childcare programs, playgroups, educational training, community support groups and health and wellbeing services.

I am pleased that I am part of an Allan Labor government committed to supporting unpaid carers with our $38 million investment over four years in 2023 to support over 700,000 unpaid carers across the state. I had the pleasure of visiting Kew Neighbourhood Learning Centre in 2023, early in my term, to meet with the winner of the 2022 Ro Allen Award, who completed a pre-accredited creative industries course with Kew Neighbourhood Learning Centre. This demonstrated to me the value that the centre’s programs bring to the people of Kew. The action that I seek is for the minister to join me in visiting the Kew Neighbourhood Learning Centre and seeing the work that the centre’s tireless, hardworking volunteers do in supporting my community of Kew.